FOX8 gets a first-hand look at the WS police gang unit

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (WGHP) — There’s a reason the Winston-Salem Police Department’s Gang Unit was recently named Gang Unit of the Year at the North Carolina Gang Investigators Association Gangs Across the Carolinas Gang and Violent Crime Conference.

It doesn’t depend on the size of the unit.

“Anytime we get a chance to shoot away from them, we want to do it,” said unit Sergeant Adam Prim.

FOX8 anchor Michael Hennessey and photojournalist Chris Weaver joined the unit on a Thursday night in late August. The day began around 4 p.m. with a briefing that focused on two brothers known to officers. With knowledge of the areas the suspects frequent, as well as their homes and vehicles, the unit heads out in several vehicles to search for them.

“We’re just trying to catch them doing their normal criminal activities, which is dealing drugs on the street,” Prim said.

That day they were lucky.

“Our silver Audi has gotten mobile. We really want to stop and get him with drugs in it,” Prim said as he circled a neighborhood east of downtown.

Within minutes, the older of the two brothers passed Prim’s truck and was quickly surrounded by other officers. With the first suspect in handcuffs, he began yelling at bystanders.

“Hey, call my brother and tell him they pulled me over for running a stop sign,” the suspect said.

Less than 15 minutes later, while a police dog was searching his car parked nearby, the younger brother appeared around the corner and was confronted by other members of the team.

“Someone called and he seemed curious and super nervous. I don’t know if he’s hiding anything,” Prim said. “But he’s very suspicious.”

From that point on, it is a matter of waiting for the police judge to approve a search warrant for a nearby apartment.

“If they say no, we let them go and move on. If they say yes, we do the search,” Prim said.

With a search warrant in hand, officers went upstairs to the second floor. Officers decided they had enough evidence to arrest and take both brothers away.

Once the mission was completed, the unit returned to continue their work in the state.

“I can tell you that our Hispanic gangs are quite violent right now,” Prim said.

As the officers spread out across the city, one of them came across someone she saw as another target. The problem, however, is the inherent danger of this job.

“They often think she’s a rival gang member,” Prim said of another member of the unit. “Her car has been shot at multiple times.”

While a suspected gang member sat in his car without the headlights on, the rest of the unit rushed to the address just west of Peters Creek Parkway and a few blocks south of I-40.

“You can tell after working with people for a while if their adrenaline goes up,” Prim said. “If they have that instinct.”

When the rest of the team gathered, they decided to approach the suspect, who they identified as a member of a Hispanic gang wanted for stealing a vehicle and assaulting his girlfriend. This resolution was also peaceful.

“We walked over to find him. He was in the car. He didn’t try to fight or run or anything,” Prim said after the suspect was put in a cruiser. “Very happy. It usually takes a lot longer than that. It was nice, quick and clean.”

With a total of three suspects arrested within a few hours, the team is returning to areas known to be hotspots for gang activity.

“Just trying to make sure everything is good,” Prim said. “A lot of times these guys get in cars, put their masks on and drive through rival territory.”

It’s a unit that does more with less in a city where violent crime is declining.

“We’re supposed to be a 10-man unit. We’re only six right now,” Prim said. “Luckily, we have some really good team players in the office. In the Gun Crime Reduction Unit, they’re also small, so … they’ll be working with us, and we’ll be operating as sister teams, one full team with two smaller teams, and that’s been successful so far.”