The Gangs of Peoria

I'm taking a major departure from my normal line of commentary just for today. There is a train of thought that I have not been able to shake for some time now about what I have seen in Peoria and the surrounding area.

I have been serving in the inner city of Peoria in one capacity or another for over thirteen years. On top of that, I live in what has become one of the rougher neighborhoods in the city. I have seen a lot and heard more. What I have seen begs the question, "Why have the local media outlets ignored our growing gang problem?"

I have seen an increasing number of gang members in my neighborhood openly displaying their colors. Where I live, there is a strong presence of the No Loves, a home-grown gang as well as the Gangster Disciples out of Chicago. I have seen tags from the Vice Lords and the Latin Kings, both of whom are large gangs from Chicago, as well as a whole slue of other locals. I hear rumors of several other national level gangs moving into the city and surrounding communities.

After the respite of 2008, this year has seen a dramatic increase in violence, arson, and other crimes. The first homicide of the year was a young man shot in his home about six blocks from my home. To anyone who knows anything about gangs, almost all of the crimes have a distinct ring to them. The man found set on fire in a field on the south end struck me as especially familiar in its style. Shootings are up, drug dealing is on the rise, and other crimes normally associated with this type of activity.

I wonder, if I can ask a few questions as a private citizen with no journalistic experience can discover which gangs are connected to some of the activities, why doesn't the press? The police department is working on the problem, yet the average citizen didn't hear anything about gangs in Peoria until an incident at Woodview Commons, student residences located on the East Peoria Campus of Illinois Central College (ICC). The only other report naming specific gangs was from that first homicide and only then because of the personal involvement of community activist and pastor, Harvey Burnett. He made it clear in interviews who had committed the crime, the No Love's. They are rumored to be responsible for other shootings and crimes in the neighborhood, including the murder of a convenience store owner on the corner of Prospect and McClure, across the street from Glen Oak Park and Zoo.

In my view, there are only three possible answers for the journalistic silence and only one is marginally acceptable. The first is denial. Is the media just like many of us who would like to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the problem? I hope not, but the second bad answer is worse. I would like to think that it is not just plain laziness. Get the bare bones and don't worry about the rest. Report on the police report and maybe the prayer vigil but not take the time to dig too much. I truly do not want to believe that and think better of most of our local news outlets.

The only reason I would accept is that the police department asked the press to keep the gangs out of the news so as not to hamper their investigations. I hope that is the case, but I am skeptical.

The truth is that we have a problem. The larger national level gangs are coming here to exploit our local drug market and to take advantage of our rural areas to cook meth. If we want to solve the problem, we must first acknowledge the issue and take real steps, not just talk and feel-good measures, but actions on multiple fronts. More on that in the next column.