Neighborhood gangs are operating in smart, savvy ways in the Houston area and that’s why they want minors to carry out the dirty work, according to FBI Houston.
For the last year, the FBI has been focused on a violent crime crackdown across the Houston area, targetingIn an exclusive interview with KPRC 2, FBI Houston’s Acting Special Agent in Charge David Martinez said gangs are not operating with “cookie cutter definitions” anymore.“People that are members of gangs one day may affiliate with another gang, the next day, whatever they can do for more drugs, more money, more guns, whatever is advantageous,” Martinez said.
“We have seen a trend towards targeting, recruiting and utilization of minors, specifically for the purpose of avoiding significant jail sentences,” Martinez said. “They can carry out devastating amounts of crime and violence, knowing that they’ll be back on the street with minimal amount of time and have the ability to re-offend very, very quickly.”
“All towards the goal of just getting more and more drugs, violence and, you know, whatever is going to create any amount of profit,” Martinez said.provided by the Houston Police Department, violent crime across the city is down 8.49 percent compared to last year. Murder and robbery have seen the most significant drops, while kidnappings and sexual assaults are up.“A lot of it starts here,” Martinez said. “They’ll travel across state lines in some cases, and they export their violence.