Violence Rising among Young Gang Members
Immaturity Blocks Understanding of Actions and Consequences, Police and Social Workers Say
By Dan Morse
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Twice this year, police say, Montgomery County teens as young as 14 took part in gang-related attacks that left one man dead of a stab wound to his heart and one dead with a stab wound to his head.
"We're seeing the level of violence get younger and younger," said Montgomery police Sgt. Chuck Welch, head of the county's gang unit, describing the array of cases he has worked on in the past year.
Many young gang members share this much with other teenagers: They're not mature enough to fully grasp the relationship between action and consequence, police and social workers say. Instead of skipping class and failing geometry, though, they are taking part in crimes that turn fatal and facing decades in prison.
"They don't have the reasoning abilities of an adult," Welch said.
In terms of overall crime in the county, gang members commit a relatively small slice -- less than 2 percent, police estimate -- and young gang members commit less still.
But their deepening capacity for violence is cause for worry, Welch said. It indicates that teenagers increasingly are heeding gang leaders' promises of status, protection and being part of a family.
"They're starting to buy into that whole mythology," Welch said.
Police have identified 1,207 gang members in Montgomery and 33 active gangs.
To try to steer young people from gangs, Welch and others work with groups such as Gaithersburg-based Identity Inc., which helps Hispanic youths. Identity provides after-school programs at nine county schools; helps organize backpacking trips and kayaking lessons; and is the lead agency of the Crossroads Youth Opportunity Center, in Takoma Park, which offers social-skills building, tattoo removal and mental health services.
On Monday, three young men working at Identity's headquarters for the summer offered reasons why they think other youths are drawn to gangs.
Oscar Lemus, 20, said kids see gangs portrayed in movies and begin imitating the characters. That can lead to verbal confrontations, which can erupt in fights and ignite ever-escalating violence.
"The problems never stop," added Sergio Reyes, 20.
He said if a teenager's parents don't listen to him or he doesn't get along with them, he might be enticed by a gang. For some kids, gang leaders offer something parents might not: a simple "How are you doing? How have you been?"
Jose Lovos, 17, said some kids don't have "a lot of guys to chill with, so they look for a group." They say they join for protection, Lovos said, but he suspects that is more of an after-the-fact justification.
"If they're not in gangs, or not in trouble, they don't have anything to fear," Lovos said.
Welch said Hispanic gangs tend to recruit Hispanic members. One reason: They can threaten them with retaliation against relatives in their native countries through contacts there. He said such actions are a logistical and management challenge, but many gang leaders are up to the task.
"If they spent half the time at being something legitimate, they'd probably be very successful," Welch said.
Gangs with African American leaders tend to be more open to whites, Hispanics and Asians, Welch said. "They'll take all. They're looking for numbers."
As for the parents of young gang members, some are juggling two or three jobs and can't be home after school. Or they might not see the first tiny signs of gang involvement, such as wearing certain clothes, as a marker of trouble.
"Like we all do," Welch said. "You might hope, 'It's just a phase.' "
Welch advises parents to be blunt with their teenagers: Who are your friends? I want to meet them. Are you in a gang? Why are you in a gang?
"I'd go right at them," Welch said.
He said the young gang members he deals with fall into two camps.
In one are the kids who recently joined to be part of a group. All of a sudden, someone in the gang tells them to commit a crime, which they do without necessarily thinking about the consequences.
