Jackson has members of four major gangs that are known worldwide - the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords

Joe Richard Poston, 24, and Robert Benjamin Seats, 28, died of gunshot wounds after a shoot-out in the parking lot of J-Mumbly's, at 903 Hollywood Drive in the Hollywood Shopping Center. Police believe the men shot each other during an argument that began inside the club.
Police have confirmed that two Jackson men killed in a Sunday morning shooting in a nightclub parking lot were affiliated with rival gangs, the Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples.But police have said they are still investigating whether the shooting was gang-related and whether it was connected to another shooting near another nightclub the same night.
Seven others - three women and four men - were injured in the incident. Another man was wounded earlier Sunday night in the area of the Sesame Street Lounge, at 411 Railroad St.In another possible gang-related incident Wednesday, about 150 students at North Side High School gathered in a hallway.According to a Madison County Sheriff's Office report, students told Principal Jan Watson that a Vice Lords leader and a Gangster Disciples leader were making peace between the rival gangs when a crowd gathered.Willis said police have seen an uptick in the last year in assaults and robberies of individual gang members involved in selling drugs.Many of those crimes are not reported, but police hear about the crimes through intelligence from reliable informants, Willis said. Police also corroborate the information when they interview people who are in custody on other criminal charges.
Jackson has members of four major gangs that are known worldwide - the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords, Willis said. Police are also aware of some local gangs, which are frequently established by teenagers in middle school and older. Those gangs may eventually die out, and others are started.




During the 1990s, Jackson saw a major spike in gang violence, with 19 homicides in 1993. But in recent years, police have said gangs are keeping a lower profile.



Willis declined to estimate how many people are part of gangs in Jackson, saying he could not give an accurate number.

"We do not come into contact with every gang member," he said. "All gang members do not get arrested. All gang members do not admit their affiliation, nor do they reveal any indication that they are in a gang."

'A lot of work to do'
Mayor Jerry Gist called the recent shootings "distressing" and "disappointing."

"It indicated we still have a lot of work to do," Gist said. "We knew we had a gang presence, but gang activity had been more passive in the last years, so this is very disappointing."

Gist said he still believes the changes suggested by the crime task force in recent years have the city headed in the right direction. He cited new officers added to the police department and progress made by the Gang Unit.

There has been a lot of effort to educate younger people about the dangers of gangs, Gist said.

"The problem is those already in gangs; it is almost impossible to escape once you are in," Gist said. "People also need to understand that gang activity is part of every community in this nation."

When asked about reducing the number of the guns on the street, Gist said he did not think much could be done.

"There are not a lot of ways to crack down; you can always get weapons," he said.

No guns were recovered at the crime scene Sunday morning, and police are still investigating how many guns were fired.

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Arrested members of the Latin Kings, Bloods, MS-13 and Neta gangs

13 arrests were made Friday at residences in Denville, Dover, Randolph, Rockaway, Victory Gardens and Wharton, as part of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods, a statewide initiative targeting criminal street gangs.
More than 100 officers from 18 agencies participated in the 6 a.m. bust, which was the third phase of an "aggressive mission to cripple street gangs' command structure by taking down leaders and high-ranking associates," county Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said during a news conference Monday afternoon.Since August, Morris authorities have arrested 32 individuals from Morris and Essex counties on 286 charges, and seized $1.35 million in cocaine and heroin and 33 firearms, including assault rifles and high-powered weapons."It's a hit-them-when-they-are-down philosophy. We used a variety of undercover infiltration methods, changing things up like a boxer so they did not become accustomed to our methods of operation," Bianchi said. "They tried to resurrect their business after we already hobbled them, and now we hit them again, coming in like an aftershock. Now they are done, out, dismantled."
Authorities said Carlos M. Madera, 29, of Newark, was the leader of one drug operation. He was charged with 23 offenses that include possession and distribution of cocaine and is being held at Morris County jail on $350,000 bail.
Also arrested was his father, Carlos Madera Sr., 48, also of Newark, another Newark individual, six individuals from Dover, one from Landing, one from Morris Plains, one from Victory Gardens and another who was in Morris County jail.Those arrested include members of the Latin Kings, Bloods, MS-13 and Neta gangs, Bianchi said.
The arrests also included 23-year-old Luis Vasquez of Victory Gardens and his mother, Lilybette Garcia, 42, of Dover.The three-month investigation stems from an Oct. 30, 2007, Rockaway shooting that involved a man flashing a semi-automatic handgun during an argument that led authorities to Carlos G. Gonzalez Jr. During the investigation, police learned Gonzalez was operating a competing drug dealing operation against his father, Carlos G. Gonzalez Sr,. "using fear, intimidation and violence with guns as everyday business tactics."On Aug. 14, there was a drive-by shooting on Prospect Street in Dover with five shots fired from a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun that missed their intended target, Luis Vazquez, 23, of Victory Gardens. Bianchi said the junior Gonzalez was responsible for the shooting.On Aug. 18, authorities completed their first raid, making arrests in Dover, Randolph and Wharton, seizing numerous firearms and $250,000 in drugs packaged for distribution and dismantling two major drug enterprises operating throughout the county.
That operation was followed by another on Oct. 17, where authorities executed search warrants in Denville, Dover, Victory Gardens and Wharton. Investigators uncovered a substantial amount of illegal weapons -- assault rifles, weapons with silencers and high powered scopes along with a significant amount of high capacity ammunition magazines.Bianchi credited the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Morris County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Police and police from Denville, Dover, Randolph and Wharton in the arrests."The citizens of Morris County are safer today as a result of the efforts of these fine law enforcement personnel," Bianchi said. "As it is the position of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, my administration will not stop here in terms of gaining additional investigative intelligence to attack other criminal enterprises. And we will aggressively prosecute those who were arrested in these street gang, guns and drug dealing networks."

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Dayton View Hustlers, Bloods, Gangster Disciples, Greenwich VillageCrew, and Otterbein Mafia gangs operating in the Fifth District

Police detectives for the past month have been rounding up suspected gang members in targeted neighborhoods in an effort to curb organized criminal activity.The effort has netted at least a dozen arrests, several weapons, thousands of dollars in cash and drugs, Dayton Detective Chad Knight said.
The police department in 2006 received a $98,533 Anti-Gang Initiative grant from the U.S. Justice Department, part of a $30 million nationwide pool of money to support new or expanded anti-gang efforts. The grant is helping to cover overtime pay for officers conducting the sweeps, and to train officers to identify gang and organized criminal activity. Funding is expected to last until August, police said.
A Dayton Daily News series published Feb. 17 and 18 found that law enforcement agencies in the Miami Valley have connected assaults, drug trafficking, shootings and homicides to more than a dozen local street gangs.The sweeps of one police district at a time (there are five) involve Knight and other narcotics detectives and patrol units from the targeted district.
A sweep on April 4 yielded four felony and three misdemeanor arrests; 24 traffic citations; the confiscation of 28 grams of powder cocaine, five grams of crack cocaine and six ounces of marijuana; $1,600 cash and a 9 mm handgun, said Lt. Patrick Welsh, narcotics squad supervisor.
Most of the sweeps have focused on the Fifth District, in the northwest portion of Dayton, parts of which are known gang hotbeds. Police have made several arrests along Otterbein Avenue, Knight said. Police have identified several gangs operating in the Fifth District including the Dayton View Hustlers, Bloods, Gangster Disciples, Greenwich Village Crew, and Otterbein Mafia.Names, ages, group affiliations and other information gathered from arrests are entered into Ohio's statewide gang database for use by law enforcement, Welsh said.
The weekend of May 2-4, a sweep targeted neighborhoods in the Second District, which encompasses the east side of the city below East Fifth Street, Welsh said.
"It's not just targeting street gangs, so to say. It's a broader spectrum," he said. "It could be a family where only blood relatives are allowed in as opposed to a group that calls themselves something."Police are also targeting suspected biker gangs and neo-Nazi organizations."It's really an anti-group initiative," Welsh said.
In a related investigatory development, police said they reviewed area homicides since 2005 and have found that a significant portion can be linked to a "group dynamic."Welsh said Dayton, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the city of Trotwood found that close to 40 percent were "group dynamic" related. Group-related incidents, which police formally refer to as "group-member involved incidents," include homicides where the victim or suspect is a known member of a defined group, Welsh said.

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