MS law enforcement agencies speak on successes of Operation Unified, announce phase two
NEWS

Gang wars: Officials say resources needed to fight gangs

Therese Apel
The Clarion-Ledger

Recent criminal cases seem to indicate Mississippi has a significant gang presence, and authorities — from local sheriffs to the governor — are pushing for more resources and focus to combat them.

Madison County narcotics investigators check out suspected gang-related graffiti on the side of a building July 6 in Canton.

In Hattiesburg Sunday, Jamarcus Pettigrew, an alleged gang member, turned himself in, becoming the last of four now in custody in the November 2014 shooting death of  Nathaniel Alexander. Pettigrew, along with Brandon McNair, Jawan Davis and Geino Payne, was indicted on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and criminal street gang activity. Another 11 defendants were charged with other crimes related to the case. Of those, 14 were charged with "criminal gang activity," a charge that Hattiesburg police spokesman Lt. Jon Traxler said is used fairly regularly by investigators. It's unclear if the last defendant has been indicted on the gang charges.

"You use that statute anytime you have at least three or four people who are involved in some way together with a crime that is a felony and you can show they have some tie to an organized group that might be referred to as a gang, or affiliated — they have different names for that," Traxler said.

In a George County courtroom on Tuesday, Latin Kings gang member Josh Vallum admitted he killed transgender teen Mercedes Williamson in 2015. Prosecutors said Vallum killed Williamson with a hammer and a knife because he didn't want his fellow gang members to find out about their relationship because of strict gang rules against homosexuality.

On Friday, Quinton Tellis, an alleged member of the Insane Vice Lords gang, will face arraignment in the 2014 burning death of Panola County teen Jessica Chambers. Late last year, Operation Bite Back targeted gang crime in Panola County as a spinoff of the investigation into Chambers' death.

SEE ALSO: Gang bill dies untouched in committee

In April, a federal jury in the Northern District of Mississippi convicted two members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Mississippi gang for their participation in various criminal acts, including racketeering, conspiracy, methamphetamine production and trafficking, kidnapping, murder and other federal offenses, ending a two-and-a-half-year investigation and prosecution which resulted in the convictions of 42 members and associates of the gang.

Gov. Phil Bryant said he is hoping to start a gang strike force that would bring together law enforcement resources on a federal, state and local level. He points to the fact that gang activity usually accompanies other crimes such as drugs and human trafficking. Getting a handle on gang crime, he said, is a long-term team effort.

"Trying to get society to understand that this is not something that should be admired or something that should be of movies and song," he said. "This is a dangerous, organized crime element that exists and brings most of the drugs into our communities, and law enforcement assets have to be made available. The Legislature is going to have to be able to support cities — whose budgets are already strained, and with law enforcement officers already having a difficult time — to bring more assets to bear on the gang problems that exist there," Bryant said.

MORE HERE: Gang related: 4 charged in Meridian shooting

Some local officials are very open about the fact that there is a gang presence in their community. Some are less likely to talk about it. But gang investigators around the state say if you have drugs in your community, you have gangs.

"And if you have gangs, you have guns," said Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason.

Gang members have been known in recent years to come from the military and to infiltrate police departments, using tactics and information they learn there to both outsmart and confront law enforcement and rival gangs, officials said. Mason said he saw that himself when he taught a class at a police department a while back.

"After this guy graduated, he was conducting classes, he was showing gang guys how to take weapons from police officers," he said. "And he would have his radio on at night letting gang boys hear which narcotics officers were going on duty and what they were driving and where they lived."

Mason said he and other law enforcement have seen the growing gang problem coming since as early as the mid-1980s.

Jimmy Anthony, Mississippi Association of Gang Investigators vice president, agreed. "The time for deniability is past. We've got to face the problem at hand and implement the laws that need to be put there to deal with the situations as they are arising."

RELATED: Sheriff: "Known" gang members arrested in Rankin Co.

Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett said a large portion of the crime in his city is gang-related.

"What I'm troubled with is the gangs and the drug sales and all that goes with that," he said. "It includes retaliations for some violation or non-payment or turf war or territorialism, and that's what's prompted some of the homicides here."

Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber, after a march against crime recently, said he spoke with some men who had been affiliated with gangs several years ago.

"I ended up having a really good conversation with some guys who were part of the real gang presence in the city of Jackson in the late '80s and early '90s, and according to them, it's something we really need to start thinking about and taking seriously," Yarber said. "These are the guys who are out there every day. They’re making a difference and these are the guys we’re going to listen to."

Mason, who has reached out to the FBI, is working to develop a gang task force in his department now and said he will be educating his deputies and investigators in what to look for.

While a lot of gangs work loosely in groups, sometimes collaborating in business with others who are close by geographically, the structure within the prisons and jails around the state is still fairly intact, officials said.

"That's all I have in my jail," Mason said. "I'm housing the Gangsters and I'm housing the Vice Lords, and I can't separate them according to their gang affiliation."

Bryant said the presence of gangs in schools must also be addressed.

"You see one child whose brother is in a gang, and he’s bringing those signs to school. He’s becoming the cool guy. This is very threatening to our society as a whole, but also teachers I’ve talked to who are fearful of being assaulted in their own classrooms," Bryant said. "This is a very organized crime that young people unfortunately think is cool. They have these signs, and even rap music too often supports it."

It's unacceptable, he said.

"You talk about that term 'gangsters — I’m a gangster so I’m a real cool guy.' No, you're not. You’re breaking the law," Bryant said. "You’re threatening the lives of innocent citizens, so society has to make its mind up that this is not acceptable. Being a gangster and in a gang is not what you want for your child."

Bryant said Wednesday that the gang task force will be on the legislative agenda in 2017.

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.