Officials: DOD monitoring gangs

WASHINGTON — Military officials say they are carefully monitoring gang activity in the services and don’t see any signs of an upswing of gang members among the ranks.

Officials are aware of law enforcement reports and an Army Criminal Investigation Command report distributed late last year showing that gang-related incidents among soldiers nearly tripled from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2006.

“CID has included all of these incidents and investigations in this report because this is a threat assessment to protect the force,” said Chris Grey, chief of public affairs for Army CID.

“We take that very seriously, and are reviewing the data to see if there are any identifiable reasons for the increase that we can pass along to the Army.”

Defense Department officials said they are watching for trends, too, as well as working with the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons on gang-related issues.

Each service sponsors gang-identification and gang-prevention classes for troops and their families, and has programs and policies to deal with gang members, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton said.

“Gang activity is contrary to good order and discipline in the armed forces,” he said. “Engagement in criminal activity, whether or not it is associated with a gang, is serious in any form.”

Defense Department policy prohibits membership in any organizations that “espouse supremacist causes; attempt to create illegal discrimination …; advocate the use of force or violence; or otherwise engage in efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights.”

It also allows commanders to dismiss a recruit or servicemember who supports or participates in any such group.

Air Force rules mirror the Defense Department policy. Army policy is broader, allowing commanders to discipline any soldier who belongs to any group that “could threaten the good order and discipline of a unit.”

Navy rules, which include Marines, prohibit any tattoos that symbolize gang affiliation, and mandate disciplinary action for any servicemember belonging to an “extremist” group.

However, the FBI report notes neither these policies nor the general DOD rules mandate that commanders must dismiss servicemembers who belong to gangs.

That’s left to their discretion. Actions can range from simple counseling to expulsion from the military.

The rules also don’t prohibit recruits with gang tattoos or past gang history from joining the military, as long as they disclose them and convince officials that their gang affiliation is a thing of the past.

But Army rules prohibit the consideration of any recruits with convictions for trafficking or distributing drugs, or any sexually violent crimes. Defense policy notes that gang membership could be a sign of mental health issues.

Reports show increase in gang-related crimes

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Thursday, February 8, 2007

WASHINGTON — Gang activity in the military is increasing, and the number of gang-related crimes involving soldiers and their families nearly tripled from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2006, according to a pair of new reports.

Both studies note that gang members represent only a small fraction of the total force, but say that gangs have become a bigger presence — and a bigger concern — in just the last few years.

“Gang-related activity in the military is increasing and poses a threat to law enforcement officials and national security,” according to the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center report, released in January.

“Members of nearly every major street gang have been identified on both domestic and international military installations.”

In the Army’s fiscal 2006 Criminal Investigation Command report, the threat posed by gangs to servicemembers is still considered minor.

“Reports indicate there is a small number of soldiers involved in gangs or gang-related activity,” the report states. “Military communities continue to be a more stable, secure and lawful environment than their civilian counterparts.”

The report from the Criminal Investigation Command, or CID, tracks an increase from 23 reported gang incidents in fiscal 2005 to 60 in fiscal 2006, saying in part the new servicewide definition of gangs added more cases to the total.

Chris Grey, chief of public affairs for Army CID, said most of those cases involved misdemeanors where gang activity was suspected but not necessarily proved.

“It’s important to keep the numbers in perspective,” Grey said.

Of those 60 cases, 16 resulted in formal investigations of soldiers. Grey said in the other cases, gang activity was suspected but not proved.

Yet in 40 of the 44 remaining incidents, either a soldier or a dependent is under scrutiny for what is thought to be gang-related activity.

Among the more serious cases are the murder of a soldier during a fight outside a nightclub at Fort Campbell, Ky.; a murder charge against a soldier related to a robbery near Fort Bragg, N.C.; a rape by a soldier at Camp Taji, Iraq; and five drug possession and dealing cases.

Gang crimes or suspected gang activity was reported at 18 bases in fiscal 2006, including three bases in Germany and two incidents in Iraq. In fiscal 2005, Army investigators had identified problems at 11 bases, including cases in Germany, Japan and Iraq.

The FBI notes shortcomings in the military’s tracking of gang incidents, in part because many are reported as “conduct matters” and handled internally. Their report identifies junior enlisted troops as the most likely to belong to gangs, but notes anecdotal evidence of gang membership “present in most branches and across all ranks.”

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton said the Pentagon had no comment on those allegations.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=43388

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