Gangs in Fayetteville?? (Springdale, Rogers, Siloam Springs: relocate, work, home)

[luvarkansas]

My brother has been thinking of Fayetteville as a possible place to relocate. Someone who has a couple of kids living in Fayetteville told my mom that her kids just recently had to move away because of Hispanic gangs getting so bad. Can this be true? I've read extensively on here and saw many posts saying there was practically no crime in F'ville. I've been there myself twice and was really impressed with the city (Springdale not so much, except for the Jones Center). Can anybody give me some info on this?

[boulder]

Fayetteville has a small Hispanic population ... maybe 3-4%.

Springdale, Rogers and Siloam Springs are the main communities in NWA that have large Hispanic populations - all in that 35% to 45% range. The Springdale and Rogers police departments have had to deal with some gang related activity but nothing so serious it should cause someone to move away (at least from what is reported).

The bigger concern I hear from parents in these communities is the high percentage of ESL students in the school systems of Springdale and Rogers and how that is affecting the ability to teach students at all levels.

[Capt. Dan]

Sometimes i think that people just call the NWA area Fayetteville not realizing that different communities have differing atmospheres and population makeups.

[nmnita]

One has to live in areas with true gang problems to understand how bad they can be: yes, we know there are more Hispanics in the Springfield area and some of the surrounding towns, but this is nothing like what you see in many major US cities. Of at least from what I have been told, we don't live in the NW part of AR yet. As for Fayetteville having gangs that certainly is news to me.

Nita

[TaJasMi]

Most of the Hispanics live in Springdale and work there..(I know because That is my hometown!)
That said..all Fay. is is a college town nothing more/less and it is funny because crime is almost non-existent..there will be maybe one or two bad things happen a year! If anyone thinks that Fay. is bad then the world is coming to an end!!!

[matto]

I agree, Fayetteville is nothing to worry about. Even Springdale and Rogers which do have some "gang activity" is not something I would worry about, it's not LA gangs here.

[NOEM1226]

I have never seen or experienced gang activity here in Fayetteville. There may be a slight problem in Springdale or Rogers but even this is NOTHING compared to national average. I would never in a million years thank of any of the towns in NWA being gang infested by any means.

[briansgi]

Violent gangs growing problem in Northwest Arkansas
NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source
NYGC | Gang-Related News Articles
The Morning News: News : Gangs gaining strength in numbers and influence, lawmaker says

[luvarkansas]

Thank you all for replying. Hopefully the police will be successful in driving out what is already here. Myself, I prefer the more isolated parts of Arkansas, out in the mountains. I know, I've heard that there are a bunch of people growing weed out in the boondocks, but aren't they less dangerous than drug dealers? I mean, aren't most of them just growing it for themselves (which, of course, is still not a good thing, but at least they're not trying to get it to our kids)?

[Taterhead]

Originally Posted by briansgi

Violent gangs growing problem in Northwest Arkansas
NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source
NYGC | Gang-Related News Articles
The Morning News: News : Gangs gaining strength in numbers and influence, lawmaker says

Wow this gang stuff sounds pretty serious to me, especially after reading this reports.