Northfield’s gang problem: small, medium, or large?

Strib story on gangs Northfield isn’t a suburb but today’s Star Tribune front page story contains troubling info: Think there are no gangs in the suburbs? Think again.

… in Northfield, a group of students concerned about gangs organized a forum to educate students and parents. Said one of the organizers, 16-year-old Sharonne Bermudez, "Our goal was to at least make them listen to us, to let them know how gangs are affecting us."

There was a student-organized gang forum? Anyone have details? I searched for current gang-related info on various websites: City of Northfield, Northfield Public Schools, Rice County but couldn’t find anything.

4 Comments

  1. Griff Wigley said:

    I see references to “Rice County Drug and Gang Unit” and “Rice County Gang Suppression Unit” in some older Northfield News articles but a search on those phrases doesn’t reveal any websites.

    May 5, 2009
  2. Griff Wigley said:

    Some notes on my follow-up to this story with area leaders:

    • Re: my question about a “Rice County Gang Suppression Unit”, Northfield Police Chief Mark Taylor said that there is a group that meets to share gang-related intelligence and info but was unsure if there was an official name
    • Supt. Chris Richardson and High School Assistant Principal Marnie Thompson confirmed that there was a gang forum organized by a group of Northfield High School ESL students last fall. They received a Northfield Healthy Community Initiative “Making a Difference Award” in January.
    • Sheriff Dick Cook put me in touch with Angela Brewer at Rice County Department of Community Corrections who confirmed that there is a gang suppression unit, a collaboration of various law enforcement, corrections, and criminal justice professionals. She also said that there will be an article in the Faribault Daily News about all this coming in the next day or two.

    May 8, 2009
  3. Griff Wigley said:

    In yesterday’s Nfld News: Law enforcement continues to track two gangs in town.

    Local law enforcement agencies have files on two well-established, active gangs in Northfield and up to 150 individuals with suspected or confirmed gang membership. That’s according to Rice County Gang Suppression Unit Secretary Angela Brewer, who gave estimates on the area’s gang activity in preparation for an upcoming annual report due to be released in late May.

    May 10, 2009
  4. Stephanie Henriksen said:

    Thank you so much, Griff, for digging out all this information on gang membership. As you say, there will be more in Faribault Daily News.

    Also, look for reports in both papers next week on foreclosures in Rice County. There was a map of foreclosures in the county given out at a joint govt meeting. We were shocked at the number.

    May 10, 2009

Leave a Reply