That’s why Gangs expert and author, Harold M. Rochon, titled his book about Gangs: “Terrorists in Designer Jeans.”

“The proliferation of gangs in the United States has reached epidemic proportions,” writes Sergeant Rochon, a 20-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department and member of the department’s Gang Enforcement Section, also referred to as the “Gang Squad.” Rochon has served his department as a Gang Intelligence officer, undercover gang member and undercover gun dealer to try to break up organized gangs in Detroit.

“I no longer think of gangs as a group of teenage thugs who never finished high school,” says Rochon. “I see them as male and female groups of individuals terrorizing our neighborhoods, some while dressed in designer clothes… they are no different than ‘terrorists.’ Their causes may be different, but their actions are the same. And they’re using our communities as their battlegrounds, stealing, killing and destroying the very fiber of life in America.”

But before you can fight these criminal street gangs, Rochon says, you have to understand their world, from their language to their culture to their alliances and rivalries. That is what he will do in this upcoming training telecast.

Learning Objectives:

  • Describe the history of criminal street gangs and rivalries.
  • Hear first-hand what it’s like to be in a gang from a 16-year-old gang member.
  • Identify and classify criminal street gang members and associates.
  • Describe the history of criminal street gangs and rivalries.
  • Discuss methods of operation commonly used by criminal street gangs.
  • Understand the drug nexus within gangs.
  • Gain a better understanding and awareness of the meaning behind graffiti.
  • Describe safety issues in dealing with criminal street gangs.
  • Understand gang ideology and recruiting.
  • Identify major national gangs.
  • Gain a better understanding of the legal aspects of investigating gangs.
  • Learn how communities can help law enforcement fight back.

Originally Aired: May 12, 2005

Instructors

Harold Rochon

Detroit Police Department

Mr. Rochon is currently a sergeant with the Detroit Police Department in Michigan, assigned to the Organized Crime Section of Gang Division. He began his law enforcement career in 1985 with the Detroit Police Department and has worked with gangs since 1986. He has been assigned to the Operation Safe Homes Task Force with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Gang Task Force and Undercover Gang Intelligence Unit, and Office of Inspector General Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Rochon is also the author of the book, “Terrorist in Designer Jeans.” He has taught Narcotics Officer Training and Advanced Narcotics Training School, and also instructed for the Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the National Law Enforcement Institute, the Detroit Police Department, the Undercover Law Enforcement Association, the Tri-County Law Enforcement Officers, and many colleges, universities, community groups, and churches. Mr. Rochon earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Anderson College in Michigan. He is certified by the U.S. Department of Justice for instruction.

Nicolas Mooney

Attorney

Mr. Nicholas Mooney is currently in private practice as a partner with Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, in Tampa, FL. From 1985-1997, Mr. Mooney served as an Assistant State Attorney with the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida. From 1997-1999, he served as Assistant Statewide Prosecutor – Attorney General of Florida, and from 1999 to the present, as a partner in the law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP. Mr. Mooney has been an instructor for MCTFT from 1991 to the present. He holds a BS in Business Management from the University of Tampa (1978-1982), and obtained his Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law (1982-1985).

Robert Sanchez

Detroit Police Department, ATF Gang Task Force

Mr. Robert Sanchez is currently with the Detroit Police Department/ATF Gangs Task Force. He has been with the unit for more than 10 years. In his role, he has day-to- day contact with gangs and gang members at various levels. Mr. Sanchez is familiar with all gangs, but specializes in Latin gangs.

Robert Mateo

Polk County, FL Sheriffs Office

Mr. Mateo is currently the Senior Detective assigned to the Gang Suppression Unit with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, where he has served since 1995. Mr. Mateo is a Street Gang instructor for the Attorney General of the State of Florida and a staff instructor for Polk Community College’s Criminal Justice Academy. He has been requested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to complete street gang scenarios for the new CMS style of instruction to be implemented in all Criminal Justice Academies in the State of Florida. Mr. Mateo is also Co-Chairman of the Tampa Bay Area Multi-Agency Gang Task Force, Vice President of the Polk County Gang Task Force and a member of the Florida Gang Investigators Association. He is certified as an Advanced Gang Specialist, and is recognized as one of the top gang experts in the nation by the National Gang Crime Research Center in Chicago, Illinois.