GARLAND — A spike in gang activity — from fights to criminal mischief to graffiti — has forced police officials here to create a task force to battle the issue. And they say it might lead to a permanent police gang unit.

Garland's 22 neighborhood police officers, who regularly monitor gang activity as part of their regular duties, note an uptick — taking specific interest in a September incident that involved a stolen car out of Frisco, a clash between gangs in Garland, and gunfire.

"The gang task force is a special project our neighborhood police officers are doing, based on a shift in crime," said Lt. Pedro Barineau, Garland police spokesman. "We reallocate our resources on a regular basis based on what' s going on crimewise."

Dallas has also adjusted forces to respond to a rise in shootings attributed to gang activity in 2017. In Dallas County's largest cities, however, the overall crime rate is actually decreasing. In Garland, violent crime is down 4 percent and overall crime is down 5 percent through September, compared with 2016.

Maintaining a 'proactive approach'

Officials acknowledged that a permanent gang unit, where officers would focus solely on gangs, is among the options under consideration if the task force proves ineffective. Organized gang activity in the city, however, is nowhere near the levels of a generation ago, when Garland PD last had a gang unit.

"There are fights breaking out, grafitti and couple shootings," Barineau said. "The reports today are still far less than in the '90s."

So for now, the city's neighborhood police officers will handle the intensified focus.

"The Garland Police Department wanted to have a proactive approach." Barineau said. "Step up our patrols, have extra police in the areas of gang activity and ensure people are safe."

The Texas penal code defines a criminal street gang as "three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities."

On Sept. 8, five occupants of a car stolen in Frisco were met by gunfire at an apartment complex near the intersection of Kingsley and Saturn roads in Garland. Two 15-year-olds showed up at a hospital with bullet wounds, and police determined they had gang ties. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Police say the shooter, also 15, had prior documented ties to a rival gang. The teen was arrested Sept. 25, charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and remains in custody.

Need for a task force

But while the new task force is in response to recent criminal activity, Garland police have said they don't believe that the Oct. 20 shooting deaths of two young people in separate incidents are gang-related.

One 37-year resident whose home borders Embree Park in Garland called police that afternoon when a fight between teens at the park escalated into gunfire that led to the shooting death of a 15-year old.

Despite law enforcement's determination that the killing was not gang-related, the woman, who has a teenage son of her own, still believes there is a need for the task force.

"I called police that day, and I called them a couple weeks before when kids were coming to fight there," said the woman, who asked that her name be withheld because she fears retaliation. She said the day of the shooting at the park, some of those involved in the fight "were calling my son to go to the park, but he was smart enough not to go."

Police did not classify the shooting as gang-related — even though several gang members watched the fight that preceded it — because the fight, which was over a girl, started as a dispute between two participants. Police say that Scott Lynn Litton, 17, faces a murder charge.

Jocelyn Sarabia-Marlon was shot and killed in the front yard of her family's home, Garland police said (Garland police)

About a half-mile south of the park in the same 60-year-old neighborhood, Jocelyn Sarabia-Marlon, 20, died in her father's arms after being shot. She was ambushed in the early morning hours as she returned home from work Oct. 20. Police say they remain baffled by the case.

"We're still trying to find a motive," Barineau said.