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Trying to become more educated about NC, I was shocked to learn how prevalent this problem was in NC. Those interested in relocating should be aware of how invasive the problem is on the state level. I have no idea of the impact on the local level but concerning.
Trying to become more educated about NC, I was shocked to learn how prevalent this problem was in NC. Those interested in relocating should be aware of how invasive the problem is on the state level. I have no idea of the impact on the local level but concerning.
There is not a state in this country that doesn't have gangs.....the problem is just not unique to North Carolina at all.
It pays to be aware of it, and make sure that your children are supported at home so they don't see gangs as an attractive alternative.
I agree that this problem is not unique to NC, but it is unique that it affects all counties which should be concerning for those residents. I have loved NC and it has been my dream the past 10 years to move there. I currently live about 25 miles outside of Boston,MA and while we have plenty of gangs in the city, northern and southern parts of the state, there is no incidence in our community of 10K and surrounding communities as well. Why, because the state has been aware of the problem and dealt with the problem since the 50's. We, in the 1990's took the city back and budget cuts and a new police commissioner lost some of that control. It certainly did not take long for drive by shootings, random attacks at the MBTA and such to increase. In 2004 we got a handle on the situation again. Our police staff outside of the city is well trained and coordinates with the school system to nip these problems in the bud when they do arise. Quite successful.
NC is evolving, 62% of your population is native north carolinians and there is concrete evidence of gangs which thrive in rural locations (some connected with organized crime) where police patrol and control is limited. Currently your state does not even the laws in place to reduce to discourage gang growth, your school systems don't report to local police any gang type problem so your state is out of touch at the current moment. It is the crime that comes with this for all people of the community, not necessarily my concern of will my son be involved.
I agree that this problem is not unique to NC, but it is unique that it affects all counties which should be concerning for those residents. I have loved NC and it has been my dream the past 10 years to move there. I currently live about 25 miles outside of Boston,MA and while we have plenty of gangs in the city, northern and southern parts of the state, there is no incidence in our community of 10K and surrounding communities as well. Why, because the state has been aware of the problem and dealt with the problem since the 50's. We, in the 1990's took the city back and budget cuts and a new police commissioner lost some of that control. It certainly did not take long for drive by shootings, random attacks at the MBTA and such to increase. In 2004 we got a handle on the situation again. Our police staff outside of the city is well trained and coordinates with the school system to nip these problems in the bud when they do arise. Quite successful.
NC is evolving, 62% of your population is native north carolinians and there is concrete evidence of gangs which thrive in rural locations (some connected with organized crime) where police patrol and control is limited. Currently your state does not even the laws in place to reduce to discourage gang growth, your school systems don't report to local police any gang type problem so your state is out of touch at the current moment. It is the crime that comes with this for all people of the community, not necessarily my concern of will my son be involved.
Ah...I think you are making some LARGE assumptions about what is happening in NC. Believe it or not, our schools are not backwards and do know that gangs are here. The county I live in does report such things. Other districts may not, but you can't make such blanket statements about the entire state.
Yes, we aren't MA...and things are done a bit differently then you are used to...but most of us happen to like that we aren't MA......but things do work reasonably well...though like anyplace, is not perfect.
NC is a much larger area, with varying regions and the diffrences between urban and rural areas are much stronger here then in MA (and yes, I lived there for a short time).
Please, if you expect or want it to be just like you left, then don't come down here. Do everyone, including yourself a favor because you are just going to be miserable.
Originally Posted by JMC07
NC is evolving, 62% of your population is native north carolinians and there is concrete evidence of gangs which thrive in rural locations (some connected with organized crime) where police patrol and control is limited.
Why do you mention natives? Despite the common stereotypes we're actually intelligent people. The maps indicate gangs are most prevalent in more populated counties. North Carolina Counties
Quote:
Originally Posted by sergeisnotmyname
There is not a state in this country that doesn't have gangs.....the problem is just not unique to North Carolina at all.
It pays to be aware of it, and make sure that your children are supported at home so they don't see gangs as an attractive alternative.
Agreed. No one here is naive about gangs. NC isn't Shangri-La. We have problems like other places in the country. If anyone is expecting to move here and live in some Mayberry like paradise they will be very disappointed. It's true that there are a lot of transplants here and guess what? Not everyone moving to NC is an upstanding, hard working citizen. A local tv station here just did a story about the influx of L.A. gang members to NC and how the police dept. was responding.
The survey JMC07 posted only used samples from 64 of NC's 100 counties. Respondents in 39 counties reported gangs with ties to an organized group outside of the state. Also in the survey -
Quote:
The number of gangs and gang members reported
in the current survey is not a definitive and exact
count and should not be misconstrued as
representing a precise picture of gangs across the
entire state.
Data from the recent GCC survey
provide a snapshot of gangs and gang members
drawn from those agencies who responded to the
survey and were able to provide data on the
number of gangs and gang members within their
respective jurisdictions
Quote:
The Rise in Gangs, Gang Membership and
Gang-Related Crimes
Has there been an increase in gangs, membership
and gang crime? There is no short answer to this
question; likewise there is little empirical evidence
to indicate a rise in any of the three. To the
contrary, some national studies indicate that the
numbers of gang members is declining. In North
Carolina, the largest increases can be shown in
Hispanic/Latino gang membership; however, this
is slightly down over the past three years.
Quote:
The number of reported specialized gang units
within North Carolina’s police departments and
sheriff’s offices has increased dramatically over
the past decade, from 12 in 1999 to 86 in the 2007
survey. With this rise is an accompanying rise in
the number of gangs and gang members where
intelligence information is being documented. As
these units populate the GangNet database with
validated intelligence, future assessments of gang
membership and activities within the state will be
more accurate.
Quote:
The amount of time that these gangs have been
active in the community ranged from less than one
month to a high of 20 years with the average gang
in North Carolina having been in existence for
about three years.
I agree that this problem is not unique to NC, but it is unique that it affects all counties which should be concerning for those residents. I have loved NC and it has been my dream the past 10 years to move there. I currently live about 25 miles outside of Boston,MA and while we have plenty of gangs in the city, northern and southern parts of the state, there is no incidence in our community of 10K and surrounding communities as well. Why, because the state has been aware of the problem and dealt with the problem since the 50's. We, in the 1990's took the city back and budget cuts and a new police commissioner lost some of that control. It certainly did not take long for drive by shootings, random attacks at the MBTA and such to increase. In 2004 we got a handle on the situation again. Our police staff outside of the city is well trained and coordinates with the school system to nip these problems in the bud when they do arise. Quite successful.
NC is evolving, 62% of your population is native north carolinians and there is concrete evidence of gangs which thrive in rural locations (some connected with organized crime) where police patrol and control is limited. Currently your state does not even the laws in place to reduce to discourage gang growth, your school systems don't report to local police any gang type problem so your state is out of touch at the current moment. It is the crime that comes with this for all people of the community, not necessarily my concern of will my son be involved.
You make a lot of assumptions that are not necessarily accurate. We in NC are painfully aware that it's not just the good folks from the northeast who find our fair state a nice place to live. There is much awareness across the state in our big cities, and our small towns on this issue.
Here is one example of that the small city of Hickory is doing to combat the problem: News | Video On Demand | WCNC.com | Local News for Charlotte, North Carolina (http://www.wcnc.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=303661 - broken link)
I certainly am not judging any area of persons. I am doing my homework beforehand so I may be able to make an informative decision which is best for my family. I mention natives because it is well known that NC has been evolving over the past years and it continues to change. Unfortunately I have to go by what information is available since I am not there consistently to get a feel of exactly what is happening. I do plan to visit the communities and schools and see but realistically a one week trip will not be a true indication of the locale and its issues. [SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3]
[LEFT]On February 19, 2008 there were 436 validated
gangs in NC GangNet. Of these, 407 were what is
currently being classified as a criminal youth
gang. The remaining 29 were outlaw motorcycle
gangs and white supremacist hate groups. Again,
utilizing the strict validation criteria built into the
NC GangNet system, it can be more accurately
determined that the number of groups that will
meet the definition of criminal gang is far less
than the aggregate reported in the GCC law
enforcement survey. While NC GangNet numbers
are less salacious, they are validated against a
uniform defined set of criteria.[/LEFT] [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][LEFT]Conversely, more agencies may be employing
validation techniques and consequently are
identifying more true members than in years past.
Weisel and Shelley (2004) note it could be a
matter of greater attention being directed to the
issue of gangs with more agencies reporting and
counting gangs than in the past.
The following section delineates a detailed profile
of these 550 gangs and 14,500 members with an
emphasis on identifying patterns of criminal
activity, the demographic attributes of gang
members, the extent of organizational complexity
and their relationship to other gangs and criminal
organizations.[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][LEFT]Distinguishing Features of North Carolina’s
Gangs[/LEFT] [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][LEFT]The amount of time that these gangs have been
active in the community ranged from less than one
month to a high of 20 years with the average gang
in North Carolina having been in existence for
about three years.[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][LEFT]While three-fourths of the gangs reported in the
survey did not meet the strict definitional criteria
of being a gang, these groups should be monitored
and intelligence maintained on their activities in
the event they do cross the threshold and become a
criminal gang. This again reinforces the need for a
uniform definition of what constitutes a gang. NC
GangNet provides what is likely the best tool in
forcing gang validation when the information is[/LEFT]
entered into the database. [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]
I still don't understand what you mean by "NC is evolving."
However, I understand that you are only trying to find more information about your future state.I am not trying to diminish the impact of gangs here but the survey detailed 14,500 violent gang members. NC's estimated population in 2006: 8,856,505. The survey itself says it should not be misconstrued as representing a precise picture of gangs across the entire state.
The dynamics of NC are probably different than Massachusetts. You have 14 counties, we have 100. This is a large state with many cities and police departments and over 100 school districts. It is simply inaccurate to say
Quote:
Currently your state does not even the laws in place to reduce to discourage gang growth, your school systems don't report to local police any gang type problem so your state is out of touch at the current moment
The state is working to improve the situation, Here is an article from this past May. N.C. Senate solidly behind anti-gang bills (http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/politicians/legislature/story/1081305.html - broken link)
Quote:
"It is critical that we pass this legislation in order to send a message that we are not going to tolerate gangs in North Carolina," Cooper said.
The Senate legislation makes new felonies of gang activity, such as associating with a gang; acting as a gang organizer, supervisor or recruiter; threatening those who try to help someone leave a gang; or retaliating against someone who leaves a gang. It also creates a felony to deal with drive-by shootings. Property used by gangs or acquired through gang activity could be seized and forfeited.
The legislation moves to the House, where similar legislation has already passed. But there are key differences. The House bill spared those under 16 from being charged with the new gang crimes. It also had a provision allowing some reformed gang members to expunge gang activity from their criminal records.
Here's another example of how NC is "out of touch".
RALEIGH, DURHAM SHARE ANTI-GANG GRANT (http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/2879482/ - broken link)
Quote:
Raleigh-Durham is one of four municipalities in the nation – the others are Indianapolis, Rochester, N.Y., and Oklahoma City –to receive the grant and was chosen partially because of the area's commitment and established efforts to fight gangs, the Department of Justice said.
Thank you NC Girl - I appreciate your input and hope to learn more. We have the opportunity to live anywhere in the state with about a 2 hour proximity to an aiport for my husbands business travels. Coming from the north and not loving heat to the extreme, Asheville seems like a nice place to settle. We'll have to watch things over time. Please keep me abreast of anything you hear locally that I might not catch up here. Enjoy your day.
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The maps indicate gangs are most prevalent in more populated counties. 
