THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512210006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Portsmouth got safer last Friday when a federal task force targeting violent criminals essentially eliminated an alleged drug gang said to have terrorized River Edge Apartments residents.
The seven alleged members, ages 19 to 22, were indicted Thursday for various felonies carrying penalties of life in prison and millions of dollars in fines. Six of the seven were in custody Friday after an early morning sweep by the FBI and Portsmouth police.
Staff writer Lynn Waltz reported:
``Since 1993, the River Edge gang has allegedly held apartment residents in a stranglehold of violence and intimidation. Residents have been killed, shot, beaten, robbed and threatened, said the indictment. . . .''
In the past, potential witnesses against gang members have been intimidated into silence or shot. Partly as a result, seven of the city's 10 drug murders have gone unsolved this year. One of the men indicted Thursday, Robert Winfield Jr., has been charged 41 times for misdemeanors and felonies since he turned 18 four years ago. He and two other of the seven indicted men were already behind bars on local charges when the federal sweep occurred, but according to the indictment, Winfield ran the gang from jail.
More task-force arrests are sure to follow, since some two dozen violent criminals were targeted.
It is easy to draw a parallel between our time and Prohibition in the late '20s and early '30s, when law enforcement broke down in many cities in the face of powerful gangs. Federal task forces were required then, as now, to combat crime.
For whatever reason, Portsmouth prosecutors, courts and police have been overmatched by drug gangs. When Portsmouth's record-setting 37th murder occurred on Nov. 19, it seemed a sure bet that more than 40 murders would occur in the city this year, maybe far more. In fact, no one has been murdered in Portsmouth since (unless a killing occurred overnight).
A month without a murder is partly luck, maybe partly miracle, but the task force definitely is helping as it arrests and intimidates criminals. As an earlier editorial headline said, ``Go get 'em, feds.'' by CNB