Springfield's Elephant In The Room

Our town’s gang members can be rich kids, they can be white and they can be women. And law enforcement says community indifference is the biggest reason gang crime could go up.

You probably wouldn’t think twice about the long sleeves Thomas wears, even in summer. Under those sleeves, however, is a tattoo of a three-pointed crown. That’s one of the symbols of the Gangster Disciples, a gang from Chicago’s South Side. As I talk to him from across a little metal cocktail table in a downtown Springfield nightclub, Thomas (not his real name), 24, says he grew up as a G.D. Yet he often covers up those G.D. markings. He says he was never directly involved in gang activity. He’s a second-generation member; his father was a G.D. before him. Experts say that for many second-generation members, gang affiliation is a matter of identity, not violence; Thomas says he’s one of these.

The presence of gangs in Springfield was a heated—and complicated—issue in 2006, as crimes thought to be gang-related went up: Springfield Police Chief Lynn Rowe told the Associated Press that during the first half of 2006, burglaries increased 24 percent from the first half of 2005. Aggravated assaults increased 11 percent, and robberies were up 18 percent.

Some claim the problem is not as big as talking heads and the media would lead you to believe. Others say it’s a problem ignored by law enforcement for far too long. When Green County Prosecutor Darrell Moore convened a grand jury to investigate, the numbers told a tale: 84 indictments were handed down from August to December. More than 250 gang members were detected in Springfield. (Of course, grand juries determine if enough evidence exists for a trial; they do not issue criminal verdicts. Nor is gang membership in itself a crime: The right of citizens to peaceably assemble is enshrined in the First Amendment. Gang activity can be illegal when crime is committed.)

With the grand jury now discharged, the degree of its impact remains to be seen.

Gangs in Springfield?
Thomas is a kinder, gentler version of the kind of person Springfield police say is part of the problem: a young transplant from a major city with ties to gangs back home. Rowe, as well as officers who patrol the street for gang activity, say this is the kind of person who is often the starting point. Once they move to town, they recruit new members from Springfield. Moore says the greatest number of gang members coming into the city now come from East St. Louis.

Such migration is not new. In 1994, about two dozen Gangster Disciples known as the Chicago Boys moved into Springfield. The group was arrested with the help of programs such as Crime Stoppers, a local anonymous-tip hotline. For years the reports of gang activity were few; in 2006, more cropped up. Moore says there were reports last spring of “gang signs” (coded hand gestures) at Battlefield Mall. In October, residents near some Springfield public schools started reporting people moving into apartments and paying the rent in cash, says Silvia Persky, associate director of the Community Partnership of the Ozarks.
Although cash payment is not illegal, for Springfield police, it was a potential red flag: You can track someone’s rent check; it’s harder to track cash. When more reports of drug sales came from schools, Moore says Springfield police concluded that gang members were establishing drug-sales territories. Then Moore impaneled a grand jury last August to investigate, and, Rowe and Moore hoped, order indictments.

Where It’s From
Street gangs date back almost to the country’s existence, but modern gangs emerged in the early ’70s. The Los Angeles Black Panthers splintered into the Crips and Bloods, which remain two of the nation’s largest, most powerful gangs, says Steve Nawojczyk (nah-VOY-chek), a gangs expert who spoke to more than 450 people at University Plaza Convention Center last November. Then smaller gangs across the nation formed alliances to match the Crips’ and Bloods’ size and power. Among those were the Folk Nation and People Nation, both Chicago-based.

Gangs began showing up in pop culture in the ’80s. News reports portrayed gang violence, but the rise of gangsta rap in the late ’80s and films such as 1991’s Boyz n’ the Hood put the lifestyle at the forefront of youth culture. The result was twofold. Gang life, despite its violence, was given big-screen, major-label play. And suburban and rural Americans got their first (stereotypical and incomplete) look at modern street gangs.

What the Grand Jury Found
When the grand jury closed its fifth and final session in mid-December, the picture painted by its 84 indictments didn’t match those Boyz n’ the Hood stereotypes. According to the evidence presented by Moore’s office, the profile of gang members in Springfield has little in common with what is seen in big cities. There, gang activity is most often found among low-income, minority communities. In Springfield, Moore says the grand jury found that white people, middle- and upper-class kids and women were involved. Gang activity was found all over the city, not just on the north and west sides. Moore says he’s pleased with the grand jury’s immediate effect on gang activity, but he says he could reconvene it if needed. “When the presiding judge [Don Burrell] asked how long the grand jury would be needed, I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Moore says.

Is There Reason To Worry?
According to Moore and Rowe, there is. Moore says he doesn’t want to see the community develop a false sense of security (although he has taken tough criticism from people who see his actions as helping to do just that). Moore thinks just because the grand jury is gone doesn’t mean gangs are. In fact, as the grand jury wrapped up its last session, drive-by shootings were reported in Springfield, including two on the 2100 block of South Delaware Avenue alone. That’s almost a half mile south of Sunshine Street, very close to the Springfield National Cemetery.

Because there wasn’t enough evidence that those shootings were gang-related, Moore couldn’t keep the grand jury in session, he says. Although Moore rates the current gang presence in Springfield as “a four or five” on a scale of one to 10, he says it’s important to resolve the issue. Once shootings become retaliatory, innocent bystanders could get hurt. “The bullet coming through that window will be indiscriminate,” Moore says.

Moore believes the best barometer for whether or not the grand jury and police efforts have succeeded will come this summer. Drug sales tend to go up when warmer weather returns, so Springfield Police and the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office will compare this summer’s activity to last summer’s. Even if arrests go down, don’t expect a sigh of relief from local authorities. They say they’ve learned from the Chicago Boys episode in 1994: Gangs may live quietly in Springfield, but they’ll never completely go away.

Gang Expertise

Steve Nawojczyk, the Little Rock–based gangs expert featured in HBO’s America Undercover documentary Gang War: Bangin’ In Little Rock, is scheduled to speak to local groups February 7 to 9 on a visit sponsored by the Community Partnership of the Ozarks and its donors to the tune of about $10,000.

• Nawojczyk (nah-VOY-chek) will visit the nine Springfield public middle and high schools he didn’t visit in November.
• A luncheon will take place February 7 to help school counselors learn how to advise their students.
• A course titled “Street Gang Dynamics”—how to recognize gang recruiting, hand signs and other evidence—will be given to members of youth-focused organizations February 8. The course is likely to be closed to the public.
• For more information, call the Community Partnership of the Ozarks at 417-888-2020.