Posted on 12/03/2002 1:07:47 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
A band of residents of an East End neighborhood, fed up with cowering on their porches, has decided to respond to street gangs with a two-by-four to the head -- and maybe worse.
The loose collaboration that includes dads, military veterans and young men who spurned gangs has gone on the offensive, patrolling for gang members and attacking at least one when they believed they had caught him committing a crime.
"If we have to use violence, we'll use it," said Frank Black, the posse's leader.
The group began enforcing its own brand of street justice recently after seeking help from city officials and concluding that they couldn't count on Houston police to keep their neighborhood safe.
Black and his partners have agreed to suspend patrols for two weeks, however, after city officials promised to investigate the problem and put more officers on the streets.
Police added a warning that they will not tolerate vigilante justice and will treat lawbreakers the same, regardless of which side they're on.
Assistant Chief Charles McClelland said the group's efforts could backfire and touch off a new gang skirmish -- one between the residents and street thugs.
The posse confronted gangsters two weeks ago on a street corner and beat one with a plank after he tried to intimidate a young woman, Black said.
After Black informed city officials by e-mail that he had taken matters into his own hands, the Mayor's Anti-Gang Office began investigating, and Black agreed to the two-week grace period.
Black not only knows the battle could intensify, he hopes it will draw attention to his cause.
"I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "I'm scared. But we've been scared for a long time. I know somebody on our side's liable to get hurt or worse before somebody takes care of (the gangs)."
Black takes issue with what he sees as neglect from the Houston Police Department and the Anti-Gang Office. Gangs have their way on East End streets, he said, urinating in yards, selling drugs in plain view and robbing homes.
From his porch, Black said, he has not seen enough police to deter the criminals.
In addition to Black, the 13-member group includes a pipefitter, a man who resisted a gang invitation, a man whose wife was beaten by gang members, a young woman and eight other men.
Although she doesn't look especially tough, the woman is known in the neighborhood as a "pretty bad son-of-a-gun," fellow group members said.
Members who did not wish to be identified said they carried handguns on patrol last weekend and will do so again.
Two residents made their case to the City Council during a public comment session on Oct. 1. Since then, Black and his cohorts have gained an audience with police supervisors from their local South Central station, including Executive Assistant Chief Joe Brashears.
On Monday, after police learned that the Chronicle was looking into the issue, the blocks near Black's home were teeming with patrol cars and motorcycles.
Elisa Montes, a resident, said she wishes someone would do something about the gangs but fears that a mini-militia might do more harm than good.
"When they come looking for who hit their gang member, how do I know they won't come to my house?" Montes asked.
The working-class East End neighborhood near Jackson Middle School, at 5100 Polk, has its share of gang graffiti painted on warehouses and trash cans. Distant crackles, possibly from gunfire, could be heard from time to time Saturday night. A man was killed there three years ago during a gang initiation.
But to the casual observer, the neighborhood does not appear to be overrun by gangs. Children play in the parks, teenage girls walk home from school alone or in couples and residents work under jacked-up cars parked along the streets.
McClelland said that, while Black may see some gang activity, the area is not especially bad.
"There are no unique crime patterns," said McClelland, who heads South Bureau patrol units. "Crime is not out of control. Residents are not in life-threatening situations."
Police have investigated Black's many calls since early last year. McClelland said undercover officers could not confirm that the young men Black identified truly are gang members.
"Mr. Black definitely has some young people he doesn't like, and the feeling is definitely mutual," McClelland said. "But citizens still can't arm themselves to enforce the law."
A group of young men whom Black pointed out as gang members had the stereotypical look -- including tattoos and baggy, sagging jeans -- but they said they had no gang affiliation. One of them said they had shouting matches with Black but no physical fight.
Adrian Garcia, director the Anti-Gang Office, said forming an armed posse is "a crazy remedy. We would never encourage residents to do that."
A violent response to street thugs might only foment more violence, Garcia said. The gang task force, he said, instead tries to find creative, peaceful resolutions to street conflicts.
In a 1998 case in southeast Houston, Garcia's office found that a family feud centering on two young lovers had sparked what seemed to be a gang war. The office began trying Monday to get to the root of the East End battles.
If a real resurgence in East End gang activity is occurring, Garcia said, it may be because some leaders convicted of crimes in the 1990s are making parole.
Garcia also noted that Houston gangs rarely attempt to terrorize their neighborhoods to the degree that Black describes.
The Anti-Gang Office is conducting a study to determine where gang violence is most concentrated in the city. After reviewing 3,000 police reports and interviewing hundreds of schoolchildren and gangsters, Garcia said, the hot spot seems to be in southeast Houston, well south of Black's neighborhood.
But for all the skepticism among city officials, Garcia and McClelland said they will send more officers to the blocks near Jackson Middle School to be sure there is no reciprocal violence against the vigilantes.
"If all these crimes were being reported and we did nothing, then we failed this guy," Garcia said. "Then my job is to go out there and get them out of harm's way."
McClelland believes Black wants police to resolve a dispute between neighbors, not gangs. If members of the vigilante group are found patrolling illegally with weapons, he said, police will disarm them.
I remember him! I was sorry when they took his show off. Millenium, I think it was.
But anyways, I've always been a fan of vigilantism.
But I prefer the "self-defense" kind, like Bernie Getz, as opposed to the "on patrol" kind, like these people are doing.
But hey, God bless them. When the "justice system" turns into a pathetic joke, vigilantism is the only alternative.
Black takes issue with what he sees as neglect from the Houston Police Department and the Anti-Gang Office. Gangs have their way on East End streets, he said, urinating in yards, selling drugs in plain view and robbing homes.
In addition to Black, the 13-member group includes a pipefitter, a man who resisted a gang invitation, a man whose wife was beaten by gang members, a young woman and eight other men.
The working-class East End neighborhood near Jackson Middle School, at 5100 Polk, has its share of gang graffiti painted on warehouses and trash cans. Distant crackles, possibly from gunfire, could be heard from time to time Saturday night. A man was killed there three years ago during a gang initiation.
But to the casual observer, the neighborhood does not appear to be overrun by gangs. Children play in the parks, teenage girls walk home ( what choice did they have? ) from school alone or in couples and residents work under jacked-up cars parked along the streets.
On Monday, after police learned that the Chronicle was looking into the issue, the blocks near Black's home were teeming with patrol cars and motorcycles.
The residents made their case to the city council. Absent efforts by the police the neighbors took action. Once that action was taken, they became the focus of the police rather than the gangland perps. Isn't that the way it goes.
Public urination on private property, selling drugs, robing homes, coercion to join a gange, wife beaten by gang members, gang graffiti, gunfire at night and a man was killed, but hey this isn't such a bad area.
Once the local newspaper took notice, the police suddenly found resources. What's a citizen to do, wait until they are dead to complain? LOL, the local police and public officials in this are are morons. The writer of this article is still trying hoping to achieve that level later in life. Note the dismissing of the serious nature of this neighborhood in his writing. What an a--. Do you think if someone beat their relatives to a pulp, they might finally understand these neighbor's plight?
I wonder if Mr McClelland lives in this neighborhood? I sincerely doubt it...JFK
Wonder if they're some of clinton's "100,000 new police officers on the streets".........
From one cop to another, F**k You!
That's how it struck me-typical, knee-jerk reaction-what's right is wrong and what's wrong is right.
This can only help the police. I hope they work things out.
As I drove down the street in Glendale Ca the other evening, my wife and I noticed a park ranger that had made a traffic stop in his ranger bronco. What is this world coming to?
When the snipers were gunning people down in Maryland/Virginia/D.C., the purchase of guns (Except in D.C., where it is illegal for citizens to own a gun.) shot up and the waiting period to be certified to carry a gun tripled.
Typical bureaucrats except in this case public safety is compromised.
I don't think a jury would convict a vigilante under these circumstances.
BUMP
"If you make the criminal code sanguinary, juries will fail to convict. If the law is too mild, private vengeance comes in. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The police of Houston have apparently abrogated their responsibility to enforce the law and keep order in the streets. The residents have remembered that a uniformed police officer is not the owner of the law, but only someone paid to enforce the law eight hours a day. Given the circumstances, those citizens are doing exactly what they should do.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
What this moron fails to understand is that citizens ARE the law. We hold all the authority in this country and it's about time that we start taking it back.
Kudus to Mr. Black and his vigilantes. They are doing good work. We need more like him.
God Save America (Please)
No, that would violate the caste system wouldn't it? Police officers go about the neighborhood armed all the time, but when the peasants do it it's called crazy.
A violent response to street thugs might only foment more violence, Garcia said.
LOL! They should take a dose of their own medicine. Who is it who breaks into people's homes at 3AM with black ninja suits and automatic weapons and ballistic armor? That's right - it's the police. Hypocrite!
The gang task force, he said, instead tries to find creative, peaceful resolutions to street conflicts.
... which are working so well that citizens find the need to go patrolling the streets themselves.
These citizens should ask for a refund of the tax money they pay to police, who aren't protecting them and whose effort they have to duplicate themselves anyway.
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