3 ‘gang bibles’ seized, but chief says recent fight only major incident so far; officers enlist school teachers’ help

The arrest of a Fayette County High School student on four felony gang-related charges two weeks ago may have caught the community by surprise.

But not so for the Fayetteville Police Department and Fayette’s other local law enforcement agencies, or even the school system, according to Police Chief Steve Heaton.

For the past year and a half those groups have met quarterly to discuss various issues, and one of them has been how to address gang activity in local schools, Heaton said.

Police already have confiscated three “gang bibles” in Fayetteville schools, largely because teachers and school resource officers are vigilant for such activity, Heaton said. The department’s school resource officers have specialized gang training, and have taught local teachers how to spot gang activity.

Last week, Heaton displayed three notebooks with handwritten symbols on the cover and the letters “GMB.”

They’re “gang bibles.” Filled with handwritten information that needs to be known about the gang, including what certain symbols mean, where the gang originated and who its founders and leaders are.

As for what “GMB” means, Heaton said it’s in those documents: “Get Money Boy, Gangstas Mean Blood and Gangstas Mean Business.”

“For us this is wonderful intelligence,” Heaton said. “That’s exactly why faculty are so important in our quest to notice gang activity in our schools.”

Heaton said Fayetteville hasn’t had any major gang incidents in its schools beyond the recent bathroom fight, but at the same time there is gang activity present in schools. Part of that is natural because schools are where children congregate on a daily basis, he added.

“I don’t want the community to think Fayetteville and Fayette County schools are infested with gangs. We don’t have any evidence of that. But it wouldn’t be correct to say we don’t have gang members in our school system.”

Heaton hopes that parents get the wake-up call and keep a better track of their children.

“It’s incumbent upon parents to know what their children are involved in before law enforcement has to do it for them,” Heaton said. “And if they don’t, we will.”

The recent arrest, which also netted in charges filed against six juveniles participating in the “beat-in” gang initiation fight at an FCHS restroom, was a result of all the training and the cooperation between not just police and the school system but also the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office, which has agreed to prosecute gang members with the felony gang-related charges, Heaton said.

Such charges are stronger than misdemeanor battery or other similar charges which would be more likely to end up with a probation sentence instead of jail time.

“You want to make it real painful for them to exist in your community,” Heaton said of gangs, adding he doesn’t intend a physical threat but instead a threat to lock up gang members. “One of the things they don’t like is going to jail or YDC.”

While the police plan to file those gang-related felony charges when necessary, it’s not an attempt to “pile it on,” Heaton said.

“It lets people know we won’t tolerate gang activity that some other communities have,” Heaton said.

Gang activity can lead to a spike in violent crime such as drive-by shootings, stabbings, threats, coercion, stealing, burglaries, threats and other forms of intimidation, the chief said.

While saying there is a gang presence at local schools, it’s certainly not pervasive by any stretch of the imagination, Heaton said. Still, its enough of a trend for police and teachers to take notice and take action.

Heaton said School Superintendent John DeCotis was at each of the quarterly meetings and police have also worked closely with assistant superintendents Sam Sweat and C.W. Campbell. Having such good cooperation with the school system is key, DeCotis said.

Also present at those meetings have been juvenile court officials, who will have to deal with the charges on those ages 16 and under.

Fayetteville already has a specific detective assigned to investigate gang activity, Scott Isreal. Each school resource officer gets specialized gang training, and patrol officers are also being educated on the problem.

In a few months, the Fayetteville Police Department will begin holding community education classes on how to watch out for signs of gang activity, Heaton said. That’s because the department is depending on the community to call in such incidents such as the spotting of graffiti which could be gangs’ “tagging.”

To report such graffiti, Heaton wants residents to call 911 so an officer can come out and photograph the graffiti so it can be catalogued and investigated. After that occurs, Heaton suggests it be painted over, which sends a message to gangs that it’s not their territory after all.

If people start to say, “It’s just graffiti or tagging,” it gives the gangs a sense they’re free to operate here, Heaton said.

If tagging festers, that can lead to the practice of rival gangs painting over each other’s tags, Heaton said, which in turn can lead to violence between gangs.

“Somebody could end up shot, or beaten up or hurt over it,” Heaton said.

Not all graffiti is gang-related, Heaton added. Some graffiti popped up a last year behind Movies 10, and it turns out it was done by skateboarders instead of gang members, he said.

On one occasion, police received reports of tagging in the north area of town, Heaton said. After officers investigated the matter, it was determined that the graffiti was likely done by two students who had been suspended from school and had done similar things in the past, Heaton said.

Gangs generally use an initiation process for new members where they can either be “beat” in, “sexed” in or “blessed” in by being the family member of a very high-ranking, long-established member of the same gang, Isreal said.

To help combat such criminal organization, Fayetteville police are seeking grants to create curriculum for middle school students teaching them “why not to be involved in gangs,” Heaton said.

Heaton said police are also aware that gang problems can filter over from adjacent communities, and in that light he’s had Clayton County gang experts teach his officers about their gang activity.

“They want to come and enjoy what we have to enjoy,” Heaton said.

Heaton specifically cited the “excellent” police work of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office for making nine arrests of alleged gang members from Riverdale for stealing 86 guns in a smash-and-grab burglary at Autrey’s Armory off Ga. Highway 314. The case was a good example of the reason to be aware of gang issues being experienced in other nearby communities, Heaton said.

Heaton also cited a recent arrest during a party that was held at the American Legion’s Log Cabin, which is often rented out for events. An argument started between partygoers after one flashed a gang sign, and an officer was on hand to quickly make an arrest, the chief said.

Police are working with business owners and facilities rented to hold parties in an effort to stamp out problems such as the shots fired into the air at a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown at a north Fayetteville dance studio, Heaton added. Although the incident can’t be directly tied to gang activity, police want to stay on top of such matters and educate business owners about how to avoid such problems.

In the case of the birthday party, some partygoers showed up and became upset over an entry fee being charged at the door before leaving to fire what was believed to be four shots into the air.

As for handling gang-related cases in court, Heaton promises there will be real evidence to prove the alleged gang activity and not simple assertions of “possible” gang activity. It’s incumbent on police to prove it with multiple characteristics instead of just judging a person by the way they dress, for example, he said.

It’s good to have the support of prosecutors too, he added.

“We’re in the fledgling stages of this, so we have to get on top of it and stay on top of it,” Heaton said.