Drug-Related Crime

Overall crime has declined in the Lake County HIDTA region over the past few years; however, the level of drug-related violent crime and property crime is relatively high, particularly in metropolitan areas. The generally depressed economic situation in Lake County and the recent relocation of some gang members and other criminals from Chicago, caused by the razing of public housing developments, have contributed to the level of drug-related crime in the area. Additionally, gang- and drug-related criminal activity is spreading from traditional high-crime areas in Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago into surrounding communities and neighboring Porter County. Moreover, law enforcement officials report that violent crime, particularly crime involving firearms, has increased. For example, Gary leads the nation in homicides per capita, having recorded a combined total of 113 murders in 2005 and 2006.

Members of violent street gangs such as Gangster Disciples, Imperial Gangsters, Vice Lords, and Latin Kings are the principal retail drug distributors in Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago. In addition to drug trafficking, members of these gangs commit homicide, kidnapping, robbery, assault, and automobile theft. Violent disputes, especially over control of drug "turf" and enforcement of drug debts, often occur between street gangs in this area. However, drug turf disputes are now decreasing, since gangs in the area apparently realize that violent confrontations bring unwanted law enforcement attention that often disrupts their drug distribution activities and lowers their revenue.

Street gang members and other criminals reportedly exploit gun control laws in Indiana, which are less stringent than those in surrounding states, to acquire weapons for use in their criminal enterprises. For example, Indiana does not require a state permit to purchase and possess firearms. Moreover, there is no limit to the number of guns an individual can purchase, and while licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct a background check on a firearms purchaser, private sellers are under no obligation to do so. Additionally, street gang members often acquire firearms using false identification and through straw purchases, in which an individual without a criminal record purchases firearms for associates with criminal histories. Street gang members use these weapons to commit violent crimes, including homicide, robbery, and assault. Further, Lake County street gang members supply firearms acquired in the area to gang associates in Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee, contributing to the high levels of violent crime in those cities. In fact, according to law enforcement officials, Indiana is one of the largest out-of-state sources of illegal firearms seized in Chicago.

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Abuse

The abuse of cocaine, particularly crack, places a heavy burden upon Lake County's public health resources. Powder and crack cocaine are readily available and constitute the most significant abuse problem in the Lake County HIDTA region. Heroin availability and abuse have increased in metropolitan areas, particularly in Gary, over the past 2 years. Heroin abusers in the HIDTA region are primarily older middle- and upper-class individuals from all racial backgrounds. However, heroin abuse among Caucasian adolescents from affluent suburban areas of southern Lake County and neighboring Porter County is increasing. These adolescents typically travel to southeastern Chicago to purchase user quantities of heroin from street gang members and independent distributors. This increase in adolescent heroin abuse mirrors a similar trend that was reported in the late 1990s among Caucasian youth in affluent Chicago suburbs such as Naperville. The distribution of fentanyl-laced heroin has emerged over the past 2 years in Chicago, a major source area for heroin in Lake County, and has resulted in hundreds of overdoses and deaths. Fentanyl-laced heroin is reportedly available in Lake County; however, the extent to which this combination is being abused is unknown. Marijuana is the most widely available and abused drug in the area. Methamphetamine abuse in Lake County is limited. The diversion and abuse of pharmaceuticals such as oxycodone and hydrocodone are relatively stable at moderate levels. The abuse of club drugs such as MDMA is declining in the region.

Drug abuse rates among high school seniors in the Northwest Region of Indiana (Lake, Jasper, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, and Starke Counties) are significantly higher than statewide rates. According to 2006 survey data from the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, twelfth-grade students in the region report significantly higher rates of annual and monthly abuse of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and MDMA than do their peers statewide. In fact, the reported annual and monthly abuse rates for each of these drugs were higher in the Northwest Region than in any of the other seven regions in the state.

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