Gangs have existed in Milwaukee for decades. When most people hear the word "gang," they think about street fights, gun violence and thugs with knives. However, in some parts of the country, gangs are turning away from street violence in favor of more sophisticated crimes.

During the past few years, an increasing number of gangs have turned to a variety of white collar crimes, including identity theft, credit card fraud, insurance fraud and tax fraud. The supervisor of one Gang Investigations Unit stated, "The gangs are becoming very technically savvy when it comes to that kind of stuff."

When gang members have girlfriends who work as receptionists, they are often able to steal information through the women. Other gang members buy credit card numbers from restaurant employees.

In the past, officers reported that they were able to identify gang members by their tattoos, colored clothing and hand signs. Now, the operations of gangs are getting more sophisticated, and the gangs are "modifying their activity to minimize law enforcement scrutiny and circumvent gang enhancement laws."

To complement their more sophisticated crimes, many gangs are also turning to social media to recruit new members and make their presence in the community known. However, law enforcement officers use their online activity to track members and build cases against them.

Regardless, gangs who turn to white collar crime do not abandon violent crimes entirely. One city reported that there has not been a decrease in gang-related deaths, just an increase in gang-related identify theft and fraud.

Source: news-press.com, "Southwest Florida gangs eschew street for Internet," Marisa Kendall, Jan. 16, 2012