Gang expert blames violence on mass media

Between 50 and 90 percent of Juggalos carry weapons, LeFavor said. In 2005, a Granger High School student who threatened to take guns to school and harm teachers and students was arrested. Weapons and a lot of Juggalo paraphernalia were found at his house, LeFavor said.

A stabbing in Salt Lake County in April 2006 was linked to a Juggalo. In July 2006 at the Provo Towne Centre, two Juggalos were arrested for harassing security and others. Officers found five weapons on them.

DeLano Gilkey, director of the National Youth Violence Consultants, has experience working with juveniles in Florida, Arizona and Illinois, agrees most juveniles who listen to gangsta rap or heavy metal bands like Slayer or Marilyn Manson just listen for the music and don't take their messages seriously. But if you have a person who is not that well adjusted, taking drugs and overall depressed, that person could be a "time bomb waiting to explode."

Another issue at Thursday's gang conference was how girls are being sucked more into the gang lifestyle.

Gilkey said he has seen a significant increase in violence among girls over the past eight years. The Department of Justice reported the rate of violent crimes perpetrated by women doubled from 1987 to 1994.

"They take it to a totally different level," he said. "With girls, there are no rules. They are vicious and calculating."

What's unique about girl gang members compared to their male counterparts is they don't ever let grudges die, Gilkey said.

Younger girls are also being recruited into the gang lifestyle as strippers.

In a recent survey of eighth-grade girls, Gilkey said, the third most popular occupation of choice was exotic dancer. In New York City in 1996, 832 girls between the ages of 16 and 20 were arrested for prostitution. That number rose to 1,498 in 2003.

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com