If someone wanted to sell narcotics, they would have a better chance of getting away with it in a smaller community than in Chattanooga. There's fewer officers to notice them and less competition.
Walker County officers arrested 74 people for meth during a 12-month period ending in March 2014. As of the end of March 2017, the number of arrests in that time frame has doubled to 143 and arrests for heroin are up as well, said Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson.
While Wilson said the reasons for the increase in arrests for drugs and drug related crime are varied and cannot be attributed to any single factor, the members of the Wilson Road Neighborhood Group are concerned a major contributor is a rise in gang activity in the region.
The group invited two members of the Chattanooga Police Department’s Street Crimes Response Team to a community meeting March 30 to speak about possible signs and how to tell if behavior in their area could be gang related.
Investigators Colton Krumrie and Charles Decker spoke at length about the different gangs in Chattanooga and common ways they identify themselves by color, signs and graffiti.
What surprised Krumrie, he said, was how prepared the members of the local neighborhood group seemed to be. Several individuals approached him after the meeting with photos they’d taken around Rossville of what they thought was suspicious activity or graffiti that could indicate gang activity.
“A lot of them were right,” Krumrie said regarding their documented suspicions.
While Krumrie’s primary jurisdiction is East Chattanooga, he said the level of manpower the city is putting behind investigating gang and drug crimes could be forcing gang activity to more secluded areas with less resources in law enforcement.
“If someone wanted to sell narcotics, they would have a better chance of getting away with it in a smaller community than in Chattanooga,” said Krumrie. “There’s fewer officers to notice them and less competition.”
During the presentation, Krumrie said gang activity often starts around the ages of 12 and 13, and recommended parents and grandparents keep a watchful eye on what their children and grandchildren are writing in their notebooks or posting online.
Considering gang insignia and symbols aren’t often clear, knowledge is the best way to prevent young teens from getting involved in the first place, he added.
Community meetings are the first step in raising awareness in the community and making it easier for the police and sheriff’s office to identify and prevent gang related criminal activity, Wilson said.
Anyone wanting to report suspicious activity in Walker County can submit reports online at walkerso.com.