"Small, unstructured gangs" on North Side

As Larry The Cable Guy put it so well: "If your mother gives you a ride to school, pull up your pants. You ain't no gangster."

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Here is a portion of an article from the StarTribune, "Victim's mom says son wasn't in a gang," March 3, 2008.

In the discussion of these "small, unstructured gangs," I don't know why the police don't just call them what they are: gangster wannabes.
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On the North Side, Fourth Precinct Inspector Mike Martin said several small, unstructured gangs who aren't fighting over turf are responsible for at least four shootings. One incident involved a downtown shooting near Target Center Feb. 17.

Several of those gang members were present the day before when David Fields, 17, was shot to death in a north Minneapolis home. According to police, a 19-year-old was playing with a loaded gun and accidentally hot Fields in the head, police said. He has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

A 14-year-old recently told police that several gang members shot at his house six times in two weeks, but nobody had been seriously injured. In the past week, police have seized guns from six gang members.

These gangs harder to track

Such gangs are harder to disband by traditional policing techniques because of their loose structure, Martin said. They often don't use real names, make up gang symbols and change gang affiliations on a daily basis, he said. Most are still going to school, and don't have lengthy criminal histories.

"You have to work harder at gathering intelligence and get the information out quickly," he said. "I wouldn't say we have it under control, but we are tracking people closely."

With traditional gangs, police put together a long-term strategy, document activity and target individual members, he said. The department's Violent Offender Task Force has broken up three long-established gangs in the past two years.

Now, officers will saturate areas where the gangs are active, make traffic stops and monitor probation conditions, Martin said. Residents have also warned police about "things that were going to happen" with gang members, which has helped prevent some shootings and possibly a homicide, Martin said.

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How interesting they "don't fight over territory." Much could be drawn from that particular observation.