Crime & Safety

Police: Gang Members Only Live in Westfield

While report shows 11 gang members living in town, no incidents of gang activity reported.

While police have identified 11 gang members who live in Westfield, police officials said that there have been no signs of gang activity in town.

The gang population came to light when the on gang activity statewide. The report, which included a gang census for each of the state’s 566 municipalities, showed that 11 gang members lived in Westfield, with a total of five gangs represented.

“We have not seen any evidence of them being active in Westfield other than residing here,” police captain David Wayman said of the town’s gang population.

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Wayman did not disclose where the 11 identified gang members are commuting to for gang related activity. He said the 11 have been identified as belonging to the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, MS-13 and 5-Percenters, some of the state’s largest and most well-known gangs.

“We know what gangs they are affiliated with, but we have not identified the sects they are with yet,” Wayman said.

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The report showed the gangs have multiple sects in communities, centered primarily in urban parts of the state.

He said the police department has been able to identify them through a criteria set by the state attorney general. This includes self-admission as a gang members, identification through tattoos and other other gang signs and sharing of gang related intelligence with other police departments.

Police officers are not allowed to ask anyone if they are in a gang.

The report, which included a series of information on statewide gang activity, along with a focus on gang activity in urban areas, showed that most of the state’s gang activity is centered in urban areas. Plainfield and Elizabeth were Union County’s two highest population centers for gang members.

Wayman said the gang census data should not concern Westfield residents due to members not practicing gang activity in the community.

“We have not seen any evidence of them being active in Westfield other than residing here,” he said.


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