COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — There is a growing concern from the Phenix City Police Department about crimes being committed by suspected gang members.
Over the last two weeks the Phenix City Police Department has been working overtime on a series of gun crimes believed to be committed by juveniles as young as 13.
There have been some arrests, but Capt. Skip Lassiter says he can’t talk about those yet. He said the primary police focus is in the middle part of the city.
“But we are seeing an uptick,” Lassiter said. “We do know that they are gang members, although they claim not to be. When we go to talk to them, when we talk to the victims, when we go to talk to the offenders, they try to say there is no gang affiliation. However, we have evidence through the research of my investigators – and they have been working very hard on this — and we can prove that some of these are, in fact, gang members.”
Lassiter is careful in his comments – notice he said the alleged crimes were committed by suspected gang members. He did not call them gang crimes.
Phenix City police are sharing intelligence with the Columbus Police Department.
“Seems like I talk to them on an almost daily or every other day basis,” Lassiter said. “We are comparing notes. Talking to one another. We are trying to figure out our next step so we can try and get ahead of the problem.”
Columbus Police are not seeing the same uptick in crimes that has the attention of the Phenix City police.
“So, I would not be able to make the same assertion,” Deputy Chief Lance Deaton, Columbus Police Department. “However, I think it’s important to understand that when we are communicating back and forth it’s intelligence gathering and it’s intelligence sharing. And so, it’s very possible that some of the shootings we have here are related to some of the shootings they have there. And vice versa.”
Deaton says the communication between the departments is essential.
“I am not being dismissive about what Phenix City is dealing with and what they are facing at all,” Deaton said. “Because they know what their crimes are. They know what their situations are. I am just saying that their situation isn’t always the same as ours. … And that’s why we are in constant communication. So we can communicate together and see if there is some overlap so we can help each other with these crimes.”
Lassiter is asking for the community’s help in solving these crimes.
“We need to know if you see something and it doesn’t look right,” Lassiter said. ” A vehicle that doesn’t look right. These are the types of things we need to know.”
The distinction between a gang crime and a crime committed by a gang member is law enforcement and prosecutors have to be able to prove that the crime was committed in furtherance of gang activity.
