CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Local gang problems have gotten worse in recent years as an influx of gangsters from other cities works to turn Charleston into a hotbed of street-crime activities.

Gangs in Charleston run the gamut from the infamous Latin Kings and the Bloods and Crips, to the Charleston-area "304 boys," a homegrown gang.

The city has cracked down on gang activity recently, and many of the "304" gang members have tried to distance themselves from current gang ties to avoid prosecution. However, members are always "branded" with tattoos to represent their allegiance.

Members will get "304" tattooed across their stomachs or forearms, or across the tops of their hands to show their allegiance to their gang.

However, "Guys won't claim the tattoo now," said Detective T.J. Crowder of the Charleston Police Department.

Many suspected gangsters will feign innocence of current activities while being questioned and will say they are no longer associated with the gang.

But, according to the detective, "you're never out."

"You might not be representing, but you're never out," Crowder said.

Crowder is one of six officers who work with the Special Enforcement Unit, a plain-clothes unit that focuses on combating gang, drug and street-crime activities in the city.

Gang members in Charleston will often "tag," or place their gang symbol in public places to show their presence in the area.

Many of the gang symbols have been painted over in the housing projects on the West Side of Charleston, but an abandoned tractor-trailer at the corner of 27th Street and Fourth Avenue in North Charleston stands as a constant reminder of the gang activity in the city.

Gang members will tag the trailer, but opposing gangs will slash out the original symbol and tag over it.

"The slash is a sign of disrespect," Crowder said.

Rival gangs will also scrawl another gang's symbol upside down, another form of disrespect, Crowder said.

Any symbols with an odd number, such as a five pointed star, is associated with one gang, but a six-pointed star, or a crown with four points, is another one, Crowder said.

"On a star, each point represents something," said Detective J.W. Petry. For each gang, the points represent something different, from brotherhood and strength, to love, life and unity.

Gangs in Charleston will form alliances with other gangs and show their unity through a combination of their gang tags, Petry said.

Gang culture has changed over the years and caused gang members to see themselves as a single gangster, as opposed to a member of a gang, said Sgt. Tim Palmer, who heads the SEU.

"It used to be a family, who watches out for each other," he said. "Now they're a member of a unit but they don't function as one."

"In the '70s, you had a leader, a hierarchy," Palmer said. "Now, they're just out to make money."

Gangs in Charleston run the gamut from the infamous Latin Kings and the Bloods and Crips, to the Charleston-area "304 boys," a homegrown gang.

The city has cracked down on gang activity recently, and many of the "304" gang members have tried to distance themselves from current gang ties to avoid prosecution. However, members are always "branded" with tattoos to represent their allegiance.

Members will get "304" tattooed across their stomachs or forearms, or across the tops of their hands to show their allegiance to their gang.

However, "Guys won't claim the tattoo now," said Detective T.J. Crowder of the Charleston Police Department.

Many suspected gangsters will feign innocence of current activities while being questioned and will say they are no longer associated with the gang.

But, according to the detective, "you're never out."

"You might not be representing, but you're never out," Crowder said.

Crowder is one of six officers who work with the Special Enforcement Unit, a plain-clothes unit that focuses on combating gang, drug and street-crime activities in the city.

Gang members in Charleston will often "tag," or place their gang symbol in public places to show their presence in the area.

Many of the gang symbols have been painted over in the housing projects on the West Side of Charleston, but an abandoned tractor-trailer at the corner of 27th Street and Fourth Avenue in North Charleston stands as a constant reminder of the gang activity in the city.

Gang members will tag the trailer, but opposing gangs will slash out the original symbol and tag over it.

"The slash is a sign of disrespect," Crowder said.

Rival gangs will also scrawl another gang's symbol upside down, another form of disrespect, Crowder said.

Any symbols with an odd number, such as a five pointed star, is associated with one gang, but a six-pointed star, or a crown with four points, is another one, Crowder said.

"On a star, each point represents something," said Detective J.W. Petry. For each gang, the points represent something different, from brotherhood and strength, to love, life and unity.

Gangs in Charleston will form alliances with other gangs and show their unity through a combination of their gang tags, Petry said.

Gang culture has changed over the years and caused gang members to see themselves as a single gangster, as opposed to a member of a gang, said Sgt. Tim Palmer, who heads the SEU.

"It used to be a family, who watches out for each other," he said. "Now they're a member of a unit but they don't function as one."

"In the '70s, you had a leader, a hierarchy," Palmer said. "Now, they're just out to make money."

The biggest problem that gangs bring to Charleston is drug sales and distribution.

Eighty-five percent of the time, drugs are the catalyst behind the problems on the streets, Palmer said.

The SEU is behind many of the street-level arrests in Charleston, logging about 850 in 2008 alone, 280 of which were drug related.

While gang members are a large part of the drug trade in Charleston, not all drug sales are related to gang activity.

On a recent night, officers arrested three people on drug charges on the West Side of Charleston, none of which were associated with gangs.

The unit stumbled upon the drug deal while stationed on the corner of Beverly and Washington streets during a prostitution sting.

A gold Pontiac Grand Am pulled up and sat idling at the curb while the passenger got out, and a man, dressed all in black, got in.

"This looks a little suspicious," one of the officers radioed to another member of the unit. "If we want to take them, we're going to have to do it now."

Three unmarked police cars went roaring up the street from different directions and cornered the vehicle.

The man in the front seat jumped out of the car and started to run away - right into the arms of waiting officer Petry, who ordered the man to the ground.

"Get your hands in the air! Get them where I can see them!" the officers yelled. The plain-clothes officers rushed the occupants of the car, making them get out one by one as they were all handcuffed and either told to lie down on the ground or sit against the wall.

Officers lifted the seats out of the car to "make sure they didn't shove anything under [them]," Palmer said.

The driver and the front seat passenger were arrested for simple possession, and the drug dealer was charged with distribution and possession with the intent to deliver after a few grams of crack were found in the front seat of the car.

The vehicle was also seized during the drug bust and taken into police custody because it was the location of the drug transaction.

The impromptu drug bust was an example of a "jump out," where SEU officers will conduct surveillance in an area and jump out of their unmarked cars when they notice criminal activity, whether it be a drug deal or suspected gang activity.

"They create an omnipresence that keeps criminals taking the time to look into every vehicle to make sure detectives aren't in their area," Palmer said.

Although that drug bust was not gang related, many of the arrests made by the unit go hand-in-hand.

The idea of various "gangs" in Charleston might seem like a foreign concept for most, but the truth is that they're out there, Palmer said.

Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com

or 304-348-5119.