POLICE TELL TEACHERS OF DRUGS AND GANGS HERE

An investigation into the April 18 shooting death of a 26-year-old man from the state of California revealed that it probably was a gang-related killing.

The victim was supposedly a "card-carrying" member of the Bloods gang in the South Central Los Angeles area, police said. The man police believe did the shooting is a member of the Crips gang.

Although the alleged murderer is still at large, a graffiti gravestone was painted on the side of a building in South Cape Girardeau by local members of the Bloods gang. It marks the shooter's death at the hands of Bloods members.

In light of stories like this, Cape Central Junior High School administrators invited representatives of the Cape Girardeau Police Department to their monthly faculty meeting to talk about drugs, gangs, guns and youth.

"We're seeing little vestiges of gang activity in the school, but we don't know how much credence to give the students' behavior," Central Junior High principal Lanny Barnes told the police officers. "When school first started, we had kids wearing red and blue bandanas to school. We decided not to allow them to wear bandanas or `colors' to school."

The police presentation laid the groundwork for a petition that was circulated to teachers at the school Tuesday. It asked questions about the teachers' perceptions of the infiltration of drugs, weapons and gang activity in the school. A similar petition will be distributed to about 200 students in the coming weeks, Barnes said.

"In Cape Girardeau, we have active members of the Bloods and the Crips," Detective Rick Price told the faculty. "We also have the `wannabes,' who are usually the most violent because they want to prove to gang members that they are as hard-core as any full-fledged member."

Price said there are at least two active members of the Bloods gang from the Compton area of South Central Los Angeles living in Cape Girardeau.

"According to one of those people, we have an active gang problem in Cape Girardeau," said Price. "But the members themselves are not that active -- the Bloods and the Crips can be seen talking to each other around town. Many of them are related. That's one of the reasons we don't have drive-by shootings. Cape is a neutral zone as far as gang members are concerned."

Price told the group that gangs will recruit members in places like malls, arcades, basketball courts or where kids gather in numbers.

"But their main areas of recruiting are in the schools because that's where the kids are," said Price.

Why do kids join gangs?

"Kid's figure it's cool," said Price. "Some join for the sense of family, others out of fear and intimidation, and some kids want to enhance their image to feel like they have authority over their peers."

Gang members usually are 10 to 25 years old, Price said.

The warning signs that kids are getting involved with gangs include a sudden change of attitude or friends, wearing the same color pattern every day, saying things or drawing things that do not appear to mean anything in particular, and flashing gang signs to other students.

One of the first signs of gang activity is the appearance of graffiti, whether it be on buildings or notebooks. Price showed the teachers a series of slides taken in Cape Girardeau representing some of the typical markings of gang members.

With gangs comes the proliferation of drugs in an area.

"Basically, we have a bad drug problem in this area -- especially with crack cocaine," said Price. "People in California realized that they can buy cocaine cheap there and sell it with a high margin of profit in other areas -- like here."

Price passed around crack cocaine and LSD that had been seized in the streets of Cape Girardeau, letting the teachers get a first-hand look at what they are up against.

"I work with troubled students and I've heard them talk about these kind of things," said one teacher. "What can I as a teacher do about it?"

Price told the faculty that any time any one of them has a concern about a student or a situation to contact the police department.

The same goes for guns in the school. Sgt. Carl Kinnison showed the group a couple of small handguns taken from people arrested on the street. Neither was any larger than the palm of his hand.

"Part of the problem is there is a lot of fear of guns," said Kinnison. "But guns won't shoot themselves; it's the person who is holding the gun you need to be concerned about."

Kinnison was at a loss to tell teachers exactly what to do if a student ever points a gun at another student or a teacher.

"Every situation is different," said Kinnison. "It all depends on the youth holding the gun, the setting and the aggravating circumstances."

Kinnison did tell teachers to try and clear other people out of the area and to remain calm at all costs.

"Most often kids bring guns to school to show off; not to threaten or hurt someone else," Kinnison said. "But that doesn't mean people don't get hurt or killed."