Drugs, guns, prostitution, home invasions, robbery and murder are all hitting too close to the home for Jeff Leadbeater.
"I think that they said there were three gangs in this area," Leadbeater said.
[WEB EXTRA: County-by-county gang stats ]
It's the same community Leadbeater grew up in, not far from Florida Mall, but now a block away, the apartments bring trouble.
"I don't know that I'd walk at night," Leadbeater said.
People who live in the area know which gang calls the area home. Graffiti by the Latin Kings covered the back of a neighborhood wall earlier this year. It's since been painted over by code enforcement. It was just one of the 124 calls they received this year to remove tagging and gang graffiti.
"We are heading toward Semoran, because that seems to be the area that's popping up lately," says Eric Zelaya.
Zelaya is a certified gang specialist; he lives and breathes studying gang life. Local 6 rode along with him as he showed some problem gang areas.
"In the same area off of Grant and Bowen Drive, which was just around the corner Leadbeater's area, there was a pitchfork, which is a Folk Nation gang," Zelaya said.
Local 6 spotted more gang graffiti on Semoran Boulevard and Michigan Street.
"That's their way of claiming, 'We run this area -- this is our area,'" Zelaya said.
Another hot spot is State Road 50 and Kirkman Road.
"They'll tag an area with a certain color and an arrow pointing to which direction they sell in," Zelaya said.
The gang graffiti and tagging are really not meant for the general public -- it's meant for other gang members.
The biggest problems aren't the gangs making headlines or sensationalized on TV shows -- gangs like Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings. Lt. Carlos Espinosa of Orange County's Gang Unit says it's the smaller neighborhood gangs committing crimes that affect residents -- things like home invasions, car burglaries and drug sales.
"It takes a few people from a certain area, maybe from a certain school, from a certain subdivision, apartment, community, something like that and then they'll start doing criminal activity," Espinosa said.
Local 6 checked with law enforcement agencies across Central Florida to find the number of gangs and gang members in each county. Topping the list are Orange and Osceola counties, both of which have more than 1,300 documented gang members.
Brevard County has the most documented gang members under the age of 18 years old.
"A lot of the gangs typically do go out and recruit and they want kids to be at high schools and kids at middle schools," Espinosa said.
Keep in mind, documenting teens, Espinosa said, is difficult, so those numbers are likely much higher.
"Every school in Orange County probably has some sort of gang affiliation to it," Espinosa said.
Local 6 asked Espinosa if he meant high school or middle school.
"High schools and middle schools," he said.
With the possibility of gangs in both middle and high schools how can you be sure your child is not involved?
There are a few signs your child could be in a gang:
What does a documented gang member mean?
It means a person must meet certain requirements to be documented as a gang member. There are 11 boxes of criteria; two of those 11 boxes must be checked in order to be classified as a documented gang member.
And the reason why law enforcement tracks gangs and why it's so important is because punishment is more severe for a gang member.
Local 6 has the number of documented gangs and gang members for every county except Seminole County. Authorities there told Local 6 they don't track gang members.