Number of Active Gangs in Indian Country Has Doubled Since 1994 Story-Date: 12:21 p.m. PST Sunday , October 5, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Number of Active Gangs in Indian Country Has Doubled Since 1994 By K. Marie Porterfield, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News WASHINGTON, D.C.--Oct. 6--Since 1994, the number of active gangs in Indian country has more than doubled according to a BIA study. The study, done three years ago, identified more than 181 active gangs on or near reservations. Data collected this year has led researchers to estimate the number of American Indian gangs has soared to 375 with about 4,650 members living on or near tribal lands. "Juvenile crime is becoming a major issue in Indian country," Thomas Le Claire, director of the Justice Department's Office of Tribal Justice said. Facts revealed during a joint hearing on American Indian gang violence by the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, speak for themselves. Arizona's Salt River Reservation went from one drive-by shooting in 1992 to 55 in 1994. Last May, a trial involving the death of a fast food restaurant clerk in Scottsdale, Ariz., and other gang crimes, resulted in multiple convictions for members of the East Side Crips Rolling Thirties, under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It was the first time an American Indian gang had been prosecuted for racketeering. Navajo Nation tribal police estimate there are 55 gangs with about 900 members on tribal land. According to the FBI, last year the Navajo Nation's West Side Crips may have been responsible for stealing as many as 75 vehicles from the Navajo Reservation, taking them to a "chop shop" in Gallup, New Mexico to be reworked, reassembled and resold. Wisconsin's Menominee Indian reservation experienced a 293 percent in the number of juveniles arrested between 1990 and 1994. Wyoming's Wind River Reservation, home to the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes, reported a 632 percent increase since last year. (See related story.) The number of American Indian juveniles in the Federal Bureau of Prisons system for serious offenses has doubled form 78 in 1994 to 143 in 1997. "Escalating youth violence and criminal gang activity in Indian country have outpaced the development of tribal law enforcement capacity," Kevin Di Gregory, U.S. assistant deputy attorney general, told committee members. He said that the violence among young people is part of a bigger picture of rising violence across the board. For example, the Indian Health Service reports the homicide rate among Indian people is the highest among any other ethnic group in the U.S. -- two and a half higher than that of whites. Last year was especially brutal. In 1996 Navajo Nation experienced 46 non-negligent homicides paralleling the rate of the top 20 most violent cities in the country. The same year, the BIA absorbed a budget cut of $121 million, resulting in personnel reductions for tribal law enforcement agencies that were, in many cases, already understaffed. "There are half as many law enforcement officers per capita in Indian country as there are in small communities outside Indian country," Mr. Di Gregory said. "Tribal officers often patrol several hundred thousand acres alone with antiquated equipment and no back up." Their job is made more difficult by gang members who do not hesitate to confront and attack law officers. Last year the Laguna reservation's 9 tribal police officers were assaulted 34 times, mostly by juveniles. That year four gang members from the Lower Brule reservation in South Dakota broke into a police officer's car and threw a "molotov cocktail" inside of it. According to the Senate testimony of David Nez, director of public safety for the Navajo nation, a recent Navajo Judicial Branch study of gangs, revealed that gang members are "not afraid of prosecution and they are not afraid of conviction or parole supervision." "Adults are using juveniles to commit crimes, knowing that the likelihood of prosecution is slim and that the penalties are not severe," Mr. Nez told the Senators. "Now, only a few gang members get into trouble with the law because the Navajo Nation lacks the capacity to get them into trouble." In his Senate testimony Mr. Nez blamed cluster housing for some of the gang problems facing his reservation. "One such project in Fort Defiance is called "Beruit" because of the levels of violence there," he said. Poverty is also a strong motivation for gang activity. "If the single parent family heads who currently receive various benefits have no source of income, their children will be pushed into crime sponsored by gangs as an alternative source of income," he said. According to the experts, one of the biggest reasons for the soaring rate of gang violence, may simply be the increasing numbers of American Indian young people. Based on the 1990 Census, 33 percent of the Indian population was younger than 15 years old, as opposed to 22 percent of the total U.S. population. About half of the population on the Gila River Reservation in Sacaton, Arizona is projected to be under the age of 18 by the year 2,000. At least half of the Navajo Nation's population is under 20. Even if tribal police could keep up with the crime wave, most reservations have no place for teenage gang members after arrest. Only 70 small jails, including both detention and holding facilities, exist on U.S. American Indian reservation. Mr. Di Gregory told the Senate subcommittees that most of them are in poor condition. Just ten of them detain juveniles only. Earlier this month, Pueblo Tribal Judge H. Paul Tsosie reported to New Mexico's U.S. Attorney that his tribe releases juvenile offenders to family members and orders them to do community service because there are no detention facilities to house them. "Juveniles may be arrested, but tribes often lack detention facilities, probation officers, adequate social services, and substance abuse programming, which creates a revolving door for young offenders," Mr. Di Gregory said. According to Mr. Le Claire, helping young gang members to turn their lives around is crucial if the problem is to be solved. "We have to more than prosecute and jail these people," he said. "We have to rehabilitate them. We have to find a way in detention to remove American Indian youth with contact with hard core adult criminals." Prevention needs to be addressed as well. "We must focus on children before they are of gang age," Mr. Nez said. ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------