Gang bill dies untouched in committee

Quinton Tellis, accused in the burning death of Jessica Chambers, is a member of the Vice Lords street gang, according to his Facebook posts and Panola County authorities.

So is Johnny Robinson Jr., the man accused of shooting Clarksdale Police Cpl. Derrick Couch in the face, police said.

Micah Bostic, one of two suspects charged with capital murder in the death of Corinth convenience store clerk Christine Ledlow, is a Gangster Disciple, with the distinctive devil horns tattooed on his forehead that traditionally are worn only by shot callers.

Those are just three very recent instances, but they are not unique. From the coast to the Tennessee line, Mississippi law enforcement deals with gang-related and gang-motivated crime on a daily basis, according to the Mississippi Association of Gang Investigators.

Yet a bill aimed at curtailing and fighting gang crimes, based on a law in Georgia that has been successful for more than a decade, died in committee last week in the Mississippi Legislature. Among other things, Senate Bill 2206 would provide enhanced penalties to any verified gang member convicted of a crime, would help law enforcement categorize the crimes in order to keep statistics which could be instrumental in obtaining grant money, and would deny state aid to any verified gang member, including but not limited to food stamps, government housing and college scholarships.

SB 2206 died in Judiciary B committee last week. Committee Chairman Sen. Hob Bryan said he didn't even know the bill existed.

"No one has said a word to me about this bill," he said, adding that the drafting and introduction deadlines this year were "unconscionable."

Committee  Vice Chairman Sen. Chris McDaniel said he hadn't had a chance to read all of SB 2206, but that it seemed like something he'd probably be inclined to support.

"It makes sense as long as there's an adjudication of guilt," he said. "I'd actually support that very much."

Sen. Gray Tollison, who authored the bill, said it's not unusual for some legislation to take a few years to pass.

"We had a short timeline this session and a lot of legislation didn't get considered because we had moved up the timeline," he said. "Given the significant events with the Chambers case and others, I think there may be more impetus for us to consider it and talk to prosecutors and law enforcement about it."

Last year, a similar bill  stalled because of racial concerns, officials said. Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason said some people are going to play a race card when they don't like something regardless, but with gangs, it's not all about race.

"They’re not just black. Gangs are Asian, gangs are black, gangs are white, gangs are Irish, gangs are Latinos, gangs are Indians, they're everywhere," said Mason, who has studied gangs for more than 25 years and served at one time as JPD's gang task force leader. "The difference is how they carry themselves. If they carry themselves to commit violence, to commit crimes, and they label themselves with tattoos and monikers."

The heaviest gang population is in the corrections system, officials said. Quite a bit of gang business is directed from behind prison bars, but the main reason people join while incarcerated is to have a network for protection and communication.

"Once you enter the prison system, you’re going to be in a gang sooner or later," said Corinth Police Chief Ralph Dance.

MAGI officials are quick to point out that it's not against the law to be in a gang. It's against the law to break the law. Gang-related crime is committed by or against gang members, while gang-motivated crime is just that: gang motivated.

Yet it is still taboo in most jurisdictions to admit to a gang presence. Many city leaders are afraid admitting to gang activity could kill economic development, or could instill a sense of fear into their community. But not acknowledging that gangs are alive and well can endanger a population, law enforcement officers said.

"Deniability is only allowing them to get stronger in numbers," said MAGI Vice President Jimmy Anthony. "And gangs are not just a problem for the impoverished. There are doctors' and lawyers' children in gangs as well. The problem is a lack of parenting at home. I know of several influential people's children in gangs."

In the wake of Couch's shooting, Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett said legislation like SB 2206 could make a real difference in being able to curtail and discourage gang crime.

"Clarksdale has never hidden the fact that we have some gang members and gang activity," Luckett said, adding that his community would support enhanced penalties for gang crimes. "The chief has long advocated for that very type of legislation."

While many local jurisdictions in Mississippi don't have gang units — JPD's was dismantled in the 1990s — most of them keep their ear to the ground. Madison has been ranked one of the safest cities in the state, but Assistant Chief Robert Sanders said his officers are always listening to chatter.

"We have some intelligence units, and you're constantly gathering information," he said.

The presence of gangs is not just "on the streets," officials said. It can be closer to home than most people realize. It's in the schools, where many gang members are recruited as young as 12 or 13.

"The biggest thing to us is saving our children, not putting them in jail. I’ve seen too many 14-year-old kids throw their lives away for nothing because the gangs aren’t there for them like they promise they’ll be when they recruit them," said Anthony. "Not only are we losing our children to violence and corruption and the gang influence, they’re not receiving the full opportunity to be as productive as they could because the heavy influence of the gang life and violence is promoted in everything today."

There have even been documented cases of gang members infiltrating police departments in order to pass along information. Mason spoke of an officer who went through a training academy where Mason had been an instructor.

"After this guy graduated, he was conducting classes. He was showing gang guys how to take weapons from police officers, and he would have his radio on at night letting the gang boys hear which narcotics officers were going on duty, and what they were driving and where they lived," Mason said. "We presented that at that time to the commander of the academy, who took it to his chief and the guy later on got fired."

In the metro area, gangs are loosely affiliated, and there's a lot of crossover in business dealings, officials said. In many ways, it's more about neighborhoods than specifically organized gangs, though the affiliations do exist.

"I think we have the nucleus, we have the idea to promote that activity here. I think the violence is here. The colors may not be here, but the idea is here, and all it is about is guns and drugs and violence," said Mason. "I think most of (the violence) is drug-related. At one time, gang initiations were rampant, but I think a lot of these are drug-related crimes."

Jackson Police Department's recent crime stats show major crimes are down 18 percent from this time last year, with a 25 percent drop in property crime offset by an 18 percent rise in violent crime. A recent rise in carjackings overruled a 50 percent drop in homicides. But there's no way to tell from those statistics if any of them were committed by gang members. If local departments could document gang-related and gang-motivated crime with statistics, it could put them in line for grants that could fund training and equipment for gang units and other operations.

"Let’s start getting (a system of documentation)," Mason said. "Don’t say we don’t have a problem. If we can put it on paper and document that there’s a potential that it could help us with these crimes, and we can get it together. I just hope they let us come to the table and reason with us about getting more teeth on dealing with these crimes."

Legislators say the next time the bill can be discussed for passage is 2017.

A spokesman for Gov. Phil Bryant said the governor could back the bill in the future.

"The governor has always been supportive of measures that curb criminal behavior, including gang activity," said Director of Communications Clay Chandler.

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow @TRex21 on Twitter.