CARBONDALE - Police units devoted to gang crime end up acting like gangs.

That conclusion, and recommendations to fight gang-related crime more effectively, are part of the research presented in "On Their Own: Policing Gangs in America," a book that will be released by Cambridge University Press in January.

Vincent Webb, director of the Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, wrote the book with Charles Katz, an associate professor of crime, justice and criminology at the University of Arizona.

Webb and Katz found that when police units were separated from the main police patrol body and sequestered for the purpose of combating gang crime, they began to function like little gangs of their own. Gang units housed within a police department, however, did not seem to suffer the same breakdown.

According to the researchers, 56 percent of all police departments with 100 or more sworn officers have a "definable gang unit."

The two found that gang units housed within police departments appear to be the most effective. Units that operate like a separate entity, however, seem to engage in what the researchers called "buffet-style policing."

Carbondale Police Chief Steve Odum said Carbondale does not have to deal with what most people think of as gangs and gang-turf warfare.

"Periodically we will see really small groups of people who appear gang-like," he said. "And every now and then we'll run across an individual who was in a gang when they were younger or has some association with gangs. For awhile, we did see gang graffiti."

Odum said most gang activity in Carbondale is wanna-be activity. Technically, though, he said, any crime conspiracy - a common charge when there is more than one defendant for drug manufacturing or distribution - indicates gang activity and may contribute to the long-abiding urban legend that gangs are active in Carbondale.

"They don't stake out turf or fight over turf or identify themselves as a gang. But they are in drug activity, and that is what

people think of as gang activity," he said.

He noted that between five and 10 drug cases a year in Carbondale are identifiable with genuine gang activity.

"That's not to say our drug dealers aren't being supplied by gangs," he said. "In that way, it would be gang related."

He said the Carbondale Police Department keeps current on gang-related training for at least a few officers in order to keep track of crimes that may be gang-related. However, the officers or investigators who have gang-training are not exclusively devoted to those types of crimes.

"It's just one more duty they are assigned," Odum said.

State trooper Ray Minor said gang activity can spawn other crimes that may not fit under the "gang activity" umbrella, but are still related to gangs. Stealing of property to pay for drugs purchased from gang members is an example of such ancillary crime, he said.

"Gang activity becomes visible to the general public when a turf war is going on," he said. "If there is no turf war, the public doesn't see it as much."

Webb noted that off-site police units that maintain close ties with home police departments can be very effective. He referred to Illinois' MEG units, such as SIEG (Southern Illinois Enforcement Group), as models that seem to be effective in specialized policing.

"Those kinds of units make sense," he said. "That's a good way to go."

Webb is new to Southern Illinois. He moved here this semester to take his position at SIUC.

andrea.hahn@thesouthern.com

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