Youth gang recruitment growing in Isles

Jul. 29—The four people Glynn County police officers arrested early Thursday morning for breaking into cars in the Abbington Woods Apartments parking lot were teenagers. Two of them were 17-year-old boys. The other two were younger than 17, making them officially juveniles in the eyes of state law.

Late last week, a traffic stop led to the arrest of a 20 year old, a 19 year old and a 17 year old who had with them two stolen pistols along with other weapons that included an AR15, a Mini Draco Rifle and a KelTec Sub 2000 rifle.

In late June, officers chased three minor teenagers and two 19-year-olds across the F.J. Torras Causeway from St. Simons Island for allegedly breaking into a car on the island. When the chase ended and all five people were arrested, officers arrested three teenagers between the ages of 13-15, all from Jacksonville.

Many of today's criminals are younger, a disturbing fact police often attribute to gangs. They're tapping the lower age brackets for recruits.

Glynn County Detective Troy Bergiadis is keenly aware of this. He and Sgt. Heather Savage investigate gang-related cases for the department and say youths 19 and younger have been responsible for many of the shootings that spiked locally from April through June.

"Most of our shooters are under the age of 21," Bergiadis said.

In the last three years, the county police department has seen at least a 30% increase in gunshot victims and more than a 25% increase in shots fired calls, he said. Not all of those shootings are gang related, and not all youth arrested are gang members. But investigators reckon anywhere from 60-80% of violent crimes locally and statewide are somehow linked to gang activity.

In one recent case, officers arrested a 14-year-old who was involved in a drive-by shooting and later that day was the victim of a retaliation shooting when people shot at his mother's house. All of the people involved in those incidents were younger than 19, Bergiadis said.

County police have arrested 35 juveniles who are 17 or younger so far in 2023 for crimes that may indicate gang involvement. Of those, five were for aggravated assault, one was for armed robbery, two were for possession of a firearm, three were for second degree burglary, two were for smash-and-grab burglary, and two were for battery. Additionally three arrests were for breaking into cars and 17 were for being a party to the crime of breaking into cars.

In all there have been 59 juveniles arrested by county police in 2023. Some other arrests were for traffic offenses like reckless driving, providing false information to police, obstruction, sex crimes and misdemeanor drug possession, among others.

The Brunswick Police Department has seen a similar uptick in juvenile arrests this year. City police had arrested 21 juveniles this year as of July 13. Their charges are similar to the county's arrests. Five were arrested for possessing a firearm while being under 18 years old, four for second-degree burglary and three for aggravated assault. One was arrested for robbery, another for selling marijuana and forgery, and others were charged with disorderly conduct, reckless driving, criminal trespassing and obstructing officers, among other charges.

Those charges don't all confirm gang relation or gang motivation, Bergiadis said. And his captain, Shawn Strohl, said there may be other juveniles arrested who were handled differently through the system because of juvenile justice processes.

But the investigators know that when juveniles are burglarizing businesses, homes or cars and committing violent crimes, it usually means they are in a gang or trying to prove their worth to become a gang member.

"The violent crimes we've seen recently usually end up having some gang affiliation," Bergiadis said.

Youth recruitment

Brunswick Police Chief Kevin Jones said his officers are dealing with the same groups and therefore see the same sorts of crimes and gang affiliations. The youth see people older than them walking around with wads of cash and driving cars they want, and they want to be part of it, he said.

"It's like the mafia of the 1920s and '30s," Jones said. "Their main currency is drugs and guns."

Which is why police investigators say they are seeing more and more teenagers breaking into homes and cars. They look for anything they can make money with and especially for guns.

"Then they get some money in their pockets and they're willing to take the chance," Jones said. "It's frustrating because then the kids get street credit because of it."

He recalled one 16-year-old juvenile city police arrested who had four guns under his mattress. Two of them were stolen.

It's more common than ever, police say, and the trend seems to be growing as children are finding new influences that push or pull them into the gang world.

Many times, Savage said, children are living without a strong family life, so they seek it elsewhere. The gangs are happy to provide.

"They're finding what they've been yearning for by fitting in with a group," Savage said.

Jones said that seems to be the most powerful draw to gangs for young people.

"It's often a lack of positive influence from family," he said. "Who's in their world? That's who is influencing them."

There are also outside influences like musical acts with known gang affiliations. From Snoop Dogg and Cardi B to rappers like Young Thug, who is on trial in a large gang case in Atlanta, musical influence makes gangs appealing to younger audiences, Bergiadis said.

Then there is this thing that is perhaps most appealing to young people.

"It's a way for them to make money," Savage said.

They learn to break into cars and find cash, debit cards, valuable items and guns and then to sell them through social media and other means. In some cases, youth as young as 14 are pulling off sophisticated bank fraud using computers and social media, she said.

"They're not dumb," Savage said. "These kids are smart."

But getting into that life almost inevitably leads to violence and life-threatening situations.

"Eventually they have a gun in their hands," Savage said.

Meaningless consequences

When they are arrested, the punishment is often not harsh enough to deter them from committing more crimes after their release, which is an almost sure thing, Savage said. The juvenile justice system in Georgia is built for rehabilitation, which is a good thing in many cases. In others, however, it's known that a juvenile charge for breaking into a car will be a slap on the wrist and that the teens will be back on the streets in no time ready for more gang activity, she said.

The same goes for many of the adult gang members who know that unless a gang charge is pending against them, they have a good chance of being released on bond or getting probation after a conviction. Bergiadis noted there are 722 people on felony probation in the 31520 zip code alone, a sign of how many people have been convicted of serious crimes who are still on the streets.

"These people aren't afraid to go to jail because they know they aren't going to stay," Savage said. "They know they'll be there for a short time and be back."

She sees many cases when even if someone violates their probation, they only get more probation time added rather than being sent back to prison to finish their sentence.

Making a gang case

Which is why Jones and the county investigators said it's so important to bring gang charges against suspected gang members whenever possible. Gang laws in Georgia require a low statutory standard to convict and come with some of the harshest penalties in the country.

Someone convicted of furthering the interests of a gang in Georgia will not get probation and will serve a long prison sentence.

"When we are able to convict on gang charges, it deters other people," Bergiadis said. "More people are scared of a gang conviction than they are of an aggravated assault charge."

Making those cases requires training to recognize the signs of gang activity and to collect the proper evidence to take a case to court, Capt. Strohl said.

"Training is a top priority," Strohl said.

So is public outreach about how people can help police in the battle against street gangs. Bergiadis met recently with school teachers, principals and officials to talk to them about gang activity indicators.

"A lot of these kids who are committing these crimes are school aged," Bergiadis said.

The public can also help by practicing what the Glynn County Police Department calls the 9 p.m. routine. The primary piece of that routine is locking car doors.

Savage said most car break-ins are crimes of opportunity. She doesn't want gangs getting more guns to use or sell because someone didn't lock their doors at night.

"It sounds harsh, but they're contributing to the problem by letting criminals have that access," Savage said.