Greetings from Ocean View - Gang squad

In the 1980s they started to notice alignments, groups of boys in Norfolk calling themselves the "Coca-Cola kids" or the "Pepsi kids." Sgt. Randy Crank would later become the head of a unit. At the beginning, he wasn't allowed to use the word "gang," he said. "The more I got into it, the more I liked it."

Crank likes to ask about the rosary beads. Red for Bloods and blue for Crips, others for smaller neighborhood subsets. The wearer usually denies they're gang-related, but can't explain the religious significance either.

The Norfolk Police department will get a complaint about five or six guys hanging out on a corner, Crank said, and "it's up to us to figure out if there's anything to this."

The gang squad keeps an eye on "hot spots" - known or suspected areas of gang concentrations - in an attempt to curtail activity. They study scrawls that often resemble doodling more than graffiti. They chat with baby-faced boys while gathering basic information, making note of any gang tattoos or colors.

Investigator Rich Creamer got his start in 2000, patrolling Ocean View and Norview. "Ocean View takes a bad rap, but the city's done a good job of cleaning it up," he said. "I can see the difference. Absolutely."

They know 18-year-old Jaquawan Callender pretty well. He just got of jail, so they checked his arms for any new tattoos. "We thought you were gonna leave and lay low," Creamer said. They lectured him about choices as if they were school administrators.  "You're a little smarter than the average G."

At First View and Cherry streets, outside his mother's car, they questioned him. They suspected the Get Money Boys were responsible for harassing a woman a few blocks away. "You need to let your boys know," said Investigator Benny Serrano, "stay away from Mason Creek."

Results are hard to measure. Crank said he's still seeing the same 21-year-olds running around, but less of the 14-year-old new recruits. "It's had to have an impact. It's had to."

Photos and text by Preston Gannaway | The Virginian-Pilot

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