The fact that three of the seven reputed Latin Kings charged in last month's murder in Calumet City of a 16-year-old resident doesn't surprise Joe Kosman.
Kosman, deputy supervisor for gang prosecutions for the Cook County state's attorneys office, said the transient nature of modern society, coupled with increased mobility, makes defining gang affiliation by geographic area nearly impossible.
"People don't get born, raised and die in the same community anymore. You don't have people with roots in the community," he said. "Now, when people come into a neighborhood, they think they have to try to impress people. Now, all of a sudden someone who was a mid-level guy in a gang somewhere else is a leader."
Melody Elias, 16, was shot in the chest as she sat in a parked car with her boyfriend after finishing her shift at a local pizza restaurant.
Seven men between the ages of 17 and 23 face first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges in connection the death of Elias.
Four have Calumet City addresses, while the others have addresses in Harvey, Hammond and Dolton. According to prosecutors, the men had gone looking for revenge on a rival gang after a reputed Latin King had his car set on fire.
Police said Elias didn't have any gang affiliation.
Kosman, the former police chief of Blue Island, and former director for the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, is now stationed at the Sixth District Cook County Circuit Court in Markham, where he supervises gang-related cases.
While he could not comment specifically on the on-going Calumet City case, Kosman was able to speak about the nature of gangs in the South Suburbs, where the lines of turf are blurred.
"Everyone has cars now, too, so it doesn't matter if you're in Calumet City or Lansing or Orland Park or Hammond because you can go all over the place," he said. "It's not like the old days when you stood on the corner and declared your turf. There still are turf wars, but in the suburbs, those lines just aren't as clear."
It's something that Lansing police Lt. Pete Grutzius echoed. He said one of those now charged in the Elias' murder was questioned in connection with a Lansing crime some time ago.
No charges were ultimately brought against the individual, who didn't live in the village and was a juvenile at the time.
"We haven't seen the problems that other places have, but I'm not going to sit here and be naive that we don't have people with major connections in town, or (who) may come to live here in the near future," Grutzius said.
Kosman said he has heard the argument that Chicago's destruction of it's high rise housing projects has forced the gangs into the South Suburbs.
But he doesn't buy into the blame game.
"In some respects, we did get some more influence down here, but to blame that for the problem exclusively is naive," Kosman said. "The South Suburbs had gang members since way before the projects in Chicago came down. It's a good scare tactic and easy way for people to say it isn't their kids, it's those other kids."
