Cops, feds meet with gang leaders Weis, prosecutors warn bosses they're accountable for violence

Chicago police and other law enforcement agencies have embarked on a pilot effort to stem the gang-related violence rattling through city neighborhoods by applying direct pressure on top gang leaders, officials said Saturday.

Earlier this month, police Superintendent Jody Weis and federal prosecutors secretly met with a group of West Side gang leaders at the Garfield Park Conservatory, informing them over snacks and beverages that they would be held directly accountable for shootings and other violent crimes committed by their gangs.

If a crime gets traced back to a member of a particular gang, Weis said during a Saturday news conference, investigators will "come down with every bit of firepower we have, every prosecutive trick we know."

Investigators tried to make it "a very congenial meeting" with the gang leaders, who were mainly from the Traveling Vice Lords, Weis said. But "they got up and walked out."

Before that happened, he said, federal prosecutors told the gang members that they will use federal racketeering statutes to go after houses and other assets owned by them, other members or their families.

Parolees could also be checked for violations; cars could be towed if there are outstanding violations; and law enforcement agencies in general will keep a close eye on the gang leaders, police said.

"They did not like the idea at all, because they realized something one of their colleagues may do could lead to a lot of pressure on them," Weis said. "That's what we tried to emphasize: This is group responsibility, group accountability. So you're a leader, you'd better influence your guys to behave."

Weis, who appeared with Mayor Richard Daley at a Saturday back-to-school rally in Pilsen, said investigators asked several gang leaders to meet them "and some of them did."

He insisted the meeting did not constitute an effort to negotiate with street gangs.

"It's not like, 'If you don't kill someone we'll give you a pass to your drug-dealing activities,' " Weis said. The program is modeled on initiatives that have had success in Boston and other cities, he said.

People whose family members were killed because of gang violence also attended, to urge the gangs to stop the shootings. Daley said giving the criminals the victims' perspective is important, because gang members live in the neighborhoods where shootings occur.

"It's the idea that you have to show from the victims' side, that's what they were showing," Daley said. "It's the families who come up and say 'That's my son or daughter. Remember? They lived down the block. You know our families. You know our children.' "

jebyrne@tribune.com

Weis is just telling gangs what's up --- Fair warning cedes nothing, and new strategy is welcome

August 31, 2010

BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist

Aldermen who are sweating Mayor Daley over his police chief's secret meeting with gang leaders are missing the point.

We are beyond unenforceable ordinances, hand wringing, marches and candlelit vigils.

Mary Mitchell

Because armed gang members are being blamed for most of the shootings, we can't stop the violence without dealing with this population.

Two weeks ago, Jody Weis told reputed gang leaders to stop the killing or face being slapped with federal racketeering charges.

If gang leaders fail to heed this warning, police will move to take their cars and houses. Heck, maybe they can even take their mamas' cars.

The threat is part of the new Chicago Gang Violence Reduction Initiative.

"We are focusing on group responsibility," Weis said. "If one of these guys kills another gang member, we are going to come down on them with all the firepower we have," Weis told reporters.

Whether Weis can deliver on his threats remains to be seen. But this is the first time the city's top cop has called out alleged gang leaders.

Apparently the strategy had some impact on gang violence in Boston and Cincinnati, although a recent report claims that Boston's 2006 gang truce is beginning to unravel.

The truce was struck after the FBI was able to attribute 20 shootings to a feud between rival gangs.

Interestingly, the feud was not about drug turf, but about which gang controlled a neighborhood basketball court.

Police were able to persuade each gang to agree to a cease fire.

The truce held together until May, when a 14-year-old honors student with no gang ties was targeted by members of one gang because he was hanging around a basketball court that was frequented by the other gang.

Boston's experience shows the challenge Weis faces.

The makeup of a gang changes, and a leader may have a street rep, but that doesn't mean he can control younger, undisciplined gang members.

In Chicago, Weis hauled in 30-year-old Labar "Bro Man" Spann, an alleged Four Corner Hustlers leader and Jettie "Bo Diddley" Williams, the 50-year-old reputed leader of the Traveling Vice Lords.

Spann, who is in a wheelchair because he was shot, is on parole for armed robbery and bringing drugs into a penal institution. Williams has been convicted of attempted murder and armed robbery.

Both men balked at being held accountable if members of their gang shot a rival gang member.

But the notion that these gang leaders can control young underlings is likely a myth.

Wallace "Gator" Bradley, a former Gangster Disciple who has kept close ties with gang leader Larry Hoover, has been taking the stop-the-violence message to gang members ever since 7-year-old Dantrell Davis was killed by a stray bullet in 1992.

Gang leaders, like Gerald Reed, who is serving a life term, are now warning young gang members not to make the "same bad choices."

But those warnings are falling on deaf ears. On Saturday night, 15-year-old Darrell McKinney, an innocent bystander, was killed in crossfire by gang members while attending a block party in Humboldt Park.

Another 17-year-old male was killed at a block party on the South Side in an incident that the police suspect was gang-related.

"What we are finding out is a lot of the shootings are personal and not gang shootings," Bradley told me.

But Bradley argues that "you can't criminalize a whole group when the group is not involved."

The former gang member takes credit for negotiating a gang truce in CHA's Cabrini-Green housing development after the Dantrell Davis shooting.

"I am still asking to meet with Mayor Daley and Jody Weis, and to stand with them against this violence," Bradley told me.

"We are serious about public safety. Any individual who thinks he can shoot little girls and shoot senior citizens is a terrorist," he said.

Because of the stigma attached to gangs, the perception that law enforcement is negotiating with gang leaders has to be a politician's worst nightmare.

Daley is no exception.

No question about it. This is a risky move -- but one that is long overdue.

Weis is exposing these gang leaders for what they really are.

Powerless.