Two weeks ago the Chicago Crime Commission released its “Gang Book,” a 278-page report and informational document that outlines the challenges Chicago’s suburbs face in dealing with street gangs.
For Oak Park and Chicago police, there was little new information in the book, but they’re glad to see the publication’s release generating greater public awareness of the problems related to gang activity.
Police say that cooperation both between police agencies and between police and citizens are keys to battling gang activity.
“Whether it’s the 15th and 25th [Chicago Police Districts], Berwyn, Cicero or Forest Park, we’re cooperating,” said Oak Park Police Chief Rick Tanksley.
The Gang Book reports that there are as many as 125,000 gang members in Chicago and its metropolitan area. Two dozen western suburbs reported the Latin Kings as one of the top three gangs in their jurisdiction, while nine reported the Gangster Disciples, and six the Vice Lords. It is a fluid situation, in which gangs are constantly moving.
“We’ve encountered all of them,” said Deputy Chief Bob Scianna, who said Oak Park must contend with not just the three-mile border with Austin, but northern and southern 1½-mile borders, too.
Two gangs bear particular attention by Oak Parkers, though”the 4 Corner Hustlers and the Vice Lords. While the two closely allied gangs aren’t as widespread as some others, they dominate the areas just beyond Oak Park’s borders.
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The Vice Lords have several factions, including the Body Snatchers, the Undertakers and the Conservative Vice Lords, said Chicago Police Commander Alfonza Wysinger, whose 15th district covers much of Austin. Wysinger is a former lieutenant with NAGIS, the CPD’s Narcotics and Gang Investigative Section. He said the Body Snatchers and Conservatives control the territory along the Austin border, along with the 4-Corner Hustlers, particularly north of Lake Street.
However, a key Gang Book finding is that street gangs no longer adhere strictly to old alliances, such as individual gang identity and the overall “Folks” and “People” alliances that had been in place for more than 30 years. Now it’s all about the money, and gangs are exhibiting increased levels of cooperation where and when it means more profits.
“I can tell you right now it’s all about money and drugs,” said Scianna. “You could have 4 Corner Hustlers on one corner and Vice Lords on another and Body Snatchers on another. As long as they’re not stealing each other’s customers, there’s no problems. They’re like the old Mafia. They don’t want conflicts.”
“Gangs are the new mob, they are the new organized crime,” Wysinger agreed. “Just as the mob did in the ’20s and the ’30s with alcohol and the numbers running, these guys are doing it with the illegal drug trade and buying and selling these weapons.
“Whoever has the connection at the time is the guy they’re going to go to,” Wysinger said. “If you’re a Vice Lord and I’m a [Gangster Disciple], and you’ve got the connection to the pipeline, we’re going to be friends, if nothing else for the sake of making money.”
But like the old mob, gangs will resort to violence to settle things.
There are other similarities to organized crime as well. The mob used to refer to going away to prison as “going to college.” Wysinger said that for today’s street gangs, prison serves as much as a school as punishment.
“They adapt,” he said. “When you do grab them and incarcerate them, they sit in prison and they sharpen their skills. They converse with each other. They kind of compare notes, and then when they come out, they kind of know what to look for.”
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But police are adapting, too. Over the past two to three years, Oak Park and Chicago police have developed increasingly close ties with each other.
“More than ever we’re working together with Chicago to respond to problems on the eastern border,” said Scianna.
“Chief Tanksley and I have talked and kind of put our heads together to try and combat crime from both sides,” said Wysinger. “We’re starting to become more intertwined as far as policing strategies to try and come up with the best solutions.”
Meanwhile, federal and state law enforcement agencies have become more cooperative than ever before with local police in regards to drug investigations and interdiction. The Crime Commission argues such cooperation must continue.
Scianna and Wysinger whole-heartedly agree. “We have never worked so closely with the city and federal governments,” noted Scianna, acknowledging that Oak Park has an officer serving with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Chicago. That officer’s role involves coordinating and sharing information with the DEA. And enforcement, too.
“He’s out there making arrests,” said Scianna.
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That involvement with federal law enforcement provides benefits for both sides, Scianna said. Young DEA agents get to work with experienced, street-savvy cops who know the terrain. Local cops, meanwhile, are exposed to the sort of state-of-the-art technology and concepts that the feds’ deep pockets make more readily available.
“There are all kinds of surveillance techniques and undercover techniques [local police] learn,” said Scianna, adding with a knowing chuckle, “You don’t want the federal government after you.”
Closer to home, Oak Park officers recently worked with 15th District officers on a “double play,” or reverse drug sting, in which Chicago cops took down a drug site, and Oak Park cops acted as drug dealers and arrested unwitting customers.
Wysinger said that another round of reverse drug stings will take place in the next few weeks.
The stakes are high. Scianna declined to quantify how much of Oak Park’s crime is due to drug activity, but said it comprises “the lion’s share.”
“A large portion of our crime is directly related to the drug industry,” he said.
Wysinger noted that there is a sort of dark yin-and-yang evident in the drug trade along Austin Boulevard, with each side of the street contributing to the overall problem.
“A lot of the drug customers come from the Oak Park side, and a lot of the Chicago users go into Oak Park committing crimes for money to buy drugs in the city,” he said.
Scianna said that so far Oak Park’s aggressive response to gang activity has kept the problem more or less at arm’s length within the village’s borders.
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“I’m not saying we don’t have some homegrown problems,” said Scianna, who noted that there are people in the village who do drugs and such crimes as graffiti. “But it’s not like we have open-air drug markets.”
The common efforts by Oak Park and 15th District police aren’t limited to cops with guns. There’s also a concerted effort taking place both to work with citizens in the neighborhoods, and to win the hearts and minds of kids in Austin who are most at risk of being swayed by the perceived glory and power of the gang life.
Since taking command at the 15th District a year ago, Wysinger has placed a premium on opening up and maintaining numerous lines of communication with the citizens in Austin’s many neighborhoods. Oak Park, meanwhile, recently strengthened its 30-year-old Community Policing program with the addition of two new walking beat officers.
As if to underscore the point being made that the gang situation is always fluid, Oak Park police report there were at least 13 instances of garage and signage taggings by an up-and-coming and exceptionally violent Hispanic street gang, Surenos 13, in the far northeast corner of the village June 28 and June 29.
“We don’t know if it’s an actual gang effort to enter new territory, or just one wannabe-type individual,” said Tanksley. “But we can’t take a chance.”
This past Sunday Chicago rapper Rhymefest was quoted by Greg Kot in a Sunday Tribune Magazine article talking about how he’s trying to get across the total truth of life on West Side streets, and not just glorify the gang lifestyle.
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“In my neighborhood, there may be three guys on the corner selling drugs,” Rhymefest said, “but across the street there’ll be six other people at the bus stop going to work.”
It’s that underlying reality that motivates many cops in Austin and Oak Park.
“Just like gangs come together for their own mutual benefit, we’re coming together for our mutual benefit, and that’s the protection and preservation of our communities,” said Tanksley.
Oak Park, said Scianna, “is in it for the long haul.” That will require vigilance from both police and citizens.
“When we stop cooperating, and working together, we’re going to lose,” he said.