Self Published on Patch.Com
Brentwood, NY -- Communities in Long Island have seen 11 killings by the gang Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13, since last year. Federal and local officials are taking actions to dismantle the gang, alone with a community patrol, known as the Guardian Angels.
"As you know, the bloodthirsty cartel known as MS-13 has infiltrated our schools, threatening innocent children. We've seen the horrible assaults and killings all over Long Island," President Donald Trump said in a speech marking his 100 days in office. The FBI calls MS-13 "exceedingly violent,";as they participate in an assortment of crimes, such as; drug distribution, rape, murder, robberies, etc. "The MS-13 motto is kill, rape and control. Our motto is justice for victims and consequences for criminals," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, during his visit to Long Island on April 28. Since the murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens on September 13, the Suffolk County Police Department have arrested 142 MS-13 members. "We were very clear in our objectives and I said time and time again, our short term objective is solve all the homicides in Brentwood and our long term objective is to eradicate MS-13 from that area" Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini said, regarding the arrests. In a press release on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's website, it was announced that there will be an increased presence of State Police in Central Islip and Brentwood, as violent crimes traced to MS-13 have recently spiked. "I would just say, don't go here, don't go there, don't go down that block, just mind your business. Don't look anybody in the eye too long, don't do it at all. Just mind your business. Stay with your friends, and graduate" Jabez Nelson, a former student of Central Islip High School, said. Members of the Brentwood and Central Islip community reached out to the global organization, Guardian Angels. Guardian Angels was established in 1979 by New York citizens who volunteered to patrol subways. The organization has created chapters in over 130 cities in 13 countries, according to the Guardian Angels website. With the assistance of the Guardian Angels founder, Curtis Sliwa, a chapter was built for Brentwood and Central Islip. Volunteers involved with the Brentwood and Central Islip chapter go by the codenames: Cookie, Obey, Intel, Social, and Logistics. "Our community pretty much was screaming for help. Back in the day, Brentwood and Central Islip was a good town to be in. Throughout the years, that got lost somehow. So we decided to do something about it," Social said. Logistics shared that the group has been working with the local third precinct of the SCPD, as well as government officials, the county legislature, Monica R. Martinez and the county executive. "We are working very close on hand. We're out in the field, we've got your back. We communicate with them. If we see something, we call right away. We have a system. One person will videotape, the other person will call 911," Logistics said. According to Obey, the group's goal is to be very organized and bring people together in order to be very effective. "We need to come together and work together as a team. Help each other, be there for eachother, support each other," Intel said. The Guardian Angels plan on organizing neighborhood watches in Brentwood and Central Islip that will operate through the organization. "We want to centralize neighborhood watch where all the neighborhood watches of Brentwood are going to go through us now, so everything is not going to fall through the cracks," Obey said. The facebook page for the Guardian Angels of Brentwood and Central Islip Chapter has received over 1,000 likes. The group has also received coverage from local news channel, News 12 and the online community news network, Patch. "People are starting to feel safer, feel like there is someone out there that cares, that they are not alone," Cookie said. For every 100,000 people, there are 7.49 daily crimes that occur in Brentwood and 7.1 daily crimes that occur in Central Islip, according to Areavibes.com. "Considering a lot of bad stuff is happening in my own community, essentially, a lot of people do feel scared to go out late," Henry Velasquez, a resident of Central Islip, said. To become involved with the Guardian Angels, they can be contacted on their facebook page, "The Guardian Angels Brentwood/CI Chapter."
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