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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Teens Talk About Gangs on the Western Slope

I know it's hard to believe that there are gangs in Grand Junction, but just like any smaller town in Colorado they are made up of kids who get bored. It's often a class issue more than anything else and in the spirit of prevention is one of the things that should be given a deeper look.

Draw the letter Y over Grand Junction, and you’ll find the territories of three homegrown gangs.

To the south, up to 100 people identify with the OM or Orchard Mesa gang, a loosely knit group of locals involved in selling and dealing drugs. Head west before reaching the base of Colorado National Monument and about 35 people claim allegiance to Riverside. Near the Grand Junction core, dozens more, mainly teens from 13 to 17 with the majority attending Grand Junction High School, belong to a gang called HP or Hawthorne Park, named after the downtown park sandwiched between Fourth and Fifth streets.

These estimates provided by a sampling of about 10 youths serving sentences in the Grand Mesa Youth Services Center — a detention center an school for youths who run into trouble with the law — said the separate gangs are responsible mostly for running drugs, and part of their draw is “having something to do.”

According to one 17-year-old white boy, who has the letters OM tattooed on the inside up his upper arm, the Orchard Mesa gang was formed about 20 years ago and is made up of local residents ranging in age from teens to their 30s.

“We might do stuff, but it’s not real gang mentality,” he said. “It’s kind of fake; it’s more like (we’re) posses. We don’t go for other gangs, just slinging dope to other people.”

“The more money, the more power,” said the boy, who had been in and out of the detention facility for three years on charges of selling drugs after the home where he was living was raided by police. “This is Grand Junction, you’re either smoking meth or you’re selling it.” ......

Grand Junction Sentinel

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only real gangs in GJ are the gangs from bigger cities surenos and nortenos alot of them live on the south east side of GJ along North ave. HP bloods and Orchard Mesa wannabes are all a bunch of rich white boys who are all petty thieves who steal to buy drugs and alcohol.

SCHMIDY said...

There didnt used to be alot of bad things in Grand Junction but now days you have two choices get pulled into the drugs and get addicted or start slangin the dpe so nobody messes with you. i been in a gang since i was a little kid i just recently got out of jail and since i got out the gang voilence has only gotten worse its never gonna get better till all the drugs are gone

Anonymous said...

Hawthorne park is a bunch of snitches, you
don't never see them anywhere at no party's
representin. Surenos are a bunch of rat's too
the real gang is the norteno gang and there
everywhere there the first gang. In this town
and the toughest. By far. Nobody beats on
hp because they don't matter, who would
claim a gay park as there turf? Haha. XIV
pumps fear in all there hearts. Everyday all
day. Oh and riverside is a bunch of rat's.
Snitches. Don't nobody in riverside do no
time. Northern blocks. All of the north
east and everything North of North.XIVTurf.

Anonymous said...

I went to a school out there I had particular problems with a Newcastle gang called 4AK

Anonymous said...

Riverside locos is the big oldes gang in gj 970 go back to the 60 o lia old sckoo fuck hiv they rats they dont do time rsl 970 all day know they got power x3

Anonymous said...

Heard of 3K1 around here? Welcome.