East County Gangs

There's an interesting spotlight on Longmont's new full-time police gang unit in the April Yellow Scene that describes the rise of the average-looking suburban white kid as a more frequent, if not more likely, gang member.

An excerpt:

Earlier this year, Baldivia convened a meeting of what he hopes will become a Boulder County gang task force. While Longmont has the largest problem—more
than a dozen known gangs and 450-someodd documented members—other county police units are seeing activity rise. Because this isn’t just a Longmont problem. It’s a Boulder problem. A Lafayette problem. A Westminster problem. And, yes, even an issue in small communities like Erie, Dacono and Frederic.

Another harbinger of the impending loss of "small town feel?" Taking the kid outlined in the article as an example, it becomes more difficult to make sweeping assumptions about the problem being confined to minorities or poor communities.