An anti-gang program will be taught in Columbus, Groveport-Madison and South-Western schools this year.

Suburban News Publications

12/19/2007

By ROSEMARY KUBERA

Inner city gangs don’t stay home. Members sometimes venture out to sell drugs, invade homes and steal cars.

Of 97 gangs known to operate in Franklin County, some have emerged in suburban middle and high schools. At least two gangs of girls exist locally, along with hate groups and motorcycle clubs, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s office.

Fourth- and sixth-grade students are the target age group for an anti-gang program taught by sheriff’s deputies. GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) is on the schedule this year in the Columbus, Groveport-Madison and South-Western school districts.

“We tell kids you need to recognize that a group that always wears the same colors — you might want to resist whatever they want to talk to you about.” said Cpl. Jason Ronk.

“They’ll say, ‘Do you want to be friends with our group?’ One of their selling tactics is, ‘We will protect you,’ ” said Ronk.

“They recruit them as young as 8 or 9 years old,” said Deputy Shawn Boyd.

Once involved, children are required to participate in criminal activity or risk being beaten.

“We go into different schools and no matter where, there is at least some sort of gang activity,” said Boyd.

“These gang members are still kids. At shopping malls on Friday and Saturday nights, you will see some of these kids hanging out there,” said Boyd.

Students can run into trouble when they imitate gang-style clothing.

“There are a lot of kids getting hurt. They are shot at or beat up because they were wearing a hat or color of clothes. Gang members will attack if they know the person is wearing their signs but is not a member, or if they think the person is a member of a rival gang,” said Deputy Charley Brown.

The rival gangs the Bloods and the Crips are national gangs with local ties to the area.

Locally, Deuce Deuce Bloods is the largest gang and it operates throughout Franklin County. Its signs are the color red, the number 5, the five-point star, hat cocked to the left side, tattoos on the left side, and the left leg of the pants rolled up. Blue is the right-side-favoring Crips’ color.

Deputies use the terms popup or hybrid to describe new gangs that organize mostly in middle and high schools. Some of these use the names Blood or Crip, but they are not affiliated with the national gangs.

Local examples of popup gangs include the Avery Hoods in Hilliard and SAF in Whitehall, deputies said.

Many parents and even educators don’t recognize gang symbols, deputies said.

Deputies recently spotted the phrase “BK for Life” on a student’s notebook at a Clintonville middle school. BK stands for “Blood Killer.” The boy also allegedly had written, “Crip all day.”

“The teachers didn’t recognize it,” said Brown.

In the antigang program, children are encouraged to take ownership of their neighborhood, community and school and to resist violence with words.

“The course is about how to develop self-confidence,” said Brown.

Deputies give students practical advice.

“Get involved with friends who are not in gangs. Travel in groups because there is safety in numbers. Get involved in activities at school because a small percentage of students will be in gangs,” said Brown.

A gang awareness program for adults, titled New Age, is available from the sheriff’s office, along with the children’s antidrug program, DARE.

For more information call 614-462-4507.

Gangs operating in local suburbs

Gangs known to exist in Central Ohio, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s office, include:

* County-wide: Deuce Deuce Bloods

* Bexley: Miller Ell Bloods, Fairwood and Livingston Bloods

* Clintonville: Web Girls and Web Boys in the Weber Road area; Short North Posse near the Ohio State University campus

* Dublin: Some Crips, occasional local gangs in high schools.

* East Columbus: Surenos; Fairwood and Livingston Bloods; Brittany Hills Posse; Elaine Gangster Crips; Miller Ells Bloods; MOB

* Grandview Heights: Windsor Terrace Posse

* German Village: MS 13, Southfield Crips

* Gahanna: Crips

* Grove City: East Haven Bloods, Nortenos, Surenos

* Groveport: East Haven Bloods; Fairwood and Livingston Bloods; BDP; MS 13

* Hilliard: Avery Hoods, Confederate Cowboys

* Northwest Columbus: Possibly Crips and Bloods; graffiti for both has been seen in the Bethel Road area

* Reynoldsburg: New Breed Mafia, some Crips

* West Columbus, Galloway: Avengers Outlaw Motorcycle gang; Nortenos; Surenos; Gangster Disciples; Get It Girls; ABG; N&S; 614 Boys

* Westerville: Surenos, some Crips

* Whitehall: 7 K; 9 Millimeters; SAF; MS 13; some Crips.

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