Gangs an issue in Frederick, MD? (Baltimore, Silver Spring: crime, neighborhoods, college)

[Smith40]

I heard of a little gang activity back in the 90's (mainly around 40 and John Hanson) but do you guys think gangs are a problem here and WHERE THE HECK IS PHEBUS AVENUE AT IN FREDERICK??
I just see gang signs and I notice they match colors sometimes

[Billiam]

There's no such thing as real gangstas in Frederick. They're wana-bes, who have harmless groups of people who look dumb and steal gum from 7-11

Phebus avenue is off of Bentz street. If youre on 2nd street, take a right at baker park, keep going down, pass patrick street and its one street away

[westsideboy]

You do see some gang graffiti in the areas you mentioned and there are some folks that fit the look, but I agree with Billiam that most are just copying what they see in rap videos. It is to this generation what the ratty bowl-cut and flannel shirt was to mine.

There were a couple of murders in town in the last few years that fit the bill of drug related slayings, but based on the numbers two or three murders like that out of population of 60,000 in the city limits is pretty good.

[Merlander]

I agree with Billiam & Westsideboy's comments. If there is real gang activity, I haven't seen it. The police in this small city are pretty quick to crack down...some may even say they're overzealous at times, so the opportunities for gang activity are better elsewhere.

[Cigar]

??????????
Guys come on If you have Gangs in Cockeysville Maryland you can have gangs in Frederick,Md...
http://www.knowgangs.com/news/jan06/1608.html

[westsideboy]

Alright, time for the truth to come out. I was in a gang. We called ourselves the Laser Snakes. Our stated goal was universal domination based on a fleet of space fighters that we would transport from start system to star system on large freighters. We were constantly at war with other gangs, the Army (a right wing milto-facist organization) and the Dogs ( an all female gang that targeted males.) I did my time in the principal's office for my crimes and have seen the light.

My college was also full of gangs. They wore matching sweatshirts with strange foreign scripts. They were rumored to have bizarre induction rituals and controlled the alcohol trade on campus with an iron fist.

Removing the tongue from my cheek for a moment, we need to put this in perspective. If you want to call any group of young people dressing the same and occasionally beating on each other with sticks a gang, then we need to form a new word for the organized, violent, multi-million dollar organizations that rule and destroy neighborhoods and communities in this country.

I once had a police officer ask my friend where in Cumberland he lived. My friend replied "downtown." "Ohhh... your in Crip territory then," the officer retorted. WTF!! Regardless of what people think, the world is not going to hell in a hand basket. Communities like Cockeysville, Frederick, Cumberland, are not being overrun by gangbangers. Your bigger risk in Frederick is getting run over by some yuppie on a cell phone in an SUV!

I am not denying that communities have problems, and that young people are more suseptible to the culture of thuggery, bling, and dope, but the article itself states very clearly - "Fortunately, we haven't seen any of the (gang-related) violence here É and we're aiming to keep it that way."

All we do by yelling that the sky is falling is scaring people from anything that resembles a city with people of different races, income levels, and personal styles and into gated communities with closed minds, locked doors, and isolated views on the rest of society.

[Merlander]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Your bigger risk in Frederick is getting run over by some yuppie on a cell phone in an SUV!

Too funny - LOL! [actually it almost happened to me...]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

All we do by yelling that the sky is falling is scaring people from anything that resembles a city with people of different races, income levels, and personal styles and into gated communities with closed minds, locked doors, and isolated views on the rest of society.

Great point WSB.

We moved back to Frederick after 2½ yrs. in Albuquerque, and I often saw the same kind of posts about gang problems there. I think there was one youtube video about it, and people thought the whole city of 800,000 had fallen to gang rule.

[cgordon]

Any time you talk about crime and gang-related things, you have to take the larger picture into context.

Yes, there gang activity here, yes there's some crime.

But overall, for a town of this size, in a junction of major, heavily-travelled highways like this, the problem is very small. I've been in small towns in the midwest with far worse problems.

Six muggings in a weekend is a crime wave in Frederick ...

[trying2moveup]

When we lived in Frederick, my hubby and I took the citizen's police academy course offered by the city police department (about 3 months, once a week, EXCELLENT - recommend it to anyone living in Frederick and it's free (well your tax dollars pay for it, but you know . . .)

The city and county sherrif's office are very, very VERY dedicated to not allowing Frederick to become some sort of haven for criminals, gangs, and drug traffikers (however you spell it). Frederick is centrally located in the state, right of a major interstate (Rt 70) and near I-81. They definitely work very hard to keep the drug trade to Baltimore out of Frederick.

Sure there are drugs and yes, there are probably gang members - as you will find ANYWHERE - but you do NOT have the prevalance of either that you have in. . . . . . say, neighboring Montgomery County (especially gang presence).

[AmericanAnomie]

Gang activity? Try NW Silver Spring (esp. Wheaton) and Langley Park.

Living in those places exempted a friend of mine from jury service for the trial of an MS-13 gang member. Mostly because of perceived bias, but also partly because of fear of reprisals. I have neighbors that really seem to like thug culture. And what’s startling is when these people are in their thirties, for crying out loud.

There is a difference between an unaffiliated thug and a gang member.

Just like there’s a difference between a crackpot and a Libertarian.
Haha, just kidding, Libertarians are alright.

Just a little Maryland politics humor there, folks.