The gangs in Austin are not organized or territorial like they are in other cities, like Oakland. Austin police also said they are doing everything possible to make sure it stays that way because they warned, gangs in Austin are still dangerous.
KVUE's Jenni Lee and Andy Viganas rode out with the Austin Police Department's Street Gang Unit Tuesday. The group regularly searches for gang members to document. Officers Chris Wille and J. Ivery took them to one of the most active areas for gangs, East Austin.
They drove through the Springdale Road and 12th Street area, a hot spot for Bloods. Further south but still east, the Montopolis Drive area is dominated by Hispanic gangs like the Tango Blasts.
Officers came across a Tango Blast on Felix Avenue and stopped him for a traffic violation. Although he denied it, police said he is a documented Tango Blast member.
A search discovered $700 in cash, a bag of marijuana and no driver's license. The 32-year-old was not pleased with the KVUE camera. He had some choice words for the KVUE crew.
"Get out of my face," he told Lee and Viganas.
The man was covered in ink tattoos which make it easier for police to identify him. Officers took pictures to update their file on the Tango Blast gang member, who in his lifetime, has had 73 charges filed against him.
"We've stopped him several times. His arrests show possession of controlled substance, marijuana, felonies, and misdemeanors," said Officer J. Ivery.
Not far away, officers come across a former Tango Blast member. Police said the two stars on his shoulders represent the prison gang. The dog tattoo under one eye represents the Montop Bloods or Montopolis Bloods Gang.
"He does have a lot of tattoos, some of them seem old. As we're questioning him, we're asking him if he did time, he said yeah I did time at the TDC which means the gang he belongs to, the Tango Blasts is a prison gang," said Officer Oscar Barbosa, who joined the team in February.
Police said the 104 different gangs are responsible for many crimes. Some of the younger ones are more involved in property crimes while the older ones are responsible for violent crimes. For example, police think the woman killed on Wellington Drive in June is a gang-related incident.
APD's Street Gang Unit is regularly out. It could be credited as one of the reasons the number of documented gang members went down from 2,608 in 2015 to 2,568 2016.
The Street Gang Unit made 256 arrests from October 2014 to September 2015. The Unit was part of the entire Organized Crime Division that broke the rock-throwing cases on Interstate 35 earlier this year.