Criminal Profile Tyrell "Tank" Williams; South Bronx, Case Study

Criminal Profile

Tyrell "Tank" Williams; South Bronx, New York City

When asked why people call him Tank, Tyrell Benjamin Williams responded, "because I'm huge and you can't stop me." This attitude is clearly represented in Mr. Williams' lifestyle of street crime and drug dealing. Tyrell was born in the Stuyvesant district of Brooklyn, New York on a cold morning in January of 1984. He spent his very early years in a traditional family in this relatively pleasant neighborhood. Though on the eve of Williams' entry into kindergarten, his father informed his mother than he had found another woman and he was moving out. Tyrell recalls this as one of the most traumatic experiences of his young life. He remembers looking up to his father and wanting to make him proud. When asked about his feelings directly regarding this experience Mr. Williams said he was "heartbroken."

After the separation of his parents, Tyrell's mother Alisha was given the exclusive responsibility of caring for young Tyrell. Being that Tyrell's father was paying all of the rent for their respectable apartment in Brooklyn, Tyrell and Alisha were forced to move in with Alisha's older sister in the Bronx. Tyrell recalls his initial impression of the Bronx as "scary." Though in the absence of his father, Tyrell became increasingly rebellious and began acting out in school. His grades quickly dropped off and by the eleventh grade he had left school all together. Not surprisingly, Alisha was extremely upset and concerned about Tyrell's behavior, but the broken family's financial situation forced her to work two jobs, which severely limited her time with Tyrell. And when asked why he did not decide to complete high school, Tyrell responded by claiming that there were more lucrative job opportunities on the streets than there were as a result of staying in school. On more than one occasion, Tyrell the Tank claimed to possess a "doctorate of the street." This anti-school realization prompted Tyrell to become actively involved in gang activity and drug business. During interviews, Mr. Williams stated that he has had several run-ins with law enforcement, though many of them occurred when he was a minor and never resulted in any serious legal consequences. The few legal experiences he has had as an adult have been quickly dismissed or resolved, apparently as a result of his purposeful disconnectedness from street level drug-…