Out of the Shadows: Part 1 Gangs of Wayne
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on December 10, 2016 11:06 PM
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Full SizeGoldsboro and Wayne County are home to higher-than-average levels of gang activity when compared to cities of similar size across North Carolina.
Federal Bureau of Investigations Task Force Officer and Wayne County Sheriff's Office deputy Matt Miller said the county as a whole, including the municipalities in it, has around 21 gangs operating at any given time.
"We are a little higher but not abnormally high," Miller said. "We're higher than most cities our size. I think we're the fourth or fifth most dangerous city in the state."
Miller was hesitant to assign a firm figure to the number of validated gang members in the county, saying the number fluctuates too frequently to pin down, but Goldsboro Police Department Gang Officer Walter Howard confirmed before Thanksgiving there are 254 identified gang members in Goldsboro alone.
Police Chief Mike West admits the department downplayed the presence and strength of gangs in the past.
By failing to attack the problem head-on ---- the department developed a view of many of the cities gangs as being comprised of "wannabes," and said so under previous administrations ---- the issue was allowed to fester.
"Maybe we convinced ourselves we didn't have a gang problem. We've got gangs, we've had gangs since I've been here for 24 years," West said.
"I think we said it so much as not to alarm the citizens, maybe we actually started believing we didn't have a gang problem."
West said the department has redoubled it's efforts. The gang officer was able to identify so many gang members in around six months, he said, because the department were aided by probation and parole in the process.
The main gangs operating in the area are Bloods, Crips, Sureños and Gangster Disciples, though there are more, and each gang is made up of its own sets, Miller said.
These four gangs all fall under what Miller said is classified as a traditional gang -- one that has a regional or national affiliation and abides by the same set of rules across the board.
Additionally, there are non-traditional and hybrid gangs. Non-traditional gangs are sets which have no ties to larger regional or national gangs. Hybrids are organizations that start out as non-traditional gangs but align themselves with larger gangs, such as the Bloods or the Crips, as they grow in size and power.
Miller said the Sureños, a predominantly Hispanic gang with national ties, are "very active" in the area.
"They're very active, but you don't hear about it because the crimes are against other Hispanic individuals," Miller said. "A lot of Hispanics have a disconnect with law enforcement. Sometimes they'll rob a store, and they won't even call us, but we'll hear about it later."
Miller added that Sureños are a sophisticated, well-organized gang that follow strict rules and disciplines.
Throughout the county, Dudley is primarily populated by Bloods, Fremont and Mount Olive are primarily Crips, though there are different sets, and Goldsboro is divided between Bloods and Crips, said both Miller and Howard.
Miller said Bloods have the highest number of members, with Crips making up for their lack of size with violence. Sureños primarily keep to themselves unless someone crosses them, he added.
In Goldsboro alone, there are 12 sets of Crips and 17 sets of Bloods, according to Howard.
While Goldsboro investigators continue to gather intelligence and identify gang members, Miller said he is more general when designating the number of gangs. He includes all sets of various organizations under one umbrella unless those two sets are not getting along.
And when gangs are actively warring, it matters.
"I had one guy -- he's a Crip -- he told me he'd rather be dropped off in Iraq than in the south side of the city (Goldsboro) when they (Bloods and Crips) aren't getting along," Miller said.
Requests for the number of gang members in cities around the state with similar population sizes to Goldsboro -- including Kannapolis, Hickory, Apex, Indian Trail, Kinston, Salisbury and Monroe -- were all either denied or not processed as of press time.
The sheriff's office is implementing enforcement strategies to curb gang activity in the county.
Recently, Miller said, the sheriff's office obtained a $25,000 grant to help pay overtime to deputies working to combat gang activity.
This money will allow deputies to go into gang-infested and crime-ridden areas two to three times per week and address the issues there, Miller said.
West said the Police Department also received around $25,000 as part of the same $50,000 grant from the state, which will be used to purchase equipment that will aid the officers and deputies working overtime to curb Goldsboro and Wayne County's gang problem.
The equipment combined with the ability to pay overtime will create a proactive unit that can ideally curb gang activity before it happens, instead of being reactive.
"We're going to go at it together," West said.
Examples of the equipment being purchased that West has signed off on includes binoculars, a camera, a computer and office supplies that will all be used to conduct surveillance on gang members.
Conducting surveillance on gang members is not an invasion of privacy, West said.
"It's not like we're going to be sitting out in the street videotaping them," West said.
West added that police will seek to use intervention strategies in schools to prevent children from joining gangs and will also intervene and try to give people a way out of the gang life.
"We want to put a heavier emphasis on getting into these schools, getting in there with these younger people that haven't made that jump into the gang lifestyle but just simply by where they're growing up, where they live, who they interact with, there's a possibility they will end up going down that road," West said. "Even the ones that are in gangs, if they choose to get out of the gang, we will offer them the resource and the means to help them get out."