Middle Class Gangs: A Growing Valley Problem

[The Straight Story]

Middle Class Gangs: A Growing Valley Problem

There is an ugly secret working its way to the surface in many of the Sacramento region’s most stable and sought-after neighborhoods, where homes are new and the prices high.

People living in these communities won’t even utter the "G" word for fear it will drive home values down, the result of having the stigma of gang activity surrounding their neighborhood.

But gangs in middle class neighborhoods are more than just a fact -- they are on the rise. It is a perplexing and growing problem that police are finding has little to do with income or race.
..

But on a recent Wednesday night, a swing across wide sections of the city by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Gang Unit showed that neighborhoods that don’t fit the conventional image of "gangland" are becoming more and more common.

On the far east side of south Sacramento, investigators pounded on doors of homes in neighborhoods where prices range from $300,000 to $400,000. From inside one home, officers brought out 17-year-old Giovanni, his right ankle tattooed with a gang insignia. News10 is not including his last name because he is a juvenile.

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=24687