Understanding Gang Culture

An ordinary tattoo might not mean much to the untrained eye.

But to trained investigators like Christina Young with Silverdale's Gang Investigations Division, it could be a tip off for a gang affiliation, as in the case of one tattoo shown yesterday in a Chattanooga courtroom.

It was of two 'drama faces'. One happy, one sad.

"The smile now means you're out there, enjoying life today, you're living in the fast life, everything is good, you're not really worried about conequences right now," she says. "The 'cry later' face means at some point that has to end. that could either mean prison or mean death."

Young testified at the trial of Michael Daniels and Timothy Evans yesterday.

Daniels and Evans gang affiliations are at the center of a case that has brought forth revelations about Chattanooga's gang problems.

Sergeant Todd Royval with the Chattanooga Police Department's Crime Supression Unit says he's seen gang members *every day* since he started in 1994.

"My estimate on how many gang members there are in chattanooga? Probably around 2,500," he says.

Royval and Young both say many of those gang members use different ways to communicate with one another.

One focused on in the trial yesterday, was through hand gestures.

In pictures, gang members are shown signing a 'B', meaning they're part of the Bloods.

In this picture, gang members are shown showing a 'p', meaning they're part of the Pyru-or Pirates in Red Uniform.

But according to Royval, the communication hasn't stopped there.

"What parents especially need to pay attention to is their kid's Myspace accounts. They start looking at that stuff, and their Facebooks, you look on there, you can find all the gang members in Chattanooga," he says.

And Royval says certain parts of the city aren't the only ones with a gang problem.

He says it's growing, adding, "North Chattanooga has gangs. We validated several gang members in North Chattanooga. It's on 58, it's on 153, Hixson, East Chattanooga, East Brainerd, it's everywhere."

And Young says that could mean trouble for anyone with gang ties. "Things that you and i may take for granted or brush off, could equal death to some gang members," she says.