Gang members from Chicago are moving to suburbs and unincorporated areas north and south of the city that they believe are less aggressively patrolled than in the city, says the Chicago Sun-Times. Once they move in, crime goes up, statistics show. Sauk Village, a town of 10,000 about 12 miles south of Chiago, is a microcosm of the gang migration. The small town has seen a six-block area colonized in recent years by at least 31 identified gang members, 15 of whom had previous Chicago addresses.
The Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, and other gangs from Chicago have been selling drugs and causing trouble in Sauk Village for years, sheriff’s officials say. Arrests have increased in the last decade. So have reports of robbery, rape and assault, according to crime figures reported to the FBI. Violent crime in Sauk Village surged from 24 incidents in 1998 to 80 in 2008, the most recent figures available. In nearby Dolton and Harvey — where sheriff’s authorities said Chicago gangsters also have migrated in recent years — violence also has increased in the last decades. At the same time, violent crime in Chicago has fallen over the last 10 years.
