CHESTER -- Community leaders, school
administrators and law enforcement officers won't tolerate juvenile gang
violence in Chester, and they say they plan to try to curtail gang
activity before it escalates.
Within the past six months, police have pinpointed several "community
gangs" -- so named because of their affiliation with different
communities, Chester Police Chief Mike Brown said.
Police have identified the groups by wall graffiti. The alleged gangs
have names such as E-Block, from East Chester, and the RoundTree Circle
Gang, a rival group located just outside the city limits, Brown said.
Another group is known as the Ashford Street Gang.
A public meeting on the issue will be 3 p.m. today at Metropolitan
AME Church, 182 York St.
Members range in age from 12 to 20 and have been involved in five
major assaults in the past 40 days, Brown said. Police also have
evidence that larger, more organized gangs have come into the city, they
say.
"We've got information that Crips gang members from Greenville have
come in to try and recruit some of our kids in Chester," Brown said.
"There have been assaults and threats made by people who claim to be
gang members. There also has been pressure to force others to join these
gangs."
Police don't know the reason for the gang violence. But Brown has
reassigned one officer who is devoted entirely to fighting gang
violence, he said.
The problem needs to be addressed now because more kids are banding
together, said Chester City Councilman George "Ben" Guy.
"A lot of people think we are targeting black youth," Guy said. "I
don't want to arrest these kids, but I want to save them. It's getting
to be more violent now, and some adults are afraid to walk their streets
because of these kids."
Some gang clothing includes light pink and red colors, Brown said.
Gang members also sometimes wear bandanas on their arms and heads. Some
members have body tattoos of their gang names, Brown said.
So far, the problems have remained in the neighborhoods and have not
spilled into the schools, local principals say.
School officials want to get more students involved in after-school
homework labs and other academic activities, they say.
There have been rumors of the outside gang violence but no incidents
at Chester Middle School, Principal Douglas Harrison said. In his 11
years as principal, he's never experienced gang violence at his school,
he said.
"We're not lenient on any type of misbehavior," Harrison said. "It's
not tolerated in any shape, form or fashion."
The problem mostly has involved a younger crowd, said Chester High
Principal Curtis Dunbar. But nevertheless it's still everyone's problem,
he said.
"It is an issue that the community as a whole needs to work on,"
Dunbar said. "It's not a school or police issue but a community
issue."
Denyse Clark • 329-4069
mailto:dclark@heraldonline.com
