Though gang-related assaults, robberies and other crimes have cropped up in recent years in Bismarck, gang activity seems to have slowed down this summer.

"We've had a really good summer," Bismarck Police School Resource Officer Jeff Azure said.

Azure is a gang specialist who serves on the community gang task force. Though there have been a few instances of gang activity making it to police attention, there have been fewer than recent summers, Azure said.

Azure and School Resource Officer Brett Anderson, also a gang specialist and task force member, said gangs do exist in Bismarck, despite perceptions that they don't. Outlaw motorcycle gangs, street gangs, drug gangs, juvenile gangs, prison gangs and white supremacist gangs all have members in the community.

Azure and Anderson credit the Bismarck-Mandan community's proactive response to such crimes as a reason for keeping gang activities less visible in the area. Federal agencies, schools, social services and law enforcement work together to keep an eye on anything going on that might imply a gang is gaining a hold in the community. Different law enforcement agencies work together and share information, too.

"We've been very active as far as communicating and combating anything gang-related," Azure said. "Schools are a big part of that."

Mandan Police Deputy Chief Paul Leingang said the proactive efforts are working and have helped keep some gang activities, such as high-volume recruiting, out of schools and communities.

Schools have helped in cracking down on gang colors, watching for gang graffiti on notebooks and helping identify students at risk of gang involvement, Azure and Anderson said.

Anderson said the summer's "crummy weather" also may have kept some criminal enterprises at bay.

Though many in the community have the perception that gangs don't exist in North Dakota or that they are watered-down versions of big-city gangs, Azure and Anderson caution that there are no "wannabe" gang members.

"If they're claiming gang membership, they're a gang member," Azure said. "People should be aware."

The department's gang unit, made up of four officers and a sergeant, keeps an eye on people moving to town who have been known to belong to gangs. Narcotics officers in the department often catch wind of people moving to town, and the gang officers will do "knock and talk" stops at a known gang member's new home. Anderson said the visits are consensual and nonharassing, and the officers let the person know the community's expectations.

Gangs from bigger cities have begun moving to smaller communities and rural areas, including reservations, to sell drugs, and Bismarck and Mandan are not exceptions. Police have seen the gang influence from nearby reservations and from bigger cities for years. Cocaine and crack cocaine moving in via gangs from larger communities have been on the upswing in the community, the officers said.

"Drugs are a big part of it," Anderson said.

Gangs around Bismarck are not as visible as in larger communities, as they aren't selling drugs on the street. There also have not been "turf wars," where rival gangs battle for control of a neighborhood's drug trade.

"Bismarck is a free enterprise," Anderson said.

Gang graffiti, which marks a gang's "territory," crops up often around Bismarck. Anyone who comes across a gang symbol, or something they think might be a gang symbol, should call police. Officers will take reports, take pictures and make sure the graffiti gets cleaned up. Azure and Anderson said they carry spray paint, so if a property owner does not have the resources to immediately clean graffiti up, they can at least cover it for the time being.

Removing the markings shows the community is not going to put up with gangs, Azure said.

Leingang said graffiti has not been a big problem in Mandan, though school officials and officers are beginning to see it on kids' notebooks.

"It's a concern that's monitored," Leingang said.

Education is important in keeping gangs from becoming entrenched in the community, and the five-officer gang unit at the Bismarck Police Department speaks to civic groups, teachers and school staff to let them know what to look for, Azure said.

"You don't want (kids) to get sucked into it," Leingang said.

Catching kids who are getting involved in gangs when they are young and referring them to the Bismarck Police Department's Youth Bureau can help, Azure said.

"Believe it or not, if we can get these kids early, we can get them to graduate and be successful," he said. "It's worked on a lot of kids."

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)