Newspaper Page Text
CITY PA GES
THEIR CRAZY LIFE
Gang grafitti in Garnett Ridge.
Hispanic gang activity in
Athens has become a reality
Sitting in his patrol car Friday night at
Cambridge Court Apartments on Sunset
Drive. Gene Barron eyed a teenager sitting at
the wheel of a ragged import with a tinted
windshield.
“Wve told him 1 don’t know how many
times about driving without a license,"
Barron muttered as he reached over for a
white notebook, its cover reading “Sur Xlli —
Los Primos."
Inside the binder were photographs of
voung Hispanic males, ages 14 to 25, pasted ,
on “Gang Member Identification" sheets.
Documented were not only their names and
addresses, but also gang names tattooed on
rheir knuckles, chests and necks. There was
a checklist for each name, with categories
for ganglike behavior and attire at the time
of at rest: bandannas, baggy clothes,
weapons, flashing signs, hanging out with a
large group of people, telltale tattoos,
involvement in graffiti, etc.
Barren flipped to the page on the kid in |
front of him.
“Man, if we weren’t on private property
he'd be mine,” Barron said, slowly shaking
his head.
Barron, a special operations officer for
the Athens-Clarke County Police
Department, spends much of his time tracing
a phenomenon few in the community are
willing to recognize — Hispanic gang activity.
As Barron pulled out of the parking lot,
three Hispanic youths walked up to the
parked car, one of them a girl, no older than
16, wearing a T-shirt with the words “Vato
Loco” — crazy duae — air-brushed across it.
In the frent pocket of Barron's notebook is a
group photo taken at the Sandy Creek
Nature Center in late 1995. What interests
Barron about the 12 Mexicans posing are
their hand gestures, which identify them as
“Los Primos” — the cousins.
Los Primos have become, bar none, the
epicenter of gang activity in the Hispanic
community and a very sensitive topic in
police circles.
“Just to use the word ‘gang’ is to cause
panic," said ACC Police Detective Ako
Cromwell, who rode with Barron before
being promoted to detective. But Hispanic
gangs, specifically Los Primos, are becoming
a reality here. Not only that, Cromwell said,
“they will eventually affect the middle class
neighborhoods. To the individual that thinks
‘That’s not affecting me now,’ I say ‘If noth
ing's done, it will.’"
While Cromwell characterized Los Primos
as being in the formative stages of recruiting
new members, Barron said they have moved
past that. “It has the potential to be a very
big thing; it’s just something that’s being
kept away from public eyes," Barron said.
Los Primos are a “set” that identifies itself
with a larger group of gangs known as “Sur
13.” according to Barron and Cromwell. The
“Sur" is Spanish for “south" and refers to the
southern half of California, with the line of
demarcation, for gang purposes, generally
being accepted as Bakersfield. The “13”
stands for the thirteenth letter of the alpha
bet, “M,” which denotes two things. First, in
a tradition started by Hispanic Californians
in the 1920s, it means marijuana. Second,
and mere recent, it shows respect for “La
Erne,” the “Mexican Mafia,” organized in the
California prison system.
Barron is worried about the growth of Los
Primos. When it began in late 1995, it had
about 12 members who were more of z. social
group than anything, Barron said. From
there, the action got a little mo^e serious.
In the following year, membership shot
upward and officers came upon “beat in” ini
tiations and blood-stained T-shirts embla
zoned with the group’s name and signatures
of the new members’ “homies."
This “fraternity members gone bad” motif
was followed by auto break-ins, aggravated
assaults and a member facing triad for deal
ing marijuana and cocaine to an undercover
ACC police officer. The number of handguns
found on Los Primos members increased
dramatically, Barron said.
Every apartment complex and trailer
park with a substantial Hispanic presence
imp
SCIENCE DIET
Science Diet Light
BECAUSE DCTTEQWHEN TRIM
PETS FEEL DEI I Ell THEY'RE III11VI
Huy Seietue Diet' l.i&ht or an\ other Science DieD
nrodtnt tun I use the moil-in rebate o> Total \aluc not
i
fo exceed S10 (See details on shcl/d
*74e 'ZiCtctHate 'Pet Stone,
2301 College Station Rd • Athens. GA 30605 • 706-227-9255
Athens B rewin” Company
& ^'J^rewhouse £ofe
. Vpietnlvr "22
Velvet Jones
$2 Cover / > 1 Pint**
Thursday. Si , |Meml*i:*f 2 t
Falcons Players' Party
Friday Scptcml *er 2^
Latin & European Dance Party
starting at 11 pm
Saturday. Septemlvi 20
Ultrasound
Dinner & Music starting at Kpm
Sunday. Septeirfvr 2~
Classical Concert Brunch
starting at 12:30pm
Mi >nda\. Septcml'er 2S
liiiitili O Pnutifitinns presents
Collective Shorts
a nij;ht of jri. music, A thfjtru.il performances
$3 cover Marts at Hpni
Tuesday. Sepknilvr 20
Grace
32 cover starts at 10pm
BREWHOUSE CAFE 11st Floor)
LI M il 11 3 Toe Sat: 1>1\\J R S 10 \tetl Sat
BEERHALL PUB (2nd Floor)
1)I\M R S 10 Daily: Beer. \\ine A Spirits til 2 am
312 EAST W ASHINGTON MJtI.ET
DOWNTOWN •
D FLAGPOLE SEPTEMBER 23, 1998