Youth gang activity on the rise in Indian Country

Friday, July 6, 2007  

Youth gang activity is on the rise in Indian Country, law enforcement officials and experts say.

Christopher Grant, a retired commander of the gang task force in the Rapid City, South Dakota, area, says gangs have most affected the Midwest, Northwest and Southwest. Activity in the Northeast, Southeast and Oklahoma is on the rise, he said.

Sgt. Dwaine Miller of the police department in Anadarko, Oklahoma, has identified 10 to 20 gang groups, with most criminal activity coming from the Blood gang. Out of five homicides in the last 18 months, three are gang-related, he said.

Kevin Pohawpatchoko, a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma and a Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer, said gang activity in Anadarko is at its highest during the American Indian Exposition in August. He also said some students at the Riverside Indian School come from other reservations where gang activity is prevalent.

Get the Story:
Gang activity on the rise (Indian Country Today 7/6)

Related Stories:
US Attorney boosts Indian Country crime efforts (7/3)
US Attorney: Criminal injustice in Indian Country (6/25)
Navajo medicine man accused of raping teen girl (05/21)
Nebraska tribes face sexual assault problems (05/21)
Pueblo woman helps police nab sex offender (5/18)
Utne Reader: Finding justice for Native women (5/17)
Deer: Demanding justice for Native women victims (5/4)
Editorial: Better approach to crimes against women (5/3)
Cangleska set to open new shelter at Pine Ridge (5/2)
'No one cares' about violence against Native women (4/30)
Editorial: Injustice for indigenous women (4/27)
Editorial: U.S. fails to protect Native women (4/26)
BIA ties violence against women to meth abuse (4/26)
Violence against Native women a 'national disgrace' (4/25)
Report details 'maze' Native women victims face (4/25)
Amnesty report on violence against Native women (4/24)
Husband of slain Navajo weaver found dead (4/18)
Navajo weaver killed a day before divorce was final (4/12)
Husband suspected in death of Navajo weaver (4/11)
Man acquitted for sexual assault of Native teen (03/27)
Tearful Native teen recalls sexual assault at trial (3/21)
Jodi Rave: Violence against Native women rising (3/12)
'Missing from the Circle' website launches (03/09)
Project seeks to create Indian Country crime database (3/2)
US Attorney: Critic hides contempt for tribes (01/03)
Opinion: Misleading stories on reservation homicide (1/2)
US Attorney: Tribes need more law enforcement (12/04)
Ute Reservation the 'murder capital of Colorado' (11/27)
Report outlines high murder rate of Native women (09/21)
Data shows high rates of Native violence in Farmington (08/31)
Pine Ridge Reservation shelter helps hundreds (08/10)
Walk raises awareness of domestic violence (05/12)
Shakopee Tribe awards anti-domestic violence grant (05/03)
Tribes unite for domestic violence awareness (04/25)
Men sentenced to life in prison for kidnap, rape (01/27)
Domestic violence an epidemic in Indian Country (11/8)
Editorial: Breaking the circle of domestic violence (10/26)
Figures show drop in Indian Country jail population (10/25)
Michigan tribe marches against domestic violence (10/21)
Navajo man leads walk against domestic violence (10/12)
Senate approves violence act with tribal provisions (10/5)
DOJ awards grants for Indian women safety sites (09/22)
Editorial: Protect Native women from domestic violence (09/12)
Domestic violence a problem on Montana reservations (9/9)
Violence Against Women Act set to expire this month (9/6)
Column: Genocide of Indian women continues today (08/15)
Violence Against Women Act includes tribal provisions (06/14)
Study finds high rates of trauma among two tribes (06/01)
Harjo: Native women aren't safe in Indian Country (04/29)
Two charged with rapes on Montana reservation (02/25)
Congress puts focus on Indian Country crime (11/22)
Violent crime on the rise on Navajo Nation (11/02)
Tribal rights recognized in domestic violence bill (10/26)
Alaska wants to reduce tribal powers in child welfare (09/09)
Two grants to combat domestic violence on reservation (09/01)
Justice bill shifts priorities in Indian Country (8/4)
Criminals on Navajo Nation sometimes set free (07/30)
Tribal authority over all Indians still unsettled question (06/23)
Native women in Oklahoma at high risk for violence (05/26)
Federal prosecutor seeks to change 'national shame' (04/19)
IHS compiles domestic violence research (10/29)
Native youth victimization outpaces nation (07/17)
Natives top violent crime list again (4/8)
One in 10 hate crimes target American Indians (10/1)
DOJ: American Indians highest injured (6/25)
DOJ: Violent crime plagues Indian Country (3/19)