Gangs of El Paso (Dallas, Austin: crime, felons, house)

[Muhnay]

Story on KFOX 14.. about Gangs in the Military:

ONLY ON KFOX: Gang Activity In The Military - News Story - KFOX El Paso

Army Transfers Could Trigger A Gang War - March 16, 2006 - The New York Sun

If you take the survey, you'll see that 80% 200+ people think Gangs are becoming more violent.

We were briefed on this a long time back.. as a former officer I tend to know the crime that takes place in and around the city. I still talk to the same people, and still get the same insight.

This is also a good read.. and I hope we get the second injunction.. as gang activity is on the rise once again.

www.elpasotexas.gov - Gang Injunctions

More info.. because knowing is half the battle..

Placazos, Gang Graffiti Gang Hand Signs - Youth Gangs of El Paso and the Southwest United States - Operation No Gangs (http://www.operationnogangs.org/placazos.html - broken link)

From the El Paso Times..

El Paso Times - Operations of gang detailed at hearing

El Paso Times - Operations of gang detailed at hearing

El Paso Times - Alleged Azteca gang members due in court

Just so you know that El Paso, has some serious Gang activity here..

If you know of gangs tell us.. I have seen the LML tags and the VNE tags competing for space in NE El Paso.

[malamute]

Too bad they don't publish the statistics on knife stabbings.

People read crime stats and think their kids will be perfectly safe here -- but they really need to learn what goes on at some of the house parties and especially at those parties out in the deserts. I won't even mention what goes on with kids who go over to Juarez to drink.

The only thing I wonder about -- why did the gang killings drop for a few years? It became very bad and improved a bit for a while.

[Muhnay]

We had a very active Gang Task Force. ( its covered in one of the links above. ) Then to cut cost/spending they got rid of the Gang task force.. So no Gang Task Force, gang activity starts to rise again, also the Mexican Drug lords have taken over the Columbian Drug Lords supply routes and a war between them has also kicked off some heated activity here. Also add the Mexican mafias getting better organized, so gangs of color are now bumping heads more where there was more same race on same race crime.

[southernbliss]

very nice read! I have notice also there seems to be a big gang issue here in el paso, what I do not understand is why it is tolrated at all!!
after the storm we had a big gang issue that came in from LA. we went into overdrive to get them out of town!! it was hard there was driveby shootings,rape, robbery and drug tra. it was carzy there was gang members calling our officers cells telling them they better not touch them if they knew what was good for them, well that just pissed us off!!!
we had enough drugs with out them! so we were in no mood to put up with kind of stupid crap!! it took about a year are so but most went to prison are back to la.
so I do not understand why the officers around here do not make it there job to make sure any gang member they pass has a very bad day, it can happen, it is not easy and it does not happen overnight but it will happen.
why I go to the high schools around here I am shocked by the poss. gangs I see there, that is the 1st place the need to take action at.
I guess I do not by the exuse that the police give for gangs being here.

anyways good read!! sorry about the writing in a hurry!!

[east_texas]

The only thing I wonder about -- why did the gang killings drop for a few years? It became very bad and improved a bit for a while.

I work for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and if you are wondering why the gang related incidents are on the rise, here, might be one reason.
The prisons are understaffed ( significantly ) and to alleviate this delima, Gov Perry has ordered early release for many, many offenders.

[LEVOW]

I know the old gangs have always been around, gangs like the FATHERLESS, all the gangs in Segundo are still around, they have never gone away.Alot of these gangs have older members, they have families, their 3 to 4 generations deep, so even though their part of the gang, their not out there gangbanging.When i was in school, the gangs were at their peak, late 80s to mid 90s, but when i graduated, taggin became the "in"thing.Everybody became a "tagger", the difference is taggers wouldnt physically fight, they would "Battle" to see who could tag up the most streets, walls, signs etc. etc.When taggin was prevalent in the streets thats when gangs slowly started to diminish.Once again gangs are on an upswing, but like i said they never have really left, the Aztecas have been around since the mid 80s, the only reason, you never heard of them, is because they just dont go killing everybody, everything is strategic, they cant touch anybody unless they get permission from the top ranks.

[Guero]

I can't remember if it was on CNN or where I saw it, but a couple of nights ago, there was a special report about this. I found it interesting, although the way they portrayed it as something new sort of rubbed me the wrong way - I was stationed with gang members - there were even a few in my Basic Training battery (Logan Heights). This was around 1984-87-ish. Though in the report's defense, the practice of recruiting people with gang histories and even convicted felons is becoming more common every day.

[LEVOW]

Originally Posted by Guero

I can't remember if it was on CNN or where I saw it, but a couple of nights ago, there was a special report about this. I found it interesting, although the way they portrayed it as something new sort of rubbed me the wrong way - I was stationed with gang members - there were even a few in my Basic Training battery (Logan Heights). This was around 1984-87-ish. Though in the report's defense, the practice of recruiting people with gang histories and even convicted felons is becoming more common every day.

yeah those are probably the ones they put in the frontlines, kinda sad if you ask me!

[skylar0073]

Hello everyone,
I grew up in El Paso and attended Austin High School in the early 90's. We lived off of Alabama and Copper, pretty close to 5 points area and I remember that there were some gangs out there. I don't remember the gang names but I do remember VCT.
They were very intimidating. Maybe some of you remember that huge riot that broke out at Austin High that ended up exploding into all out school war zone. I remember because I was a freshman and for awhile after that we had police all over campus for quite some time. It started out as a fight between rival gang members and somehow you had the rockers against the new wavers, you had the "cheros" fighting with rappers and so on. It quickly got out of control.
I live in Dallas now and gangs out here are everywhere. I don't know how bad gang problems are in El Paso but I must say although I knew they were around I never really knew how bad it was. I'm a mommy now and the thought of what my kid might come across at school has really got me thinking about home schooling.

[HIGH!Lonesome]

I remember when I was a kid every neighborhood had a gang every neighborhood south of I10 had a gang and some around El Paso and Austin high schools, the westside the eastside and Northeast were pretty silent areas.
As a kid I was in a gang myself infact I was in two gangs at the same time but we were not violent people except for the older gang members they always had a hang up against this gang called the King Cobras, I think they are still around.

Once I hit high school, I hit the books then shiped out to the Navy, when I would come back to visit my former gang buddies, they all looked so primitive, maybe thats why in modern times now gangs have penetrated the military ranks to exploit military stragedy converting combat technique into barrio warfare and now it seems more like it's promoted itself to sophisticated organized crime, they can even be crazy enough to take on the police force.