By Hector Flores
The parent of a local high-school student who was severely beaten by other teenagers at Park Avenue Elementary last month came prepared with a question to a gang seminar hosted by Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg last week. She wondered whether police knew of a new gang at Mepham High School. The gang, she said, calls itself "the crew."
Denenberg's forum was held last Thursday at Grand Avenue Middle School. The beaten teenager was one of three young people who were attacked at the elementary school. One had to be hospitalized. Two teenagers were arrested in connection with the beating.
Officer Paul Benedetto, of the police department's gang unit, acknowledged that the he'd heard the name, the Crew. "But," he said, "we have had no confirmation from sources" that the gang exists. Benedetto would not comment further because the case is currently in the court system and is still under investigation.
Benedetto did, however, advise parents to contact police if they see any suspicious activity or gang-like graffiti.
Lt. Richard Hanley, of the Problem Oriented Policing Unit, said gangs are, for the most part, not a problem in the Bellmores and Merricks. Hanley defined a gang as "any structured group of three or more individuals bound together on a continuing basis for the purpose of committing anti-social or criminal acts."
Some known Long Island gangs include: MS13 (Mara Salvatrucha), an El Salvadoran gang; the Athens Park Bloods in Uniondale; and the Crip Zone of Nassau Road in Uniondale.
Gang members can be identified by the colors that they wear. The Crips wear blue; the Bloods, red. Gang members also set themselves apart with hand signs, which generally involve an elaborate array of gestures, and by their clothing. The Crips usually wear British Knight sneakers.
Benedetto said teenagers are often attracted to gangs because they provide a sense of identity, and offer money and prestige. "Most kids left on their own will seek out gangs," he said.
There are telltale signs that a teenager has joined a gang. They include: a drop in grades; change in clothing; the wearing of one color and avoiding another; a sudden change of friends; a change of attitude or demeanor; graffiti in the bedroom or outside the house; hidden tattoos or bruises; and gang markings on books or clothing.
To prevent gang membership, Benedetto said parents should "talk to their children, learn their hobbies, pay attention to their clothes, set rules and limits, make them feel that they belong, know their friends' parents and listen to them."
Police Officer Tom Gilberti added that parents should be careful of the materials their children are exposed to. He pointed out that most children watch four to five hours of TV a day. "TVs are the biggest baby-sitters," he said.
Parents should also be careful when their children are using the computer and are on-line with friends. "Most children talk in code when parents are in the room," Gilberti said. "They will use MOS (mom over shoulder), MIR (mom in room) or DIR (dad in room)."
Gilberti also believes that television glorifies gang culture. "On MTV, rapper Snoop Dogg is treated like a celebrity," he said. "Snoop Dogg is a known Crip member, and he doesn't hide it. He makes kids believe that being in a gang is cool."
He added that videogames such as "Grand Theft Auto" desensitize children to violence. "When children play this game, they are stealing cars and committing unimaginable crimes. When things go bad, children learn to press the reset button, but in real life there are no reset buttons," Gilberti said. By unimaginable crimes, Gilberti means murder. Players can also hire prostitutes and return to beat them to get their money back.
Detective Debbie Bershad, of the Special Investigation Squad Gang Intelligence, added that gangs have few limits on whom they'll allow to join. "Gangs recruit children as young as 9 and 10 years old," she said. "And they do so by hanging out at schools and malls. Go to any mall and sit long enough, and you will see sure-tell signs of which kids are in gangs."
Bershad explained that most gangs deal drugs and weapons, and it's the role of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to arrest them for such crimes.
To deter gang membership, Nassau County police started the Taskforce Against Gangs, or TAG. The program provides information on gang prevention and matches local residents with programs that meet their particular needs. TAG offers family counseling, mental health services, drug and alcohol counseling, housing, job assistance, education, life-skills training, and gang-awareness and gang-intervention programs.
For more information, call the First Precinct at (516) 573-6170 or the Seventh Precinct at 573-6770.
Comments? Hflores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
