Okay, so we all knew that Pensacola had a gang problem, as much as some would like to hush it up, but I can't find any information about the gang problem in Navarre Beach, Gulf Breeze or Fort Walton! I've seen their graffiti all over Navarre! This "green ink mafia" and folk nation! I mean, is this for real? We moved to Navarre, a quiet small town back in 1995 to raise our kids far away from Chicago. Now, there have been break-ins, fraud, drugs, and I can't COUNT how many "green" gang members I see walking the streets in Navarre alone!  We went to the park. The graffiti's there. We went to the beach. It's there. We went to the NYSA (A CHILDREN'S SPORTS COMPLEX!) It's there too, mixed in with "Folk Nation" blues and pitchforks. Even switched parks and drove 5 miles to Gulf Breeze Tiger Point park. Missy comes up to me telling me about someone writing on the inside of the slide! Clearly these guys are trying (and succeeding) to recruit younger members and get their name out there. And what makes it worse, is I can't find any information about these gangs because the news keeps it hush-hush to increase tourism.
Now, I did my own research, jotting down the name and general information about the gangs I've seen and the location of where these members tend to congregate. The "GR3EN 7NK MAF1A" s sign is a seven point star and the members wear a green bandana out of the right side of their pants. They have some other signs too, like and upside down dollar pyramid and a tree growing out of it, etc. They tend to hang around key points in Navarre like Whispering Pines, PaloAlto, Ortega, Navarre High School and that neighborhood between Publix and 399. My neighbor told me about an incident where a young boy was shot, off of Ortega near the high school and the assailants shouted "G.I.M. (censor)" at him and then took off. I find out later that this kid is saying he's a part of the bloods gang, but no one believes him, so everyone beats up on him.
So what are we, as parents, citizens, and residents, going to do about this problem. The news certainly won't warn people. The SRC gang unit (recently created) says, "We're doing the best we can." Now, who believes that?!