Figures show Manatee’s growing gang problem

MANATEE — A large share of the region’s gang problem is right here in Manatee County.

Of the 4,289 gang members reported in a 10-county region that also includes Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier, some 800 in 15 different gangs, or 18 percent, were in Manatee, according to a state report released Wednesday and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum released the first report on gangs in Florida completed by the Coordinating Council on Gang Reduction Strategies, which is made up of numerous state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

The council includes seven regional anti-gang task forces made up of law enforcement, which all reported the scope of their gang problem as part of the council’s report.

For years now, local and state agencies have been actively monitoring suspected gang members on the street and documenting them in a Florida Department of Law Enforcement database, if they meet certain criteria such as having gang tattoos, being in the presence of known gang members or engaging in gang graffiti. A person who meets three criteria can be documented, while those with less than that are known as affiliates.

The attorney general’s report also outlined the scope of the problem statewide, with 1,100 known gangs, and 48,812 gang members and affiliates.

Statewide, gangs have exploded over the past 20 years, skyrocketing from just 159 known gangs in 1991, with recruitment of members as young as 8 years old. The report said most documented gang members are between the ages of 14 and 21.

In Manatee 20 years ago, documenting gang members didn’t even take place, so it is unclear how many existed back then, but they were almost surely here, said Manatee Sheriff Brad Steube.

“It is sort of like when a new drug comes up. You know it’s out there, but you just haven’t seen it or made arrests,” Steube said. “Then it explodes.”

And explode it did in Manatee County in recent years, with an outbreak of drive-by shootings and killings that culminated in the death of 9-year-old Stacy Williams in a 2007 gang-related shooting. The sheriff’s gang unit also ballooned from two to 10 deputies.

In the wake of the violence, the sheriff’s office found itself with the unfortunate task of being the pioneer of a new plan to take on gangs using racketeering laws.

Racketeering laws allow the prosecutor to convict someone based on the totality of their criminal record, if those crimes are found to benefit a gang.

The attorney general’s report touted 24 convictions of gang members in statewide racketeering cases, to the tune of 305 years in prison sentences — the majority of which occurred in Manatee County.

Dozens of members of the SUR-13, Brown Pride Locos and 3rd Shift street gangs in Manatee have been sent to prison.

On Wednesday, Jerry Green, 21, a 3rd Shift member, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in a Manatee court and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.