Here's an earlier article that goes into the GD renegades at Cabrini Green:


January 05, 1989|By Robert Blau.

A bloody power struggle-marked by 14 shootings in the last month-has broken out at the Cabrini-Green housing complex as a renegade band of street gang members seeks control of a portion of the lucrative drug trade.

According to police, the shootings began in early December. The group`s offensive, which thus far has not claimed any lives, has shattered unwritten rules that for years have governed the drug business at Cabrini-Green.

Police, who have increased patrols in the Near North Side housing complex as a response to the violence, say that the renegade faction has led a systematic and brutal assault on other more established gangs in the project in order to secure and protect its own drug turf.

``If you control the building, you control the trade, you`re making the money,`` said Lt. Eddie King, commanding officer of the Public Housing North unit.

The drug turf battle has intensified the violence associated with the narcotics trade in the complex and is a microcosm of what police say has been occurring elsewhere in the city.

In 1988, there were approximately 60 narcotics-related homicides in Chicago. In the last 2 1/2 years, at least 30 unsolved slayings have been linked to battles over drug territories in the city.

According to police, street gangs such as those fighting each other in Cabrini-Green control the vast majority of street narcotics sales in the city. ``There is a battle going on,`` said David Wolfe, director of the Chicago Urban League`s Near North Service Center, whose office borders Cabrini.

``Around midnight it`s like a shooting gallery: small arms fire, shotgun blasts, automatic weapons fire. You can see the muzzle flashes from atop the buildings . . . it`s about the drug situation.

``We`ve seen young kids with walkie-talkies standing on corners reporting on police activities when they do their transactions,`` Wolfe added.

Police trace the latest round of violence to a group of teenagers who split from the 400- to 500-member gang that dominates the drug trade at Cabrini-Green.

Police say the target of their investigation is 19-year-old Charles Dorsey, the alleged leader of the renegade faction who was arrested last week on weapons charges.

Before splitting from the gang, Dorsey was given management control of three buildings in the complex, according to Lt. Walter Conrad, of the East Chicago Avenue District tactical unit. Now, Dorsey has surrounded himself with 25 followers who have been responsible for most of the shootings and is attempting to keep control of the buildings, according to Conrad.

Two of Dorsey`s underlings have been arrested in connection with the shootings, but have been charged only with misdemeanors because, as is often the case with gang violence, the victims have been reluctant to pursue the cases, police said.

Last Thursday police raided what they termed one of Dorsey`s safe houses at 4453 N. Albany Ave. and recovered three fully-loaded semiautomatic weapons and several ski masks allegedly worn by members of a ``hit squad`` who led midnight ``intimidation`` raids on other gang-controlled buildings in Cabrini, police said.

Four members of the ``hit squad`` were arrested on gun charges during the raid, police said. In addition, six other weapons were confiscated.

Sources in the Police Department said that Dorsey gained power last year when he was appointed a ``regent`` by William Hope, the now-imprisoned gang leader convicted in September of gun possession charges. A ``regent`` controls drug sales in several buildings, according to police.

Since Hope`s conviction, police say, the hierarchy of the gang has begun to loosen and its power has become more diffuse.

The drug trade at Cabrini-Green is extremely profitable. According to police, as much as $5,000 a day in profits can be extracted from the traffic at Dorsey`s three buildings.

Police say that no matter who`s in control, the systems of distribution and sales of narcotics are usually similar. Most entry level positions are doled out to young teens who-for a $50 salary-sell as many as 50 $25 bags of cocaine and 50 marijuana cigarettes each day.

Police say that some sell narcotics on consignment, but must make payment in five days. Sellers who return with less than the full amount due are severely beaten-those who produce are entitled to a greater share of the profits.

Police said the split occurred after Dorsey began buying drugs from outside sources, instead of from gang-authorized suppliers, and began keeping the profits-a breach of gang rules.

``If you`re dealing for the gang, you`re going to accept their protection and you`re going to make a profit,`` Lt. Conrad said. ``You`re not going to necessarily try and become Scarface.``

Some gang members attempted to mediate the rift, but they were shot at by Dorsey`s hit squad, police said.