Officers discuss gangs
Gangs have imbedded themselves in Rutherford County schools, and have shown early signs of forming here in Warren County, according to local school officials.
To give parents and educators a better idea of what to look for regarding gang activity, a Gang Awareness Seminar was held Tuesday at Warren County Middle School led by two Rutherford County deputies.
‘Being in a gang is not against the law,’ said Rutherford County deputy Phil Brooks, a school resource officer at Riverdale High School. ‘It’s what you do in a gang that can be against the law.’
Brooks said a gang is defined as three or more people wearing the same colors who are involved in criminal activity. Brooks emphasized that colors, certain symbols and even some tattoos are an easy way to identify a person as a gang member.
Brooks said the two main gangs, the Bloods and the Crips, have a presence in Murfreesboro. Brooks said he encountered a potentially nasty gang situation at Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville where he went to shop with his family.
‘I walked in with my family and we got about 50 feet and I said, ‘Honey, we have to leave right now,’ said Brooks. ‘There were about 20 Bloods and 20 Crips and they were staring at each other.’
Since Brooks has been to national seminars on gangs and deals with them almost daily at Riverdale, he says it’s easy for him to spot gang members when he’s around Murfreesboro. For regular parents, he says the job is not so easy.
‘The best information I can give you is to be involved in your child’s life,’ said Brooks, one of 41 school resource officers in the Murfreesboro area. ‘Go to their soccer games, their baseball games. Talk to them for five or 10 minutes a night. Know what they’re doing.’
Brooks said bandanas have long been the telltale sign of gang activity so gang members have now switched to beads instead. Brooks advised parents and educators to pay attention to what is being doodled in notebooks because those drawings could reveal gang involvement.
Also, certain sports logos and sports apparel are associated with gangs. Wearing a cap crooked, or to one side, is also a sign.
‘We’re not saying every kid who wears a shirt with a sports team is representing a gang,’ said deputy Robert Arnold, a school resource officer at one of the Murfreesboro’s two alternative schools who joined Brooks in giving the presentation. ‘Some are and some aren’t.’
Traditional gangs like the Crips and the Bloods only allow black members. However, there are all sorts of hybrid gangs that allow white members. There are also all-Hispanic gangs, Brooks said.
‘These people aren’t stupid,’ said Brooks. ‘They have a hierarchy and some of them even have an application.’
Brooks said gangs fought over turf in the early days. Now he says some longtime rivals have joined forces because they can make more money working together.
Locally, gangs have established much less of a presence than in bigger Middle Tennessee cities. But that doesn’t mean we should not be aware of the possibilities, according to District Attorney Lisa Zavogiannis.
‘It’s not as big of a problem here,’ said Zavogiannis. ‘But we’re close to Murfreesboro and if it can come to Murfreesboro, it can come here.
‘We have to be vigilant, and as parents we have to pay attention to our kids and what they’re doing. But I don’t see it as one of the major problems in our community.’