Abbott Calls For Expansion Of Anti-Gang Task Force in Houston

HOUSTON, TX — The tragic death of Jazmine Barnes on Dec. 30 has Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calling for the expansion of the Texas Anti-Gang Task Force in Houston.

Abbott sent out a scathing tweet on Tuesday, which piggybacked a tweet from Houston Police Officer's Union President Joe Gamaldi showing Larry Woodruffe, the alleged trigger man in the Jazmine Barnes shooting, flashing gang signs.

Woodruffe, 24, and his alleged accomplice Erick Black Jr., 20, have been charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Barnes, in what turned out to be a tragic case of mistaken identity among alleged gang members, officials said.

#JazmineBarnes— the innocent 7 year old girl gunned down in Houston appears to have been killed by a gang member. There are too many gangs in Houston. We must expand the Texas Anti-Gang Task Force in Houston to clean our streets of this trash and restore safety. #txlege https://t.co/WTqLHCmlps
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 9, 2019

Jazmine Barnes, 7, was laid to rest on Tuesday, more than a week after Woodruffe allegedly fired eight bullets into a car driven by Jazmine’s mother, as the family traveled along the Sam Houston Tollway service road.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who attended Barnes’ funeral, took issue with Abbott's social media comments and chided the governor for “politicizing” her tragic death, which occurred outside of the Houston city limits.

Still, Houston has long had a gang problem, Some of the common street gangs in Houston include:

• 52 Hoovas
• Los Zetas
• 18th Street
• the Southwest Cholos

In fact, the Houston area has the largest contingent of criminal gangs in Texas. Gangs or “Clicks” as they are commonly referred to in law enforcement circles, have a number of affiliations such as the Crips, the Bloods, La Raza Unida, and Tango Blast are among the largest and most dangerous in the Houston area.

In fact, there are hundreds of gangs in Houston, with membership over 20,000,officials said.

In July 2017, the Texas Department of Public Safety released the Texas Gang Threat Assessment, which was developed to provide a broad overview and update of gang activity in Texas.

The DPS identified these gangs, based on their threat levels with Tango Blast, Latin Kings, The Texas Mexican Mafia, and MS-13 among the most dangerous in the state.

According to the DPS report, Harris County contains the highest concentration of identified and suspected gang activity in Texas.

Nearly every DPS evaluated tiered threat gang in Texas has reported activity in Harris County, including all Tier 1 gangs.

The most significant gangs in Harris County are the Houstone Tango Blast and various sets of
Crips and Bloods, including the 52 Hoover Crips and the 59 Bounty Hunters Bloods. Harris County also contains the highest reported membership of MS-13. Houston-area officials identify several local gangs, such as Southwest Cholos, La Primera, and 5th Ward Circle, as also having a significant presence

"I am hopeful that the governor will start taking some of that Homeland Security money and some of that state money that is being spent on the border, and provide grants like to the Houston Police Department...and other police departments facing gun violence ," he said.

Acevedo said the funding wold be better used it were to be redirected to crime fighting initiatives in the major cities.

You can find the criminal gangs in Houston listed here.

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Image: Bryan Kirk, Patch Staff

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