ENID — Local teachers have long maintained they’ve seen signs of gang activity in Enid Public Schools, and information provided during a Monday professional day by Enid Police Officer Steve Miller confirmed for many that gangs are active in Enid.
Miller, who currently is a K-9 officer but also has worked in narcotics and has special training in gang activity, told a standing-room-only workshop Monday there are several gang associations in Enid.
He spoke as part of a day-long professional day training for EPS teachers. Teachers selected several seminars to attend, and Miller talked to a group of teachers about the primary gang associations he’s seen in Enid, including Crips, Bloods, MS-13 and Insane Clown Posse (ICP).
Miller said the appeal of being in a gang includes respect, reputation and revenge.
While gang members may have a twisted ideology of what those things mean, he said those three things are evident in every gang since the beginning of gang activity.
He said much of the gang activity that is in Enid began with gang organizations started on the West Coast back in the 1970s.
“Enid has a large population of ICP, Bloods, Crips and MS-13,” Miller said. The police officer spoke to teachers about some of the colors and signs worn by members of these gangs.
Members of the these gangs have traditionally adopted certain professional sports team colors and wear the jerseys of those teams. They’ve also adopted certain signs or symbols that can be seen on their clothes and also by “tagging” property, such as spray painting graffiti on property.
Teachers in the room nodded their heads in agreement with some of the information Miller was presenting.
He maintains the Bloods and Crips associations in Enid are often long-time family relations, saying he’s arrested sons, daughters and fathers from the same gangs. They mainly operate in selling drugs in the community, he said.
MS-13 is the largest gang in the United States, Miller said, and is primarily a Hispanic gang.
A relatively new group, and one he says many young people in Enid associate with — and one many of the teachers said they see on a regular basis — is the Insane Clown Posse.
Miller said they are less violent than the Bloods, Crips and MS-13 groups, but they still are dangerous. The ICP originated out of Detroit in the 1990s from a rap duo with KISS-like face paint, and they claim they mainly are “appreciators of music,” Miller said. Followers of ICP say they shouldn’t be classified as a gang just because they dress differently and listen to a certain type of music.
He said these young people like to go to the metro areas to go to concerts, they often wear outrageous outfits and paint their faces, and they have a fascination with knives and swords. Miller said they call themselves Juggalos, and their mascot is a cartoonish silhouette of a man carrying a hatchet.
He said many of the kids drink orange soda, specifically a brand called Faygo. He added they have a fascination with championship wrestling.
The crimes they have committed are primarily burglaries, Miller said.
Teachers said they have seen the hatchet man logo on cars and also as tattoos on students.
Miller said many of the ICP will “grow out of” their association with the gang as they get older.
Miller said the motorcycle gang Mongols also is active in Enid. He said 99 percent of motorcycle riders are not affiliated with any kind of gang, but the Mongols are “one percenters,” who operate in drug dealing and other crimes. Oklahoma members will wear a leather vest or jacket that has Mongols Oklahoma on it.
