By JASMINE GOMEZ  

This summer’s arrest of 14 individuals related to the “Blood Hounds” gang, have raised concerns about the prevalence of gang activity in the Kingsbridge/Bedford Park community.

The latest arrest suggests a high presence of gang activity in the neighborhoods, largely working poor sections of the Bronx. Taken together, the borough has several subsets of larger notorious gangs, notably the Bloods and Crips.

The arrests, falling in the scope of the 52nd Precinct, involved the “Blood Hounds,” a group tied to the Bloods. Some suspects rounded up in the sting were as young as 17-years old (meaning started when they were 15), and were allegedly known to chronicle their exploits, mainly gun-related crimes, via Facebook. Many led the dangerous life, often requesting guns on Facebook the moment conflicts arose.

The postings, utilized as evidence by investigators, crystallized a kind of allure of gang life, used in exchange for a sense of belonging.

“In the inner city a lot of kids join gangs a) to belong and b) because maybe they’re not getting a lot of supervision at home so they join gangs because that becomes their sort of surrogate family,” said Billy Cannon, a former NYPD detective.

Operating in another part of the Bronx, 23 members of other subsets of the Bloods, known as the “Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation” and “Black Stone Gorilla Gangstas” (BSGG) were also arrested on 217 counts, including conspiracy to commit murder and enterprise corruption. They allegedly ran their operation in Co-op City.

The separate investigations of these groups lasted many months, with the investigation of the BSGG lasting almost two years.

“Investigation could take a year or several years. They want to make sure that when they do put the case together that they have a good case enough to get people convicted,” said Cannon.

And while criminal activities have largely remained the same, gangs or crews have changed the way it promotes their exploits. Social media has become a key outlet for crews and gangs, who routinely posts their exploits, attracting attention from the Police Department.

“Law enforcement thanks them for doing that because they want to brag and a lot of times they brag on social media, they brag on Facebook, they brag on Instagram, all these things, they’re bragging about their criminal activity. They would be remiss [in] their duties as investigators if they weren’t using social media as an investigative tool,” said Cannon.

A yearlong investigation into the criminal activities of the “Blood Hounds” not only involved the use of undercover NYPD officers but surveillance of social media sites, where the offenders would often boast about their criminal activities. The investigation of the UGSN and the BSGG, for instance, included evidence obtained from court-approved wiretaps of cell phone conversations between members.

Another Facebook post advertised the sale of a .25-caliber gun for $250.00, while another read “Man down” after the shooting of a man the day before.

But squashing gang activity is not a process where a cop simply orders them to scatter, according to Cannon.

“The way to stop some of these gangs is through long term investigation and a gang unit, the precinct detective squad, narcotics, those units work together at conducting investigation which is what’s really gonna take a bite out of gang activity,” he said.