Violent/Hate Youth Groups In Rural Communities A Brief Overview of Challenges Facing Maine Jeff Morin JPM Jason Greenlaw PSW Mountain View Youth Development Center Take this opportunity to let people know what we are seeing in the state and a brief example of the intelligence we have with the opportunity to have a more in depth presentation

National Drug Intelligence Center Street Gang A group or association of three or more persons who may have a common identifying sign, symbol or name, and who individually or collectively engage in, or have engaged in, criminal activity, or as a juvenile commits an act that if committed by an adult would be a criminal act.

Incidents 2004-2005 Random Assaults in Old Port P-Town Soldiers Post Pictures on the Internet Drive-by Shooting in Portland Housing Complex Man Arrested for Gang Murders in Mass. Lieutenant in Crips (NY) Arrested in Waterville Stabbing at Cony High School The number of incidents that have taken place in the state since we returned and have started looking into this situation. There was also a report of some members of the P-Town Soldiers planning on some activity at the LCYDC that wasn’t in the news

Primary Rural Gang Activity Robbery Assaults Drug Sales Car Burglary Weapons Possession/Sales Destruction of Property

The Shift to Rural Areas Relocation of family members Avoid apprehension or prosecution Avoid retribution from rival gangs New criminal markets, higher profits Less street gang rivalry and competition Limited law enforcement resources and lack of knowledge Socio-economic reasons “Fresh start” Glamorization of “Gangsta” lifestyle

Traits of Rural Gangs Short lived Loosely structured Leadership changes frequently Lack of strong loyalty Property Crimes Crimes against the public “Followers” Lack of competition

Not Just A Male Problem Females are gang members Females are becoming violent Females engage in criminal activities Females sometimes gather intelligence and carry the weapons

Rural Gang Strategies There is No Magic Pill! Prevention Intervention Suppression

Prevention School Policies Community Programs Identification of At-Risk Youth Community/Parental Education School-Based Awareness Classes

Intervention Target Individual Deficits Teach Lacking Skills Family Interventions Focus on Strengths Mentoring

Suppression Targeted Law Enforcement Action Probation Juvenile Detention Prison Waiver, Transfer or Bind-Over Legislation

What Has Worked For Us Curiosity Interviewing Skills Utilization of Prevention and Intervention Resources Separation Education/Awareness When we were first confronted with the situation at hand, we really didn’t know what to do. We struggled with our responses, but a few things definitely didn’t work and a few things definitely did. One thing that didn’t work was putting our head in the sand and not being willing to call the situation a gang problem. What this did was keep the activity in the dark, not allowing us to label, identify, and actually target anything. Once we had enough, and started dealing with the group activities as potentially gang activities, we were much more effective in dealing with the residents, and calming the overall impression on the facility. Many people are worried that by giving them a name you give them identity and recognition. I can tell you by talking with other residents and students, they already have the identity and recognition from the people closest to them, their peers, long before we give them a label. Curiosity- be curious, when they give you something, ask about it, when you see something ask about it, don’t be afraid of what the answer might be, or that you will “know too much.” Interviewing skills- open ended questions with the goal of gathering information, not trying out your own theories Utilization of Prevention and Intervention Resources- There is a huge untapped resource of pro social community opportunities including arts and entertainment, sports, community activities etc. Separation- when people are in the beginning phases of identifying behaviors traits and influences sometimes the response needs to be boiled down to its most basis solution of separation with the real work starting later. Education and awareness- it always amazes me that there is so much information out there within state agencies and institutions regarding groups and gang activity. The problem is the information lies in pockets, and there is very little sharing of this information. Schools, Probation officers, Resource Officers, etc, even DOC facilities are not sharing information. This is very important in order to identify specific struggles in the state, and realize that this is a rural state and people do move and what is an Eastern Maine problem today may very easily turn into a Southern Maine problem tomorrow.

Maine? Crips Bloods Latin Kings Neta Tiny Rascals Gang FSU Surenos 13 Maine Elements TRU Urban Boys for Life Underground Thugs The Portland Boys P-Town Soldiers/Bitches Unauthorized Outlaws East Side Til I Die The question is Maine? Many people have a hard time believing that there may be gang problems in this state and in rural areas. We as a facility and a department held some of these same illusions when we were first confronted with the idea there may be people engaging in gang activity in the facility. We were able to take some training and talk with police, teachers, communities, probation officers, parents, residents, a number of people and what we found was there was a connection to a number of known gangs within the state of Maine. This includes the list above. On the left is the more “known” gangs that have been active in this state. Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, Neta, TRG, all have been active within the MSP, FSU is big in Boston and the Mass area, and also is big in the Southern part of the state. Surenos 13 is one of the biggest and fastest growing Hispanic groups, and there is a resident at MVYDC that is claiming membership with this organization, complete with the right intelligence about the group, and the correct tattoos. The groups on the right are what we tend to call local, scavenger or neighborhood gangs. Maine Elements has caused us the most problems to this point, TRU was a spin off of the Maine Elements. Urban boys for Life comes out of the Augusta area and it was a member of this group that was involved in that school stabbing in Cony HS last year. Underground Thugs are an older group of people that are mostly in Jail at this time. Some of the members of the Maine Element have older brothers that were in the Underground Thugs and are “carrying on the family tradition.” We did have a resident who was claiming membership into this group from the facility. The Portland Boys, P-Town Soldiers, and P-Town Builders are all from the Portland area. The Soldiers and Bitches are the most active at this time. There were two of the soldiers being held at the Long Creek Facility and there were some valid security concerns when they were there. Unauthorized Outlaws is a group that is active in the Rockland Area, it is unknown if they are active now as they once were. East Side Til I die is relatively new to us, and is apparently mostly Native Americans in the Pleasant Point Area.

Maine Element Maine Element Leadership chart removed during a room search at MVYDC Here is an example of some Maine Element intelligence that we found while doing a room search on the unit. This was a good piece of information because it gave us some insight into how organized this group is and what they use to measure their members. This is also interesting because of the information it gives us with regards to the resident that wrote it. According to a person at the state prison, this person is somewhat confused because he uses the terms “soldiers” which he says is typically used by members of Folk Nation, but further down the page, there is mention of “recruiting People” and if it was clearly a member of Folk, he would not use the word People. It does show some leadership and some structure for this group, and that needs to be considered when working with these individuals.

Surenos 13

UGT Latin Kings

TRU Tagging/Graffiti

Types of Rural Gangs Homegrown Transplanted Formed for social support Informal structure Impulsive Transplanted Leadership is imported “Soldiers” are typically local More formal structure

Hate

White Supremacy

Contact Information Jeff Morin 207-285-0730 Jeff.Morin@maine.gov Jason Greenlaw 207-285-0731 Jason.Greenlaw@maine.gov