Moderns gangs hide insignia; local gang activity down

GAINESVILLE - The modern gang member is no longer sporting head-to-toe colors or lots of tattoos, according to the Associated Press.<br /> <br /> An article released earlier this week by the AP said that modern gangs were taking more to white collar crime, social media, and hiding their insignia.<br /> <br /> Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad Supervisor Lt. Scott Ware said the trends noted in the article are not just national, and active gangs in Hall County have been decreasing since the early 2000's.<br /> <br /> "The trends that we've seen locally tend to parallel with what people are reporting nationally and that is people aren't necessarily displaying their colors or their tattoos as obviously as they were 10 or 15 years ago," said Ware.<br /> <br /> "I can't say that I specifically have seen people have their tattoos removed, but I can definitely say that the clothing, the outwardly dressing, prominently displaying their colors or dressing the same to identify [themselves] as a particular gang, we don't see that at all anymore."<br /> <br /> Ware said gangs, however, were on the decrease in the county. <br /> <br /> "We've got about four gangs that would be considered on active status, possibly totalling 140, 150 members, as opposed to up to 40 gangs with 400 or 500 members which we had at some point in the early 2000's," said Ware. <br /> <br /> "I'd like to say [the decrease] was due to our pro-active and aggressive approach to let the message be know that gangs aren't tolerated in Gainesville and Hall County," Ware said. "But I don't know if that's specifically the reason."<br /> <br /> As for modern gang members committing more white-collar crimes, Ware said that was not so much the case in Hall County.<br /> <br /> "We haven't necessarily seen our local gang members committing white collar crimes," said Ware. "The crimes that they commit have stayed relatively the same." Ware said that included, but were not limited to, vandalism, theft, entering autos and burglaries.<br /> <br /> Gang members declaring their status on social media has become mainstream, according to the AP article. Ware noted that social media was "an excellent tool" his agents used and was not limited to just gang cases.<br /> <br /> Ware said that Georgia's gang laws have helped in decreasing gangs. "The Gang Act, which is an extra charge and carries extra sentencing and weight in regards to gang member that are convicted of certain crimes," he said. "I think the law has been very supportive."<br /> <br /> Lastly, Ware said if community members see what they think is gang activity to call law enforcement or leave an anonymous tip. <br /> <br /> A link to the AP story is linked below.