A little more than 20 years ago, there was a Chattanooga police officer that was on local television regularly saying that we here in the scenic city had gangs. He cited the gang symbols and graffiti, that at that time, was mostly limited to backs of stop signs and out of sight that only members knew where to look for the “tags”.
The city fathers at that time assured us there were no gangs in Chattanooga. I am not sure if they were just trying to sugarcoat the fact just long enough to get out of office - we will never know.
Gangs were here then and are still here. And if the gang that is the in process of setting up to do business here, (they will make the local talent look like choirboys) get more entrenched, there will be less and less decent people living downtown to support the businesses that are trying very hard to make it. I do not want to even think about the bad press if something bad were to happen to an out-of-town tourist, family perpetrated by elements that we failed to stop as a community.
I still believe very strongly that law-enforcement can make the difference in keeping these very organized gangs from setting up to do business in our town. Now is not the time to sit around and talk about it and be reactive when it’s too late. In my opinion now is the time to be very proactive. Please encourage state, county, and your city police anyway you can to let them know. They are not welcome here, now or ever.
J.D. French