Comments on: Sheriff: Gangs Are In North Escambia; No One Is Completely Safe

By: Century girl

Century girl — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:22:41 +0000

Ignorance is not bliss. So many think that just because they haven’t seen it or don’t personnally know about gangs, that they don’t exist…well folks you need to listen to our sheriff and open your eyes. As parents, we are charged with the responsibility to teach our children about the good things in the world but also make them “aware” of the bad things of the world so they can make good choices in life!

Sheriff Morgan, I applaud your efforts to inform our area of what’s going on and even though we may not like the news …thru Awareness we can work on changing the things we can!

By: Sheriff David Morgan

Sheriff David Morgan — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:13:53 +0000

For “guest and bill:”

Oh, contrare. I have attended church services, been in a local school parade (Northview HS Homecoming), judged pies at the Blueberry Festival, been to Barrineau Park First Friday’s, lunched at the Panhandle (had a Town Hall dinner there too), walked your neighborhoods on 2 separate occasions with Commissioner White (Juniper and Century Historic District), and once (Pond St.) solo, etc.,etc. Sorry, but your ‘intell’ is inaccurate.

We (the ECSO) has focused more traffic and drug enforcement efforts than any previous administration (according to the northend residents).

The ‘lack of gang experience’ applies to all of the ECSO. Since taking office we have formed the Gang Task Force and sent our officers to the requisite schools. Previous administrations chose to ignore the issue. I will not. Sadly, although we are in contact with the experts, all of us are learning this trade.

But with the ‘help’ from all of the concerned citizens (bloggers), how can we fail?
As always, thanks to all for your continued interest in the management and oversight of the ECSO.

David Morgan, Sheriff
Escambia County, FL
436-9512

By: none

none — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:14:42 +0000

gangs are everywhere, whether you know it or not

By: SaddleUpNRide

SaddleUpNRide — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 21:46:26 +0000

The North End is ALWAYS the last to get any kind of help from the Sheriffs Dept. or Highway Patrol. We are the Red Headed Step Children of the county and they don’t even like coming up here and every one knows thats the truth. We had a break in and were robbed and it took the Sheriffs Dept. well over an hour to get up here to Hwy. 4 and when my daughter was killed they never showed up at all. This was back in 1991. Not the new administration.
With limited man power in all departments, all we can do is pray for Gods safety and protection.

By: A. Davis

A. Davis — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 05:12:46 +0000

Crack thats it its like the new weed if people dont smoke it many choose to sell it CAN SOMTHING BE DONE ABOUT THE CRACK PROBLEM? if they cant do anything about it really what can be done about gangs. if gangs are being noticed by the police are they blind by the CRACK PROBLEM really it is everywhere!

By: William

William — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:01:29 +0000

mikayla parrish wrote:

>all this sounds good but why does he not put more law enforcement in the north end? if what he says is true and he knows this when can we see more deputis from CANTONMENT NORTH ?

Morgan announced more North Escambia deputies in this story about two weeks ago:

http://www.northescambia.com/?p=15429

By: North Escambia Resident

North Escambia Resident — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:38:33 +0000

I do believe there are unorganized gangs around here. I believe they would also they would like to get more organized and stronger I am not going to lie to anyone that it scares the heck out of me, because I have seen some major changes in the last few years. I still think a lot of it comes from kids not being disciplined when they are younger. There are also many kids that are rearing themselves because the parents are to busy doing other things. It’s so sad that a lot of it could be prevented if they had proper homes to live in. Mr. Morgan, I think you are doing a good job and you just keep up the good work. Me and my family stands behind you!

By: mikayla parrish

mikayla parrish — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:31:03 +0000

all this sounds good but why does he not put more law enforcement in the north end? if what he says is true and he knows this when can we see more deputis from CANTONMENT NORTH ?

By: !

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:50:02 +0000

Thanks for this story, William. This is a subject that I have often wondered about. Let’s be careful not to take the ostrich approach & stick out heads in the sand! If we bury our heads, it won’t change what’s going on around us…it will only make us foolishly unprepared for what we find when we come up for air.

By: The voice of common sense

The voice of common sense — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:10:44 +0000

I don’t think there are actual “gangs” here, but there are a whole lot of “wannabes” all over the place. They mimic gang activity , sure, but they are NOT gangs per se. That does NOT mean that they are any less dangerous though. They still do drive by shootings, vandalism, home invasions, drugs (both selling and using), intimidation, etc. They should probably best be combated (I know it looks wrong, but my spell check says that’s the correct spelling, lol) the same way that a full fledged gang would be. They are not organized in the way we would think, with a leader and his “minions”. BUT….they are no less dangerous because of that. They are, for lack of a better word, street thugs. I hate to use that term because it gives them more credit than I think they are due. They are not stupid. It would be easier for us if they were.
There used to be a group in my neighborhood that was called a gang by the SO. They never were. They were just a group of friends who hung out and lived in the same neighborhood and when the SO “elevated their status” by calling them a gang, they began to think that they were more than what they really were and started to do worse things than they had before. They have all since grown up and moved on. Some lead productive lives now and some don’t. The sad thing is that I still hear that name used in reference to anything that happens in our area, even having seen their “gang name” in comments here on northescambia.com. This “gang” disbanded nearly 10 years ago, and yet they are still blamed for anything that goes on here.
I don’t want to see the same thing happen with other groups of kids. Let’s not label them gangs because they’re just stupid kids and young “adults” who think it makes them look big and bad to call themselves a gang when they are out doing stupid things. I am afraid that if they are called gangs, the SO won’t investigate crimes the same way they would if they believed they were individuals. They ARE individuals and ALL crimes need to be investigated the same way.
I thank Sheriff Morgan for admitting and addressing the problem, even if I don’t see it the same way that he does.