Plans in place to keep significant problems at bay



Staff Writer



PICKENS COUNTY - Gangs are fast becoming a problem in Pickens County with several gangs becoming active in and around Easley, said Detective John Brock.



"Right now, we are seeing more vandalism than violence," Brock said. "We have seen minimal violence over the past two years.



Brock said that most of Easley's drug trafficking problems stem from gangs.



"We're right here in the middle of everything - Pickens County, Georgia, North Carolina," he said. "Highway 123 runs from the other side of Greenville to Atlanta, and is heavily traveled."



Although Liberty hasn't seen a significant increase in gang-related problems, Police Chief Leland "Corky" Miller said that his department is continuing to be proactive in keeping the city free of criminal gangs.



"Gangs are not here yet," Miller said. "But we are educating our school resource officers on gang identification and are being pro-active in doing whatever we can do in keeping it out of our schools and our community."



Pickens County Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan said that so far most of the activity relating to gangs has been confined to tagging, or spray-painting various areas, including a ball field and a railroad underpass.



"As far as violent actions, it seems to be all around us," Morgan said. "We are taking very definitive steps to keep this out of Pickens County."



So is the Easley Police Department which started tracking gang-related crimes in connection with the state's 2007 Criminal Gang Prevention Act, Brock said.



"Right now, we are keeping track of anyone with ties to or is affiliated in any way to a gang," he said. "Everyone (in the department) is documenting gang activity and identifying people associating with gang members. Road patrol is good at identifying problems and passing that information along."



Several gangs identified in Easley include the Bloods, SUR-13, Folk, and several Crips-affiliated gangs, which includes Rasta, he said.



"The SUR-13 is an offset of Mar Salvatruchia, MS-13," Brock said. "This is a Hispanic gang and can be very violent,"



Some of Easley gangs are filtering in through Greenville, he said.



"These kids get kicked out of Greenville County schools and come to Pickens County schools," he said. "Of course, they don't stay around long, just long enough to recruit a few students."



Just recently, some gang-related violence erupted in Easley, but Brock said due to an ongoing investigation and the involvement of juveniles, he couldn't talk about the incident.



"We are just trying to stay on top of everything," he said. "We are doing the best we can in getting a handle on these (gang-related) incidents,"



In addition to documenting and reporting all identified activity related to gangs, and watching those associating with known gang members, Brock said that the EPD is trying to educate the community in gang awareness by speaking at various community functions.



An important factor in fighting the problems associated with gang activity is citizens identifying gang activity and then reporting it to law enforcement, Brock said.



"Everybody has a problem with gangs, but most people don't think we do," he said.



Liberty's Miller said that about four years ago, the department saw some criminal gang activity, but it was confined to local children and not an infiltration of outside gangs.



"When they grew up and moved on, the problems ended," he said. "But we are watching the trends of surrounding communities, so when it comes, we can keep it out."



In addition to vandalism, Miller said that the onslaught of gangs into a community brings a wave of violence - both of which he and his officers are dedicated to preventing.



Morgan agreed.



"It seems that it is easier to keep gangs out rather than to run them out once they become imbedded," he said. "It's more of a 'pay now' as opposed to 'pay later' in dealing with (gangs)."



Morgan said that a North Carolina city recently gave their law enforcement agency an additional $500,000 to help in confronting the criminal gangs settled in that area.



"They had seven gang-related killings in eight days," he said



The Sheriff's Office has requested money from county council for the upcoming budget for an additional investigator whose primary focus would be gang activity, Morgan said.



"We are asking for an additional investigator for a number of reasons, with the primary reason being pro-active in gang activities," he said. "We are mindful of (gangs) and are taking those steps necessary to keeping them out of this county."



Education of local citizenry is important in the fight against gangs penetrating our area, Morgan said.



"People, especially parents, are often so unaware," Morgan said. "They are see things but they don't really know what they are seeing.



"It comes down to knowing where your kids are, who your kids are with, and what your kids are doing," Morgan said.



Reach Rita-Sue Seaborn at 878-2453 or rseaborn@pickenssentinel.com