Detective Elphonzo Hayes, a street gangs investigator with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Central Patrol, offered his insights into gangs at April’s Central West End Security Forum at Schlafly Library.
Hayes says that gangs are prevalent in several St. Louis neighborhoods, but not in the Central West End. Gang members are frequently involved in drug sales, burglaries, weapon thefts and violent crime. Guns are often stolen from homes or vehicles and stashed in bushes or vacant buildings.
Gang members can be spotted hanging out in small groups, wearing the gang colors or wearing their caps or rolling their pants in a certain way. Gang graffiti usually includes a number representing a city block followed by an abbreviation representing the name of the street. Hayes says gang graffiti can be read like a newspaper: it reveals the name of the gang, where they are from and if they have a problem with a rival gang. Not all graffiti is gang-related, though.
Major gangs, such as the Bloods and the Crips, are spreading across the country. For example, the Bloods, who originated in Los Angeles, are now found as far east as New York and Canada. Part of this is due to movement of gang members. But gangs are increasingly turning to social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Xanga to recruit members and spread the gang’s ideology.
Hayes says most St. Louis gangs have little formal structure, with the gang member with the most “street cred” serving as the leader. Females as well as males belong to gangs, often serving as lookouts or storing drugs and weapons for fellow gang members.
“Jumping off the porch” is slang for initiation into a gang. However, Hayes says many young people are now “blessed into the gang,” meaning that they are automatically a part of the gang because their fathers or mothers were members. This creates a vicious cycle, with each new generation growing up in the gang lifestyle.
Hayes says the key to breaking this cycle of gangs is intervention. He recommends mentoring and programs to make young people aware of the danger and downside of gang life, which often leads to an early death or prison.
To report gang activity or graffiti, call Detective Hayes at 444-2500.
CWE Neighborhood Safety Initiative James Partee also provided a neighborhood crime report at the meeting.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce will be the featured speaker at the next CWE Security Forum at 5:45 Wednesday, May 27 at Schlafly Library.