It was straight talk about crime in Berwyn Wednesday night during a citywide meeting at the police department.

The department’s community room was packed by residents and business owners curious to learn more about gangs and the plethora of symbols, colors and warning signs indicating someone is in a gang.

Residents were urged to call 911 if they spot suspicious activity, or anyone in their neighborhood whom they don’t know. And police told parents that they need to not only be vigilant about their children’s’ behavior, friends and activities, but can’t remain in the dark about that gold and black “monogrammed” scarf their child wears, sporting the letters LK.

“They want to be what they see and hear on TV and do something stupid and spend the next 40 years paying for it,” said Detective Eddie Yoshimura with the Chicago Police Department’s Gang Intelligence Unit. “You have to take an active interest in this. You can’t just listen to me and walk out scratching your head.”

It was show-and-tell night as Yoshimura brought out two of what he calls his “treasure boxes” – plastic tubs filled with items confiscated from gang members. One of these was a “violation bat.” The wooden bat sported metal spikes jutting out menacingly. Yoshimura said it was used to punish a gang member who wanted out of the life, and fellow gang members used it to beat the kid “half to death.”

There were sweaters in black and blue, black and gold, and black and green showing some gangs’ colors. Shirts and hooded sweatshirts may include the letters “CVL” for Conservative Vice Lords, the words “Camel Boys” for a sparsely-numbered gang seen in the suburbs, or crowns, six-pointed stars or professional sports teams.

“There are sports teams that affiliate themselves with gangs,” Yoshimura explained.

Some professional sports players and professional musicians are connected to gangs, such as some NBA players and rappers who have bonded gang members out of jail, he said. And some gangs target star high school athletes, he added.

There are an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 active gang members operating in Chicago alone, Yoshimura said, but couldn’t peg how many gang members may be working in the Berwyn-Cicero area.

Often children are attracted to gang life by the stories older gang members tell, and the lure of making tons of cash in the drug trade, he added.

And with the economy in the toilet, Mayor Michael O’Connor said it’s no secret that some types of crime, such as robberies and burglaries, have increased in the community.

“You’re making more calls to the police department (reporting crimes and suspicious activity) than we’ve ever seen before,” he said. “There’s a lot of desperate people out there.”

According to crime statistics provided by the police department, 39 robberies were reported in 2006 in Berwyn from Jan. 1 through Aug. 1. During that same time frame in 2007, 35 robberies were reported. But this year from Jan. 1 through Aug. 1, 42 robberies were reported.

“As the economy continues to tank the robbery reports are gonna go up,” Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner said.

He said residents need to call 911 to report crimes or any unusual activities they may see so police may respond quickly.