Law enforcement on lookout for gangs
TROY, N.Y. » With the possibility of street gangs like MS-13 and others coming into the Capital Region, local law enforcement agencies do their best to stay trained and aware of gang presence in the area.
The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office recently hosted a presentation regarding MS-13 — or the Mara Salvatrucha — and the challenges it presents to law enforcement.
Sheriff Patrick Russo said the presentation was well received by the 60 attendees comprising various administrative staff and field intelligence officers from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Detectives Ray Betts and Bryan Storm of the Fairfax County Virginia Police Department, who are recognized as experts regarding MS-13 and its activities, conducted the threehour presentation.
“I know that MS-13 is basically a Salvadorian gang, and they are one of the most violent gangs out there,” said Russo. “They were responsible for numerous murders in Long Island last year, so there is a big presence of them in the Long Island area. The law enforcement agencies downstate are putting a lot of pressure on the gangs, so my thought is the fact that when they start to squeeze the bubble down there that we’re going to see a presence of that gang coming up this way. I wanted to make people aware of who MS-13 is, how they operate and how to work together if any local agencies come across MS-13 here.”
Although Russo said that the main point of this gang awareness training was to learn more about MS-13, he also said the training can help his department with any other possible local gang in-
vestigations. “The detectives from Virginia are real experts on the MS-13 gang and they were able to give everybody the basic knowledge about things like the graffiti, the tattoos that they wear, the way that they operate and how they recruit,” said Russo. “There are some Bloods and Crips gang’s here, but also what comes along with that is there is a lot of wannabees, although I don’t see a big gang presence around the county. We want to get out in front of the eight ball and that’s the whole reason for me doing this training.”
Meanwhile, other law enforcement agencies like the Troy Police Department also annually participate in various training such as gang awareness.
“We do some stuff during our in service annually, and also [Investigator] Aaron Collington and [Sgt.] Jack McMahon both do East Coast Gang Investigators trainings annually,” said Troy Police Capt. Daniel DeWolf. “During our trainings, we will have guest speakers come in and then there is usually some presentations from local guys too.”
More than a year ago, this type of training came in handy for members of the Troy Police Department as they helped investigate and take down a drug gang ring, known as the “Young Gunnerz.”
“In Troy and probably in other municipalities as well, they are like loosely affiliated with the Blood’s and stuff like that, they are not like how gangs used to be where they are loyal just to that gang, they kind of go back and forth,” said DeWolf. “Kind of like those Young Gunnerz, they really don’t have any loyalty, so there is some of that activity around here, although knock on wood, things have been pretty good for us over the last year as far as violent crime and stuff like that.”
DeWolf also noted how the city police department will participate in motorcycle gang training, as well.
“We do a little bit of stuff on motorcycle gang, as well, because there is a Hells Angels clubhouse in the city,” said DeWolf.
Both Russo and DeWolf also see the importance of being trained for gang awareness, since gang members can bring a lot more crime to communities.
“If gangs are in the community then crime rates will for sure go up and some gangs like MS-13 can commit very deadly and violent crimes,” said Russo. “Your home invasions, your burglaries, your robberies will spike anytime you have people whose sole purpose is to create chaos.”
“It’s just really not good having gangs in communities since they seem to bring a criminal element to wherever they are,” added DeWolf.
Russo said that he anticipates hosting another gang awareness training this fall, but this time with officers and detectives who work the streets on a daily basis.