SC gangs evolving, switching to white collar crime, officials say

South Carolina’s gangs look different today and are focusing more on white collar crime like tax fraud and human trafficking, experts said Monday.

More than 300 law enforcement officers and civilians from across the state met at the Harbison Campus of Midlands Technical College for an annual conference sponsored by S.C. prison officials.

The three-day session aims to help law enforcement officers stay up-to-date with the state’s growing and changing problem with gangs, an issue some officials said was ignored when it first surfaced more than a decade ago.

Gangs are domestic terrorists both out on streets and in prisons, said Capt. Vincent Goggins, a Richland County deputy who heads the Midlands Gang Task Force.

The numbers are much lower than they were at the height of the Midlands’ street-gang activity a decade ago, he said but didn’t elaborate.

Members today decide deliberately to join a gang, unlike in the past when it was something new to try, Goggins said.

Gangs also are evolving.

They are moving away from dealing drugs and weapons in favor of white-collar crime, such as counterfeit money, credit card fraud, tax fraud and human trafficking, Goggins said.

Milder sentences for those crimes are part of the reason, he said.

“Gang members know that if they commit white-collar crimes, the sentencing will likely not be as large as if they committed crimes of weapons or drugs or things of that nature,” Goggins said. “If you get caught selling 3 crack rocks…you might spent 15 to 20 years in prison. If you get caught with $100,000 of counterfeit cash, you may spend six months.”

White-collar crime tends to be less violent, he added.

In general, South Carolina has familiar gangs such as Bloods, Crips and Folk Nation, according to Goggins and other experts at the conference.

But there are also smaller rural gangs that are becoming well-organized, said Lexington Police Sgt. Brent Carter.

“We’ve gone from a rural community with some gangs here and there to full-blown,” Carter said. “A lot of these small town groups are having to act out more to get themselves on the map.”

That’s why law enforcement officers at the conference emphasized knowing each other so that when a new case or trend emerges, investigators know who to call, said former South Carolina Department of Corrections gang expert Elbert Pearson.

“Now has come the time where since we have gangs in every community, what can we do about it?” Pearson said. “When you network with people, they know a familiar voice and a familiar name. Then they’ll give stuff to you easily.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "SC gangs evolving, switching to white collar crime, officials say."