Gang Reduction Strategy Coming To Highlands

Laura Van Horn awoke one morning this past summer to find the phrase "Sur 13" written on a no outlet sign in her Sebring neighborhood.

This was no ordinary graffiti. The title Sur 13, aka Suernos, is the name of a gang that originated from California whose primary profit is from drug trafficking.

"What it is is a way of saying, 'We're here. This is our territory,'" Van Horn said of the marking. "If you leave it unattended or make no attempt to get it out of there, they're going to then claim, 'This is our territory because no one challenged us.'"

The defaced sign was eventually replaced.

Van Horn knows a few things about gangs. As a member of human resources for the School Board of Highlands County, she gives presentations to educators and others about the specifics of these type of organizations.

One of the most surprising aspects of Van Horn's Power Point presentation is a video depicting an adolescent male standing in a classroom wearing jeans and an untucked shirt.

The young man begins taking out a dozen weapons from the pants' pockets and waistline, the most shocking being a rifle tucked all the way into the back of his jeans.

As the adolescent is removing the guns, a voiceover discussed the importance of implementing dress codes requiring students to tuck in their shirts.

Gang Reduction

In southwest Florida, there are more than 50 named gangs with over 2,000 members, according to a Nov. 17 report in the Foster Folly News.

"The increase in gang activity in the state of Florida over the last several years has been alarming, posing a serious threat to the safety and well-being of our families and communities," said Attorney General Bill McCollum in the opening paragraph of the Florida Gang Reduction Strategy 2008-2012.

The issue will be addressed by agencies within Region 6, which includes Highlands County, who will focus on prevention/intervention, law enforcement and rehabilitation and re-entry.

"It's a comprehensive, holistic approach rather than just running out and, because a kid has a tattoo, saying he's in a gang and putting him in some intelligence database," said Highlands County Sheriff Susan Benton.

Benton could not say with certainty that "there's no gang problems" here in Highlands County.

"We don't have horrendous, violent crime that is gang-driven, but gangs nationally are moving away from what we think of in terms of traditional gangs," she said. "It's not the street corner territory anymore. It's more of the organized crime stuff that doesn't necessarily require that territorial (ownership)."

The sheriff added that she also could not say that local middle schoolers don't wear certain gang signs, say they belong to a particular gang and bring drugs on campus.

"So, does that say we have gangs?" Benton said. "I would say yes."

Van Horn said there is a definite connection between bullying and gangs, saying those who are accosted by peers will look at gangs as a "family."

"He's being protected and when he's on school grounds, or she, they feel like they have someone to go to and this action will stop," she said.

In helping to identify gang members, Benton said the county committee, which will be structured like the Region 6 committee, will follow state criteria.

Florida statutes referencing criminal gang enforcement and prevention state a criminal gang member is a person meeting two or more criteria, which includes admitting to membership, being identified as a gang member by a parent or guardian, adopting the same style of dress of a gang and using a hand sign identified as used by a gang.

"We have a lot of work to do in terms of identifying and making sure that we're following statutory criteria to fully identify gang members and gangs," Benton said. "I don't want to tag a kid or a group as being a gang if they're really not, because that could carry a negative impact as well."

The sheriff said local authorities are in the early stages of planning for how they will start to combat gangs. She expects to begin getting organized after the holidays.

Again commenting on local gang activity, Benton believes the true organization is in another part of southern Florida, yet it still reaches into Highlands County.

"The marijuana grow houses is, to me, a real example of a criminal gang enterprise," she said. "If you kind of think of an octopus, the head of the octopus is located somewhere else in south Florida, but its tentacles are reaching out very, very far."

Van Horn said the makeup of gangs is also changing. Whereas it was once primarily a male-dominated organization, now women are also getting involved.

She believes women can also be more aggressive when it comes to gang-related violence.

"When you have two dogs in a fight, they will fight until somebody gets hurt," Van Horn said. "If you have two female dogs in a fight, they fight to the death. Same way with the kids; the boys will back off. The girls, some of them can be even nastier and more aggressive than guys."