When Chief Robert White assumed command of the newly merged Louisville Metro Police Department in 2003, one of his first actions was to disband the Street Crimes and Gang Units. That decision was met with considerable disfavor among police officers and detectives alike.
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Residents Fearful After Weekend Violence
By Janelle MacDonald
WAVE 3
Metro police detectives have their work cut out for them as they try to track down the people responsible for as many as seven shootings over the weekend. One person died and several others were hospitalized, some with life threatening injuries.
Inside a crowded nightclub Monday morning, people were letting off steam, getting ready to start the week. Instead the weekend ended violently, with two -- maybe three men -- shot outside.
LMPD spokesman Dwight Mitchell says the victims "may have been lured out and again, we're hearing that and we're following that up."Police aren't sure if any of the six or seven shootings this weekend are related, but speculation has started in the neighborhood that at least one could involve a group of people calling itself the "Taliban Gang."
No one wanted to go on camera to talk about the group, but the rumors started early Sunday morning, when 23-year-old Cederic Duncan died after a fight involving up to six other people.
"It may have been that many people out there," Mitchell said. "We do know he was shot; I don't know that he was shot by six different people, so I don't know that it constitutes it being a gang."Neighborhood talk of gang involvement apparently started because of the number of people involved in the attack and because it happened in an area the "Taliban Gang" claims as its turf."We've heard of that," Mitchell said, "but we have not had any indication other than there was a situation over in Shelby Park where some individuals were calling themselves that."Stan Mullen, a gang expert who works for the Jefferson County Public School system, says just because a group calls itself a gang, doesn't actually mean it is one. Mullen says the typical signs of gangs -- dress, language and handshakes are only symbols -- but they could describe any number of groups from Boy Scouts to sports teams.
"The key thing is that they repeatedly engage in criminal activity," Mullen said.
Police say they have no evidence the criminal activity this weekend was organized or linked to gangs.