Chattanooga Pulse

The signs have been here for years. Graffiti. Gang-on-gang assaults and drive-by shootings. Stabbings. Yet not so very long ago, officials described self-proclaimed Chattanooga gangs as “wannabe gangs”, not “real gangs like they have in LA”. Though there had been whispers and rumors about increasing gang activity in Chattanooga for years, only recently has it become a part of conversation. With the seeming increase of violence on our city streets, “gang-related incident,” “drive-by shootings,” and “gang retaliation,” have now become a part of police discussion with the public.

However, we have only to look a short distance south for an example of how to deal with this problem. Dalton, Georgia officials have been dealing with similar issues for years, and have assertively taken action to reduce gang activity.

Officials began seeing signs of gangs forming, or relocating, to Dalton back in the mid-’90’s. Officers and detectives began studying gang signs and affiliations, started watching active gang members from afar, and created an anti-gang program officers took into schools, with the hope of steering kids away from gangs.

But it was a tragic incident that claimed the life of Dalton High School football star, Andre Johnson, in May of 2007, that seemed to spark a series of gang-on-gang assaults and retaliations, which forced the Dalton Police Department to re-evaluate the way it was dealing with local gangs.

Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker explains what could have once been considered “occasional gang activity” had at that point escalated dramatically, “After this homicide on Memorial Day, what we saw was almost a weekly or monthly situation where these gang members were shooting at one another, or, by getting in a fight with one another and stabbing each other.”

Parker’s approach was aggressive: Hit the problem head-on. Within months, the Dalton Police Department had instituted Operation A.B.L.E. (Aiding the community in identifying crime, Building partnerships in the community, Locking up offenders, Enforcing the law consistently and constitutionally), implementing several different strategies to reduce gang-related crime, especially aggravated assault cases. “We were aiming at people who were committing disorderly and dangerous behavior of all kinds…gang activity, street-level prostitution, drug operations, and so forth.”

Chief Parker first reorganized officers’ hours in order to place more patrols during overnight hours. Then, as Parker explains, it was time to start knocking on doors, “to identify individuals in Dalton who are associated with gangs. We visited over 450 houses in Dalton to try to find out just who of these individuals, that we had intelligence about, were really gang members and who were not.”

Officers made a round of initial arrests, and continued canvassing neighborhoods throughout Dalton. In visiting these homes, officers were surprised to find out that the majority of active gang members were between the ages of 12 and 21, many of them still living at home with parents or other guardians. Many times, these parents or guardians had no idea of the activities of the juveniles under their care. So, as Parker explains, “getting them involved in the process was essential.”

Officers condensed the number of suspected gang members down to about 100, took note of where the prospects lived, and conducted GPS mapping of those areas of town. “We began what we refer to as ‘adopt these individuals’. Each person on this list was assigned to an officer or detective that would make periodic visits to the house. We continued that, past this initial intelligence gathering, to continue that relationship,” Parker recounts.

These procedures and visits are still in place today, and continue to be a regular part of officers’ routines and duties. The results of these new strategies have been dramatic. Though Dalton police officers saw 88 gang-related assaults between May 2007 and May 2008, there only 22 similar incidents during the same time period the following year. “Not only is gang-related crime down in Dalton, but, all part I crimes, which are the most serious… homicide, rape, robbery, arson, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny, basically, are all down. In fact, each year, since Operation A.B.L.E., we’ve been down significantly… we’re probably at a 10-year low now,” Parker says.

In fact, Operation A.B.L.E. has been so successful; the Dalton Police Department has adopted the new strategies as permanent procedure. More recently, the DPD received statewide recognition by placing second in the Dr. Curtis McClung/Motorola Award of Excellence, which honors police departments demonstrating innovative training techniques and programs addressing a significant operational problem.

While Parker was reluctant to compare Dalton’s gang situation to Chattanooga’s, as he felt he’d only be speculating, the chief did agree that police and community-involvement would be essential in reducing the increasing gang activity and crime here.

“I think, if allowed to go unchecked, then, I think the gang issues perpetuate themselves. And, it’s difficult for a community to deal with that, it’s difficult to head that off at the pass,” Parker says. The chief further predicts that, only when we, as a unified community, send a strong message to active gang members, and even those “wannabes,” will we be able to curb the escalating number of gangs forming in our own area, as well as the violent and other serious crimes that come along with them.