WORCESTER— Call them cyberposers. They are a group of school-age teens who don gang colors or wield what appears to be a weapon in pictures posted with their online profiles on popular social Web sites.
Police and school officials see these online profiles. They collect information and compare notes in an effort to find out if these young teens are truly involved in the traditional gangs. The majority are not.
Social Web sites are a way these teens communicate. As Sgt. Miguel A. Lopez of the police gang unit puts it — these teens are involved in what he calls “hybrid gangs.”
He described the hybrid gang as a group of two or more people who may not have a territory, and do not have leadership lines or regular meetings such as the typical gangs do.
“Many of these kids only associate in specific places, let’s say schools or reoccurring functions,” Sgt. Lopez said. “That is the only place they see each other. They correspond through Myspace.com or other social Web sites.”
Members of the police gang unit are adamant about one thing when it comes to online posers and hybrid gangs: They are not the ones causing the violent crimes in the city.
“The average age of a violent offender is 26. Not high school age,” said Capt. Paul B. Saucier, commander of the gang and vice units. “We don’t see an uptick in gang violence.” These hybrid gangs come together, but authorities don’t see them at night committing the major violence. That’s not to say there aren’t fights in the schools or some fights after school. The major violence is coming from the mid-20s age group, authorities said.
“What you have is a less violent group of people still calling themselves a gang who have fewer and fewer people committed to ongoing criminal activity,” Sgt. Lopez said. “While we are seeing more of that, it doesn’t necessarily translate to gang violence in the city.”
School officials spend a lot of time looking into online threats or teens posing as gang members online, whether it is through clothing or holding what appears to be a weapon, said Robert F. Pezzella, executive assistant to the superintendent for school safety and violence prevention.
In one case, a teen was holding what appeared to be a gun in his online profile. It turned out to be a BB gun. Mr. Pezzella also has seen school teens donning red bandanas over their faces or flashing gang symbols in their online pictures.
“We have given administrators MySpace accounts over the last six months,” he said. “More of these middle-aged high school kids are on their accounts maybe flashing a weapon and we have to determine if the weapon is real. Two of the biggest resources we devote time on are threats online or posing online with clothing, weapons or what appears to be gang-affiliated attire.”
The schools rely on the gang unit to help find out if a school teen is really involved in a gang. While there are some teens involved in the traditional type of gang, police say they are finding more of the hybrid gang instead.
“Parents should keep an eye on their children’s online profile and activities and to what they are receiving from others,” said Sgt. Stephen L. Roche of the gang unit.
It’s a cultural thing, Sgt. Roche said, commenting on the rap culture in today’s society that in some instances has rap artists flashing money, expensive cars and women in their videos.
“I think a lot of it is more for the bravado and the status,” Sgt. Roche said of the teens claiming to be in gangs.
A lot of times when gang unit members talk to the kids involved in the online posing or hybrid gangs, they won’t say they are part of any gang at all. True gang members will tell police.
“They will say yes. They are not ashamed of that gang affiliation,” Sgt. Roche said of true gang members. “It is not illegal in Massachusetts to be a gang member.”
Members of the Police Department’s gang unit hit the streets and talk to kids. They’ll ask them flat out if they are involved in a gang, but the officers stress they are trying to engage in conversations with these kids.
“We engage these kids in conversation all the time. We just walk up to them and talk to them,” Sgt. Lopez said.
Police and school officials meet regularly. Gang unit members also speak to roughly 2,300 sixth-graders a year about leading a productive life and the pitfalls of gang life. Those talks will be given to eighth-graders as well.
The gang unit sponsors athletic leagues and camps, along with talks from people doing prison time for gang activity leading to crimes, all part of the way police reach out to young teens.
There is also a program that has 50 city youths deemed “at risk” receiving assistance from a Boys & Girls Club program called Gang Prevention Through Targeted Outreach. A police grant is used for the program.
The program has an outreach case manager meeting with the city youth referred by the gang unit as “at risk” and places the teens in different programs.
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