Now you don’t see gangs. Now you do.
Pulp readers are familiar with the past inability of Chapel Hill politicians and officials to recognize publicly the presence of gangs and gang members in southern Orange. (See Gangs in Southern Orange Stories.) “Facts optional” behavior is acceptable in southern Orange governance, particularly if it's in furtherance of local business interests. Gang presence has not been wanted… until now. Thus, gangs have not been present, despite warnings from outside southern Orange.
Gang presence now serves a governance purpose as a Halloween “devil inside the party” threatening public safety. Thus, gang members in Chapel Hill (at least as Halloween party visitors) now can be acknowledged.
Mayor Foy created the need for a scary bogeyman by declaring in August 2008. “I think the first thing is to make it clear to people that they're not invited. It's a local party. The trend is toward larger and larger crowds; the trend is toward longer and longer nights, and that's a trend that we need to reverse. We want Halloween to be an event that students and people in Chapel Hill can continue to enjoy, but we want to stop it from being regional or statewide.” See Pulp Foy Halloween Story.
In response, Police Chief Brian Curran and Recreation Director Butch Kisiah deliver the gang bogeyman on schedule. ”As the years have gone by we have observed fewer people in costume and more people who come for the sheer spectacle of the crowd. Many people come from out of town. Binge drinking prior to arriving on Franklin Street is common. Included in this crowd, unfortunately, are those who would look to take advantage of this situation in a mean, violent or criminal manner. We have observed over the past several years the addition of criminal street gang members mingling through the crowd.” See Herald Sun Halloween Story.
Town expenditures of $221,000 to subsidize a UNC student street party are complemented by a survey of local businesses indicating that money is lost by businesses during the Halloween event.
No word on whether or not the sighted gang members are just wearing gangster Halloween costumes.
The failure of Chapel Hill to arrest a resident charged with serial misdemeanor criminal offenses leads to the fecal smearing of a public bathroom in Sugarland, a Franklin Street business in downtown Chapel Hill. Town leaders don’t rally to the victim, the business owner. In a “three stooges” response so typical of Chapel Hill, they rally instead to the side of the fecal smearer.
If you commit misdemeanor crimes and warrants are issued, in most towns in North Carolina you will be arrested. Not so in Chapel Hill.
Here are the bare facts, as reported by the local media. (See Herald Sun Homeless Man Story.)
Walter Cates, a homeless man, was being held in lieu of $300 secured bond in the medical unit of Raleigh's Central Prison on Thursday, one day after a warrant was taken out by the owners of Sugarland. (See Sugarland.) He was arrested in the 100 block of Main Street in Carrboro.
Mr. Cates is wheelchair-bound with part of one leg amputated as a result of severe diabetes. He regularly sits outside Sugarland near a bus stop and a crosswalk.
On 15 July 2008 a man wheeled Cates into the bathroom at Sugarland. Co-owner Katrina Ryan told the two men to leave, citing previous disputes with Cates and complaints of trespassing they'd filed with the Chapel Hill Police Department. They refused to leave the bathroom. When Cates exited about 15 minutes later, Ms. Ryan found human feces scattered on the floor and smeared on the walls.
Upon being called to the scene, the Chapel Hill police told Ms. Ryan that they couldn’t arrest Mr. Cates because they hadn’t seen him smear the feces on the wall. However, the police stepped in and told Mr. Cates to leave and not return to Sugarland.
Too bad the local media doesn't report that in Chapel Hill, no one from the town government will step in and assist a business owner until they have feces smeared on their walls… and then only out of fear of embarrassment will they give as minimalhelp as possible.
In Chapel Hill, victims have to go out and claim justice for themselves. So the Sugarland owners had to go into court without town support and repeat their complaints to a magistrate the next morning in order to geta warrant.
Pulpsters may remember previous Pulp stories about troubles downtown. (See Pulp Genital Exposer Story and
Pulp Genital Exposing Civil Rights Story.)
Yes, Mr. Cates was involved.
No, no one from the local media or police did anything after the Pulp publications.
Why is that important?
Mr. Cates has gotten bolder in his criminal actions over time, what one would expect as a rational response to irresponsible criminal justice administration. The untold story is that Councilors (such as Sally Greene and Mark Kleinschmidt) have interfered with the administration of justice using their executive imprimatur.
Mr. Cates is alleged to expose his genitals to Sugarland employees. Town response is having Councilor Mark Kleinschmidt comes to his general defense.
Mr. Cates is alleged to lewdly solicit young women at Sugarland. A warrant is taken out. Nothing happens. In fact, according to Orange County officials, a series of warrants dating back to 2006 have charged Mr. Cates with disorderly conduct, soliciting or begging for money, misdemeanor larceny, driving with a revoked license, and, now, damage-to-property.
Frustrated by town inaction, Sugarland co-owner “Doc” Ryan is reported to say, ”It's horrible, We feel it's a fraudulent misrepresentation for the Town Council to say that they care about downtown at all.”
Town stooge “Moe” (Councilor Mark Kleinschmidt) charges “Doc” Ryan with being associated with a ”school of thought in town” that any punishment short of hauling panhandlers off Franklin Street and jailing them for a long period of time is too soft. “Moe” believes Chapel Hill's panhandling ordinances are “plenty tough”. In Chapel Hill you can get fined up to $50 if you ask for “contributions” within 6 feet of a bus stop, 20 feet of an ATM or on a town bus.
“Moe” Kleinschmidt also labors under the belief that Chapel Hill has ““challenges related to this issue that other communities don't have. We're a community that fortunately has a lot of people on the street at a time. Those people are having a good time and visiting businesses downtown and they're walking around spending money. That kind of place is generally where people ask for money and where people gravitate to.” (No report on whether or not “Moe” has ever visited the many towns scattered across North Carolina to see that, amazingly,they too have tourists walking sidewalks.)
Town stooge “Larry” (town manager Roger Stancil) responds to the arrest by blaming the actions of an individual on a broken mental health system in North Carolina. (There is no record of any mental health problem with Mr. Cates that would require being put in a mental health institution.) “Larry” says ”I think it's really easy to blame the town and the police because we're right here.”
Town stooge “Curley” (town police chief Brian Curran) says that Mr. Cates is a well-known exception who poses several challenges for the Chapel Hill Police. According to “Curley”, Mr. Cates' wheelchair is a problem for patrol cars. (Apparently, “Curley” forgets that the police own a number of SUVs that can easily accommodate someone with a wheelchair.) Also, if the Orange County jail doesn’t have room for Mr. Cates, then the police ask for Mr. Cates to be released. (No word on why “Curley” felt that feces had to become involved before Mr. Cates is put in jail, as in this instance.)
“Curley” Curran also confirmed that Chapel Hill police have previously waited to serve warrants on Mr. Cates until he had sufficient warrants for them to be embarrassed at their inaction. For “Curley”, ”It's such a production to get Walter served. We're not talking about warrants where he's shooting people or anything like that; it's usually failure to appear or something like that.” (No word on whether or not any other miscreants are piling up warrants in Chapel Hill. If about to be arressted by Chapel Hill police, you can mention the policy regarding Mr. Cates and ask for equal treatment.)
Unbelievably, although Mr. Cates committed his fecal smearing less than two blocks from the local courthouse, according to “Curley” Curran, it's a ”challenge” getting Mr. Cates to show up in court. Because of his travel difficulties, the Chapel Hill police runs a taxi court service for Mr. Cates when he needs to show up.
In a related business story, sales of Sparky’s turd polish have skyrocketed.
The Pulp has reported for several years on the growing presence of gangs in Orange County. See Pulp Gangsta Story. The Orange Progressive response of Chapelboro leaders and their political surrogates has been denial. When confronted with confirmation of local gang existence by word from local Federal Bureau of Investigation officials, the response has been silence and inaction. See Pulp Gang Presence Stymied Story.
The local media (aka “steno pool”) has climbed into the lap of local leaders echoing the recent official position of “Gangs? What gangs??” These incredible statements were parroted by all local leaders, despite shootings that shut down the Visions nightclub in Chapel Hill, the Chapel Hill Apple Chill street fair, and the Avalon nightclub in Chapel Hill.
The problem for local officials and the media is that the gang presence has become so visible that local police have finally said, with certainty, that an arrested suspect in Hillsborough was a gang member.
Suspected Eight Trey Gangster Crips (aka 83 Crips, aka ETGC, aka ETG) gang members have been arrested in Mebane and Durham showing the jurisdictional disdain of gangs. Suspected ETGC gang member Hakeem Kyri Hubbard, 18, is being held on $500,000 bail on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. He is charged with being one of five who pulled up alongside Lakendrick Watts, 31, in the Fairview neighborhood of Hillsborough late Thursday night. Hubbard allegedly shot Watts in the abdomen with a semi-automatic rifle in a random act of violence. See N&O Police Vigilance Story.
Normally, this rapid change in position would require an explanation in the media. Not in Orange County. The local steno pool simply reports that “Orange vigilant against gangs”. “Presto-changeo” there are gangs here. “Presto-changeo”, officials have been on top of the situation all along, even while denying local gangs exist. This amazing statement is made in the context of the fact that no local Orange municipality or Orange school system runs a gang awareness program for local citizens and students.
The media compounds the mythology of local police vigilance by reporting that “The slaying of UNC-Chapel Hill student leader Eve Carson intensified concerns about gangs. One of the suspects showed up in a bank security photo using Carson's ATM card and wearing a vintage Houston Astros hat that police said might be a gang symbol. ” Unfortunately, the Chapel Hill police actively denied gang involvement in the Carson murder. Police officials OUTSIDE of Orange County brought up a possible gang angle that they felt should be investigated.
Suddenly, Chapel Hill Police Chief Curran echoes the concerns of the Pulp for the past few years - “You can't just bury your head in the sand and hope that gang problems are going to pass you by, because they're here.” As reported in the N&O, Mitch McKinney, (Chapel Hill's only part-time gang related crime police officer) says ”We're doing the best we can with the resources we have available. Until we can determine what the problem is, we can't deal with it.” The local stenographers provide no context for the diametrically opposite position of local officials from statements in recent elections.
No explanation as to why local institutional memory has Alzheimer's Syndrome.
No word as to why for the past three years the Chapel Hill police department hasn’t pushed for gang related prevention and arrest support
No word on whether or not any local official has read the 2008 Governor’s Commission Report on gangs and gang-related crime in North Carolina (A Comprehensive Assessment of Gangs in North Carolina: A Report to the General Assembly - North Carolina Department of Crime Control & Public Safety Governor's Crime Commission).
