Just two blocks east from the frantic traffic of High Street lies low-income housing. Just two blocks east of the high-scale dining and shopping of the Short North, adorned with festive lights and upbeat music, lies a hub for gangs and the crime and violence so commonly associated with these organizations.

During a ride-along with Detective Thad Alexander of the Strategic Response Unit, a sub-division of the Columbus Divison of Police, the world and culture of gang life started to reveal itself.

A left on to Indianola Avenue from Fifth Avenue led to graffiti stained walls. Adorned with BK (Blood Killers), and other Crip symbols, they welcomed us to the home turf of the Short North Posse.

The weather outside was warm as we slowly passed by a group of children playing on the streets, sidewalks and tiny yards in front of their apartment complexes.

One wonders what their futures hold.

The children in this neighborhood have no places to work or play.

“There is nothing up here,” Alexander said.

Alexander has spent the last 27 years learning about the people in this neighborhood.

A lot of the children in this area are not involved in gangs, but because of the way they dress they are often mistaken as gang members, he said.

Getting past the gang image is nearly impossible when living in the part of town commonly associated with the group. Overcoming the stigma is only one of many problems.

As the car pulled to a parked position on Fourth Street, a group of young men, barely driving age, came up to the car.

Alexander called them “his boys,” and took 15 minutes to answer their questions and inquired about their status in school.

At least one of the boys belongs to a gang. One of his friends, Alan, was recently arrested and is facing jail time.

It is a constant battle to keep both males and females out of gangs, as they run the streets 24-7.

As we drove through the neighborhood, located so close to campus and yet out of everyone’s sight, the lack of men became apparent.

Single, black mothers inhabit almost all of the apartments in the Short North area around Fourth Street.

Back in the ’60s everyone had a mother and father, but this is not the case anymore, he said.

Although an exact cause for this decline in male figures is uncertain, Alexander had a few ideas.

In 1965, the percentage of black men in the Ohio prison system was 30 percent. Today it is 75 to 80 percent.

The boarded up doors and windows lining the streets are increasingly prevalent as landlords evict more residents.

“Poverty invites crime. It invites hopelessness,” he said.

Alexander expected to see some businesses and parks in the area by this point in his career, but with only about three years left before retirement, he is concerned that nothing has or will change.

Dispair is obvious, it seeps from all directions and crashes into our car.

The problem is not being addressed properly by the city.

Alexander believes most of the residents of Columbus and its suburbs are not even aware of the problem.

“They don’t know what the hell’s going on,” Alexander said.

Ignorance is bliss.

Amanda Hardesty is a junior in journalism and The Lantern campus editor. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].