More than 20 gangs at work in York city

(York) — More than 20 criminal gangs do business in York, according to Wes Kahley, York City Police chief, and that small army is carrying illegal guns and is connected to many of the city’s shootings.

“Most of our crime revolves around gangs,” Kahley said.

Just one of those gangs, Southside, was targeted for a two-year investigation by the city police and several other agencies. A federal grand jury indicted 21 of them in 2014 on racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracy. Southside, said in the federal indictment to have more than 100 known members or affiliates, has a geographic center near Maple and Duke streets. All of the gang members were found guilty or pleaded guilty.

“When you have spikes in violent crime … we will look to investigate, especially where there are criminals who will take advantage of our most vulnerable neighborhoods,” said Steven Bartholomew, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which was involved in the Southside investigation. “Our goal doing these investigations is to prevent and deter violent crime.”

He wouldn’t rank York’s crime rate in comparison to other regional cities, but he said the ATF chooses its investigations based on “where our assets will best be utilized.”

The ATF’s collaboration with the city police to target violent crime continues today, Bartholomew said.

Kahley has been tracking gang activity since early in his career, and he’s learned the psyche of people who join.

“We’re pack animals,” he said. “We want to fit in. We’ll do what we need to do to fit in.”

Some of them lack hope.

“It’s a phenomenon in the city here,” Kahley said. “You talk to kids, and they have a sense of hopelessness. They have a sense their life isn’t going to go anywhere. It’s not true, but that’s what they’re told.”

They’re usually intelligent kids, “but they’re making bad decisions,” he said.

York is a bit unusual when it comes to gangs. It’s so small that many of them know each other, and some, on opposite sides of the fighting, are relatives, Kahley said. When asked about that, gang members have said to the police: “Yes, we don’t shoot at them. We shoot at others,” Kahley said.

“The criminal street gangs are now multi-generational,” Kahley said. The retaliatory shootings started in another time and neighborhood gang lines drawn so long ago that “some of them have no clue as to why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

Kahley occasionally runs into former gang members who have done their time or “aged out” of the gangs. He’s glad to see they’re trying to recover, but because they chose gang life so young, they have no education, no work history, and no skills.

“It’s hard to break the cycle of poverty,” Kahley said.

Local police use state guidelines for the factors that identify someone as a gang member, such as a person who admits he is part of a gang, wears tattoos that identify gang membership, and commit violent crimes in the name of a gang, Kahley said.

In May, 15 Latin King street gang members received 15-year federal sentences for conspiring to traffic heroin in York County, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. The Latin Kings is a nationally recognized organization.

“The national groups over time have learned that violence is bad for their business,” Kahley said. “They used to use violence to take over gang territories. Now they work within local groups.”

Kahley’s concern is this: “We can’t arrest our way out of this problem.”

The diversion programs in York County that help treat chronic drug abuse and juvenile criminals are a good alternative to deterring criminal activity, Kahley said. A project called Cease Fire, which is in its beginning phases in the city, is also something the chief hopes will have an impact on city violence, although he wouldn’t discuss details about the project.

A local chapter of My Brother’s Keeper was started by Mayor Kim Bracey. It’s a mentorship program for young men. “We’ve gotten men who care about this community to come to the table,” she said. And yet another, Legacy Builders, funded by HUD, pairs 25 young people with local businesses in internships.

“There’s work to be done. There’s work to be done in every community,” she said. “We have to figure out how to get guns out of the hands of young people.”

This story is part of a partnership between WITF and the York Daily Record.