Businesses versus Gangs

Area businesses can use their influence and wherewithal to steer youth away from crime, or they can take a more passive approach, said Mike Carlie, a criminologist at Missouri State University.

Last year, local law enforcement officials acknowledged Springfield’s growing gang presence, and Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore seated a grand jury that indicted 36 people for gang-related crimes before it was dismissed last month.

Recognizing and addressing the gang threat will help preserve Springfield’s economic prosperity, security and quality of life, but ignoring the danger will lay the groundwork for fear and violence, said Carlie, author of “Into the Abyss: A Personal Journey into the World of Street Gangs.”

At a recent meeting of the Southwest Missouri Task Force on Gangs and Youth Violence, businesspeople were nowhere to be seen – except for one. Edgar “Rock” Hagens, owner of Rock’s Dress Out Fashions on Boonville Avenue, said area youth needed more social events and activities with increased security.

Task force chairwoman Carol Ward, who previously worked with gang members as a probation officer, thinks a lack of foresight may be holding businesses back.

“The sad thing is until you become a victim, you don’t think there’s a problem,” she said. “I think some of the businesses think (gangs) don’t apply to them because of what part of town they’re in.”

Carlie said no part of town is immune, citing a vandalized Family Video store on the south side at National and Weaver possibly spray-painted by gang members.

Stepping up

Some area businesses, such as American Detection Specialists Inc., want to confront the prospect of gangs head-on.

The security firm recently donated $1,000 to Community Partnership of the Ozarks for the return of Steve Nawojczyk, a Little Rock, Ark., gang expert who visited Springfield in November.

“There has to be an event of some kind to have a personal effect on someone so that they are jarred out of their safety zone,” said Bryan Morris, finance manager for American Detection.

That moment for Morris was when Nawojczyk – speaking at a community forum last fall – said Springfield resembled Little Rock two decades ago and Los Angeles more than 30 years ago.

“The mindset in Springfield, Missouri, is simply that things are as they were 30 years ago – that this is Mayberry,” Morris said.

Nawojczyk will speak Feb. 7–9 to public school students and staff about the importance of recognizing and suppressing gang activity. He said he’s also working with Community Partnership to squeeze in a luncheon with business and community leaders.

“Business needs to be critically aware that this is a huge issue for them,” Nawojczyk said. “Businesses have to recognize they have to step up to the plate.”

Nawojczyk’s message resonates with Joe Jenkins, owner of Jenkins Diesel. Jenkins said he and Melissa Haddow, executive director of Community Partnership, have plans to approach the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce about how to better reach businesses and solicit their support.

“I think this is every bit as important as the character (education) program we’re doing now,” Jenkins said.

Chamber President Jim Anderson said the character program is a valuable long-term prevention effort that he thinks will be successful. In the short term, the chamber welcomes a coordinated strategy but doesn’t want to duplicate what’s already being done, he said.

“I’m asked what can business do?” Anderson said. “I think the best thing business can do is mentor a young person.”

More than money

Businesses can do more than write checks to nonprofits on the front lines, Carlie said.

In his book, he dedicates an entire chapter to the business community’s role in the fight against gangs and youth crime. And many of his suggestions for reaching out to vulnerable youngsters are surprisingly simple.

Inviting students and teachers into the workplace, encouraging or requiring community service for employees and maintaining a family-friendly work environment to allow parents more time at home are just a few of Carlie’s recommendations.

Supplying employees for local mentoring programs, sponsoring social or cultural events and honoring youth in advertisements are other ways businesses can take an active role in stemming the tide, Carlie said.

And donations – if managed properly – can have a huge impact, said Carlie, who pitched a pie-in-the-sky business-supported trust fund that would dispense grants to struggling nonprofits and award college scholarships to at-risk teens. A board overseeing the trust could require annual reports from grant recipients and publicize success stories, he added.

Even if one out of every 10 businesses in the metro area deposited $50 a month into the trust, the coffer would be sizeable, Carlie noted.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” said task force chair Ward. “Frankly, I think this could be a model for communities all over the United States.”

Businesses stand to lose

Businesses will suffer if Springfield’s gang presence and rate of youth crime continue to increase, Carlie warned. He said property crimes such as vandalism and theft could pave the way for more violent crimes, triggering a culture of fear often associated with larger, crime-ridden cities.

“One of the reasons that businesses are successful is people feel safe and secure coming out of their homes to be a consumer,” Carlie said. “Gangs aren’t just a direct expense. There’s a ripple effect.”

The cost of cleaning up graffiti or hiring security to deter robbery, theft and loitering can cut into the bottom line – and will – if the community isn’t successful in keeping gangs out, Carlie added.

“As far as the business is concerned, it is a big liability,” said Officer Grant Story, spokesman for the Springfield Police Department. “We’ve seen a lot of robberies at convenience stores. We’ve been seeing a lot of robberies at small businesses, so certainly we’re looking at gang activity, at it all being interconnected.”

Detective Eric Reece, the department’s lead gang intelligence officer, said his unit has focused heavily on interloping gang members behind some of the crime.

Haddow at Community Partnership said she doesn’t want to see Springfield go the route of other cities whose economies took a hit when gangs took hold.

“New businesses are not going to want to come to a town that is infested (with gangs),” she said.[[In-content Ad]]