Hi all I have a question to ask everyone. I wanted to know if anyone else is having gang problems in their area? I have a condo and its a JMU College rental and as of late I have been receiving letters from my managment company saying its getting harder to rent. They are telling in the letter its due to hard times but when you call and ask about it thats not the case. The crime rate is up all around and where my condo is at (Hunters Ridge) there has been a gang shooting that ended in a death. The students are saying they feel unsafe.

I cant say its just on the outter parts of the city as I live in a neighbor hood where it used to be really nice and you felt safe. We now have gang taggings in the neighbor hood. I listen to the local news and many times the Police say dont give them any credit. I have to ask how can we not give them credit for what they are doing. i ask around to family and friends and im told all its just a bunch of kids acting out and the Police have said dont worry we do have a problem but its not that bad. My question is if we have a problem small or large it is that bad right?

Im just wanting to know if anyone is having problems in their area and if you are what are you doing about it. Also if you have had problems but things have stopped or slowed down what has happend.

Thanks everyone and sorry for a kind of a rant.

For a long time police in Norfolk and Virginia Beach publicly said the same things as your experiencing. Their press releases to the local media stated things such as gang imitators no real threat everything was under control. They were just in denial, they don't say that anymore. Local police take gang activity very seriously now.

Oly Fan-



Sad fact is that you folks in the Valley are experiencing the Hispanic gang influence and the rise of meth.  Check with any LEO you know in the area and he/she will tell you that Meth is on the rise and is often being supported by Hispanic gangs.  However, there are a lot of POS white trash out there cooking Meth also in the area.



H-burg is a great town but it is also going to see the same influences that most other valley and western VA towns are starting to experience.  You can send your kudos to the Federal government for their outstanding control our our southern boarders for this problem.  Keep your powder dry and mags full.



I wish you luck with your endeavors.

The influx of gang activity in H'burg is not new. The visual aspect of it is not as apparent as other areas as they try to stay under the radar if possible. As a matter of fact at national level the stealth mode of major gangs has been pushed for some time. PM if you are interested for more info.

That sucks, Hunters Ridge used to be one of the better neighborhoods when I was there.

Things have been getting worse for a while now.
As far as the police saying we have a small problem and not to worry about it remember this. About 20 miles north of you in a very small town called Mt.Jackson there was a girl killed about five or so years ago, she was killed by ms 13, and was such a significant event that the girl and the killing made its way into a Lisa Ling documentary that has been shown on National Geographic many times.

If we had no problem in our area, then we wouldn't be in documents that are created for the nation to see.

And we can thank more than just the .gov for not taking care of our southern border. There are a hell of a lot of business owners that need to take credit where credit is due as well. They pay to bring them here and then don't make them go back when there work visas run out, all so they can pay lower wages. I agree though that too the .gov has not done its part, but too its time for the individual business owners, and factories around that have done a lot toward helping getting them here as well take responsibility for there part.

I can remember being in school and hearing about gangs but never gave it much thought at the time. This was 1993 and I knew that there was a drug problem with many other things going on but never thought it would become as big as it has or I guess I should say more known.

The MS-13 killing the girl didnt live to far from where Im at and really they seem to not be tagging as much as the Blood and Crips but the most taggins I have seen as of late is that of the Crips. I stopped counting one night at 15 when I heard talking outside my window (1-2am) and I would say there was atleast 25-30. The Police agreed that it sounded like that many and looked to be that many as how the grass was mashed down.

I know people I tell that to and they laugh saying Im crazy and really if it didnt happen to me I think I may act the same. I was told by the Police this was an initiation into the gang from what I had described. We never feal the same about living in our home now and never look at the things the same. I guess it was a big wake up call.

Hunters Ridge has open parties that brings them in and I know its a place college want to go and party and live for that reason but when they are now going on camera and telling management companies they wont be renting again due to not feeling safe. That investment has now become a problem and one that should be solved by the home owners association and other owners. We pay 150.00 a month for what I think that can be spent on some armmed guards and I dont mean ones that would only chase after them if they stole there dougnut.

I agree you don't see much of the MS-13 tags, they seem to lay low  around here, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, up this way you don't hear anything about the Bloods or the Crips, unless someone is talking in reference to Harrisonburg, it's more talk about MS-13. The Ridge has been a place of caution for some time now. I can remember when I was in my party phase of life, we were always cautious when going anywhere around it. There are a few other hot spots though in Harrisonburg, know that you are not alone in how you feel and what you have been seeing. The problem is no one really wants to talk about it or believe it because lets face it Harrisonburg is a college town. Without the annual influx of college kids the economy in Harrisonburg would drop drastically, and no one is going to let there kids go to school somewhere where there is a known gang problem.

Thats the truth man when it starts to really effect JMU maybe they will do more about it until then they dont care. I had a town house forsale that when I bought it was a great place no parties nothing. I rented and had good renters till the last one. This girl did 10 thousand in damage to the place. She took me to court for being a bad landlord when it was with a managment company. She would call and threaten to kill me all the time. A few weeks after she got out of my town house is when I had gang members outside my house. They got as far as the front door when they tried to break in and I showed them my gun they ran. I was shocked they ran and was told by the police this was MS-13.

I had the town house up for sale in a good market and a lot of college kids came in and said they felt unsafe in the area and I lost a quick sale. I finaly sold and bought another town house at hunters ridge had no problems (the guy that was shot and killed was right in front of this) so I flipped it and bought in a bad market at a good price the condo. Im now being told problems of renting due to bad economy but students are saying its due to all the problems.

I was over there a month or so ago to see about replacing a door cause someone tried to break in and I tell you more then just college kids living there. The lights are busted out in the walk ways its really dark in area's and when this meeting happens Im going to bring this all up. I dont understand what my $100 and some a month in association fee's are going to. I think fixing some of the lights and added security and I mean good security not some guy who couldnt out run a baby crawling.

I think it needs to effect JMU before it will get any better and thats sad.