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2008-1128 - Providence Journal - Providence puts pressure on street gangs

http://www.projo.com/news/content/GANG___SHOOTING_11-28-08_MSCDKEQ_v12.3596950.html

Providence puts pressure on street gangs

07:34 AM EST on Friday, November 28, 2008

By W. Zachary Malinowski

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — After several months of relative calm, five street gangs in the city’s West End have been involved in a series of shootings in recent weeks.
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Extra: Our multimedia special report, The Gangs of Providence

The outbreak of violence, which has left one woman wounded, has prompted the Providence police to beef up patrols in several hotspots and crackdown on five well-known gangs — Laos Pride, the Oriental Rascals, Providence Street Boyz, Dark Side Rascals and the Hanover Boyz.

“The pressure is up,” said Detective Sgt. Michael P. Wheeler, who heads the Providence Police Gang Unit. “These kids have to know that this is not going to be tolerated. We’re trying to keep a tight lid on this.”

The recent shootings occurred during a seven-day period that began on Nov. 9 and culminated, for now, in the shooting of Vanna Hang, 29, at a house at 131 Linwood Ave. The police said that the slug, from a .40-caliber gun, grazed the right side of her head.

Officers assigned to the gang unit identified 12 members of the Providence Street Boyz Juniors and the Hanover Boyz in a third-floor apartment. They also recovered eight casings from a .40-caliber gun.

Wheeler said that Hang was on the second-floor and “was certainly not an intended target.”

There has been an uptick in shootings in the city this year. Police records show that 68 people have been shot through Nov. 26, compared to 59 through Dec. 31 of last year. The police say that six of this year’s shootings are gang-related.

Wheeler estimated that gang members are responsible for at least 100 other shootings where no one was hit. In most cases, gang members drive by the home of a rival and spray the front porch with gunfire. Wheeler said that these shootings do not specifically target anyone; they are intended to send a message. Still, he said, the gunfire increases the chances that someone will get shot.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the recent violence. Wheeler said that a catalyst for the shootings may have been a “verbal confrontation” on Nov. 12 between a member of the Providence Street Boyz and a rival from the Oriental Rascals at Twin River in Lincoln.

Teny Gross, executive director of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, isn’t convinced that’s the alleged spat involves the Oriental Rascals and Providence Street Boyz. He said that the institute’s streetworkers have met with the players involved and have tried to calm tensions.

“We try to reason with these people,” Gross said.

Here’s a summary of the other recent shootings:

•Nov. 9: The police respond to a report of shots fired at 253 Jewett St. and recover five casings from a .45-caliber handgun. The address is a known hangout for members of the Laos Pride street gang. That same night, officers assigned to the gang unit stop a stolen car on Cranston Street after a brief chase. The three passengers, all 17, are Laos Pride gang members.

•Nov. 13: The police are called to 17 Hudson St. for a report of shots fired and they discover two .45-caliber casings and six Asian males.

•Nov. 14: The police receive a call about shots fired at 32 Calhoun St. Outside the address are several members of the Oriental Rascals. Investigators recovered eight shell casings — four from a .40-caliber handgun, and four from a .380-caliber handgun.

•Nov. 16: Hang suffers the bullet grazing at 131 Linwood Ave. That same night, the police respond to the area of Messer and Hudson streets for a report of shots fired. No shell casings were recovered.

Investigators also are looking into the Nov. 11 assault of a member of the Dark Side Rascals on Cranston Street. The police say that a gang member, known as “Lil Menace,” was jumped and attacked with a golf club by several members of the Providence Street Boyz.

The police are planning to meet with Jim Baum, a special assistant attorney general of the Nuisance Task Force, to crackdown on several addresses that have repeatedly been the scene of gang activity.

The task force investigates specific sites for code violations or gets landlords to sign no trespassing forms which prohibit anyone who doesn’t live at the address from loitering on the property.

bmalinow at projo.com

© 2008 , Published by The Providence Journal Co., 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.
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______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu