"I guess any group that comes together and does violent crimes would be considered a gang, but to say they're like the Crips and the Bloods and things of that nature, which we would call traditional gangs, we do not believe we have a significant problem with that type of gang." -- Septemebr 2006 quote from police spokesman Dwight Mitchell (LMPD)
It has been a tradition under this administration to deny the existence of gangs or gang problems in Louisville. In 2003 Chief Robert White disbanded the Street Crimes and Gang Units. Why? One can only speculate as to why, but a reasonable conclusion would be that the exisitence of a gang unit implies the existence of gangs and you can't have "One of America's Safest Cities..." if gangs are running the streets.
The below story done by WLKY attributes some of the information it has uncovered about the existence of gangs in Louisville to a confidential informant from within the police department. The informant supplied the news agency with a confidential database compiled by the now defunct Gang Intelligence Unit before it was disbanded. Whoever you are, kudos to you, and we hope for the sake of your job that you remain "CONFIDENTIAL".
Target 32: Gangs A Growing Issue In Louisville
Documents Indicate Far-Reaching Scope Of Problem
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Acording to WLKY, a significant number of people say Louisville has a gang problem. Others deny that it's a widespread issue.
Either way, the issue of gangs in the Louisville metro area remains a front-burner concern for many in the region.
However, a member of the Louisville Metro Police Department who wished to remain anonymous takes issue with the department's stance on the issue.
The anonymous police employee supplied the WLKY investigation with a confidential database compiled by the now defunct Gang Intelligence Unit before it was disbanded.
The database contained information on every known gang operation in Louisville, breaking down each gang into subsets (including names and addresses of known gang members), in-depth descriptions of how each set operated, who they targeted and how they got into the city.
The database was compiled prior to Louisville's city-county merger in 2003, and showed 69 different gang sets with about 2,000 estimated members, 846 of which had confirmed names and addresses.
When mapped out by WLKY with information from the database, gangs affect all parts of the Louisville area, including southern Indiana.
An example of gang violence, according to the unit report, involved a group called the "Portland Original Gangsters." In that incident, a restaurant owner shot and killed a gang member allegedly trying to rob his business.
The report stated the gang initiated reprisals against the business owner, including arson and assault of family members, to the point the business was sold and the family moved, "…because of fear and intimidation from this gang."
According to the records, the biggest gangs are concentrated around housing projects.
"Tenth Street, that's a territorial place," an unnamed gang leader said. "Just like up east, Shepherd Square, Clarksdale, these are all territorial places."Another anonymous gang member, a 14-year-old boy who said he's been stabbed and shot and has dealt drugs, told WLKY, "Just say somebody from Clarksdale walked into Tenth Street disrespecting it, just running it. Your crew is right there and their crew is right there, and they go at it."
A Louisville preacher, who counsels gang members and was himself a victim of what appeared to be gang-related violence, said that the kids involved in gangs are often victims of their environments.
"So many people don't have the convention of a mom and dad, or people to love them, so they go and create their own families," Rev. Jerome Garrison said. "And with this alternative family, the way they get into the family, is through violence."