Gangs Moving from Large Cities to Smaller Communities

Less Competition and Fewer Cops Are the Draw

It used to be that gangs were big-city problems that residents of smaller communities were thankful they did not have to worry about. But with law enforcement tightening their grip on gang activities in cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis, gangsters are increasingly moving their illegal activities, particularly drug sales, outside the metro areas. And with that comes other related violence.

Much to their liking, gangs are also finding that the more rural areas have fewer law enforcement personnel per square mile, and many times schools, community groups and law enforcers are not as highly trained in the knowledge of gangs and their activities. Also, drug dealing competition is much less in smaller communities, if it exists at all.

Faribault, Minn., is a good example. Faribault is a community of fewer than 21,000 residents, located less than 30 minutes south of the Twin Cities and along a major Interstate.

Recently, Faribault resident Jim Lassek noticed several young men continually hanging out in a front yard in his neighborhood. According to Sunday's Minneapolis Star Tribune, he was hesitant to assume the worst, but wondered if the group was a gang and if he should call police. "Everybody has the right to congregate in their front yard," he said, but a couple of gang-related incidents in the town within the preceding month had him on the alert.

The Tribune reports that Lassek did contact police and learned the young men were part of the Minneapolis Tre Tre Crips. Even more disconcerting, police confirmed that this notorious and violent gang was implicated in the June 9 shooting death of 14-year-old Charez Jones as she left a birthday party in Minneapolis.

According to Faribault law enforcement, members of the Tre Tre Crips brought their operation to Faribault, where they were even bold enough to rent a house across the street from the county government offices. Richard Cook is the Rice County sheriff in Faribault. He told the Star Tribune that "they were bold and in your face. It was spitting distance from us."