Nash Street Boys: The Success of the Purge

The investigation took nearly a year but it was productive.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Police and federal agents in Milwaukee arrested dozens of people Thursday who are charged with being part of a violent street gang known as the Nash Street Boys, who authorities say sold $1 million worth of cocaine and marijuana over a two-year period.

Thirty-nine of the 45 people named in a federal indictment were arrested by teams of law enforcement officers led by the Milwaukee Police Department and the FBI. Authorities also executed 11 search warrants, primarily in a neighborhood around N. 19th and W. Nash streets, authorities said.

U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic said the investigation began in March 2007. Thirty-one defendants are named in a conspiracy count, and some of them and various others are named in some of 19 other counts charging drug and weapons charges, and failing to report felonies or using a telephone in the attempted commission of drug crimes.

He said the gang, also known as the "1-9s" was "recognized as entrenched, violent and engaged in serious drug dealing."

The indictment is the latest in a series of similar crackdowns over recent years. Other cases targeted the Latin Kings, the Cherry Street Mob, the Laotian Crips and the First and Keefe Vice Lords. Biskupic said such investigations take time but that this week's charges may relieve some of the frustrations felt by residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods.

"People ask, 'What are you doing about violence in Milwaukee?' " Biskupic said. "This is what we've been doing." He praised the work of Milwaukee police who make the day-to-day contacts within neighborhoods and begin to build the cases against street-level offenders.

Biskupic said state prosecutors have linked the 1-9 gang to shootings at nightclubs in November and January; a shootout near N. 19th and W. Nash on Christmas Day that injured one person, a Jan. 13 shootout on N. 17th St. that sent bullets into an innocent family's home, as well as other shootings.

Biskupic said gang members are also accused of beating someone they suspected of cooperating with investigators before setting him on fire in the street last May.

Thirty of the 45 defendants face possible life in prison if convicted, Biskupic said. Others face sentences of five to 40 years, depending on the particular charges, he said. In addition, the indictment seeks the forfeiture of more than $182,000 in cash, 15 cars and a 52-inch television seized during the investigation.

The defendants range in age from 21 to 57. Most are from Milwaukee, two are from Racine, one from Chicago and one from Mexico.

This is good news. Really good news.

Thanks to Steve Biskupic, state prosecutors, and the Milwaukee police.

I like what I heard from the MPD. They know that someone will try to step in and fill the void left by the crushed Nash Street Boys. That won't be an easy feat.

“Well they’re going to test the waters,” 5th District Captain Anthony Smith tells Mayor Barrett. “And, they’re going to meet the officers of the fifth district.”

That sentiment is echoed by Chief Flynn. “We are going to reinforce success. We’re not going to end with a press conference when everybody is arrested and goes to jail,” he says. “That’s the beginning for us.”

Police are already reaching out in this neighborhood, going door to door. They know to be successful; they’ll need residents to help them. Residents know the neighborhood and its problems far better than police. But some residents remain skeptical of anything done by Milwaukee Police. That is a culture police know will be challenging to change.

This really is encouraging.

Hopefully, more investigations like this one are underway. Hopefully, the police will be successful in keeping the neighborhood, formerly terrorized by the Nash Street Boys, quiet. Hopefully, residents will do their part. Their assistance is so critical.

Hopefully, this success will prompt residents in other gang-infested, crime-ridden areas of Milwaukee to take an active role in ending the violence and taking back their neighborhoods.

Good-bye thugs, hopefully.