Gang members may be fleeing Ogden for surrounding Utah cities

Crime » Is decrease in gang activity due to good police work or controversial injunction?

< Previous Page

But Conley said there is still one facet that is hindering their efforts in thwarting gang activity in the city.

"There is one major component that is still missing," he said. "And that’s the parental piece."

Conley said many parents just don’t realize that their children may be associating with gang members, while others are gang members themselves and are passing down the lifestyle to their children.

The nature of gang crimes is also shifting in recent years. From 2008 to 2011, graffiti ranked as the most common gang crime. While in 2008 officers recorded 236 instances of graffiti, in 2012, only 44 graffiti crimes were recorded — a 76.2 percent decrease.

Conley said most of the gang-related crimes they have seen lately involve drug-related crimes. In 2012, 76 drug-related gang crimes were reported, with the top drug offense being possession of amphetamine drugs.

"Drugs are a nucleus to a lot of problems for law enforcement," he said.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: @jm_miller

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.