*** Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum "declares war on gangs":
Gang activity in Florida has grown to more than 1,500 active criminal gangs with more than 65,000 gang members. Dangerous street gangs, such as SUR-13 in South Florida, have members accused of crimes including murder, armed robbery, retaliatory arson and aggravated battery. These gangs are the primary sales force for illicit drugs in our state and cause much of the violent crime. A comprehensive action plan is essential to reverse the growth of gangs in our state.
The litigation also lets authorities get court orders to bar gang members from taking part in the everyday habits of street gangs: flashing gang signs, displaying gang tattoos, even just hanging out together in public. Gang members can be barred from neighborhoods in their towns or nearby suburbs. And violating any of those terms can result in criminal charges.
The lawsuits have been successfully used to curb gang activity in West Chicago by the Satan Disciples, the Latin Kings, and the Surenos, and the strategy -- also used by prosecutors in California, Texas and Minnesota -- may soon be implemented in Chicago.
*** An Anaheim, CA man was arrested for flashing a gang signal while seated on Santa's lap with fellow gang members in violation of a previously-issued civil injunction against gang association.
*** In Fresno, CA the last two of seven members of the Bulldog gang were sentenced for their role in the June 2006 murder of a sixteen-year-old mother:
[T]he mother of a 1-year-old baby, was lured to an apartment complex in northwest Fresno, where her hands and feet were handcuffed, she was shot repeatedly with a BB gun, and black electrical tape was wrapped tightly around her eyes. She was then suffocated. Her half-naked and bruised body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag in the back of an abandoned pickup a few days later. Prosecutors say Bulldog gang members killed Rice because they believed she was going to talk with police.
*** In Brockton, MA the cries for action against street gangs are mounting after a police officer was targeted for a hit:
Court documents show that three major street gangs in Brockton, the Green Street Gang, Bloods and North Side Stars, control certain areas of the city and are reaching out to recruit new members. That means neighborhood kids seduced by the "glamour" and cash that drug dealers flash. They even reach into schools, seeking teenagers as young as 15 to join their illicit enterprises. The threats against Brockton police came from the Bloods and Green Street Gang, who are mostly involved in drug dealing and intimidation of entire neighborhoods, police say. There have been gangs in one form or another for many years in Brockton. Drugs have also been a part of the fabric of the city, as they are in most urban areas. But daily life takes on a darker cast when credible threats linger against police officers, who are doing all they can to protect the vast majority of local citizens who are not part of this crime wave.
*** Four members of the Wainwright Street gang have been killed in Providence, RI since November 26 in a gang war that has spilled over from Boston, MA.
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