I would like to thank the 80+ community members who attended tonight's Gang and Drug Awareness Forum presented by members of the Greensboro Police Departments' gang unit (Captain Wolfe, Sergeant Richey, and Detective Cutherbertson) and Parks and Recreation Department (Darryl Kosciak) at the coliseum's Odeon Theatre. It was an enlightening presentation that focused on the need for this community to come together and address this serious problem.
Key points that were made this evening include the following:
* Our youth are joining gangs because something is missing in their lives -- whether it be love, a mother, a father, church, success, etc. -- and a gang fills that void in their lives.
* Adult leaders of gangs are exploiting the youths in order to profit from their activities.
* Not all gangs are criminal; some are "family" or a support structure for certain groups of people.
* There are 265 identified members of gangs in Greensboro, with the likelihood of 5-8 additional unidentified members for each of those known persons. There are approximately 40 known gangs here at this time.
* It appears that teenagers are not a priority in Greensboro.
* There is a difference between "graffiti" (gang markings or putting down a rival gang) versus "tagging" (supposed street art, deemed vandalism by most business owners).
* While suppression (arrest and prosecution) of the the worst of the worst gang members is certainly necessary, this is not the solution to the problem. We must identify those other members and/or potential members, meet their needs and help them find success in life so they will abandon the gang lifestyle.
* Project Hope has identified programs that have been effective in other communities. Those include establishing personal relationships with gang members/potential gang members and providing a wide range of recreational and job opportunities. A wide coalition of community groups is in the process of crafting a program that will work for Greensboro. The immediate need is for summer job opportunities for 500+ youth and for churches, Y's, and recreation centers to open their doors for teen activities and adults who can mentor and "be there" for them.
I was please when Reverend Gregory Headen of the Pulpit Forum approached me with a huge smile on his face when the forum ended and said to the presenters and me, "You are singing my song. This is what I have been preaching."
I am looking forward to this community coming together and working together to solve OUR problem.
Monday, November 19, 2007
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7 comments:
Did anybody mention an example of a "family" gang?
Roch,
Only that the gang often functions as a "family" for the gang member providing the (misguided)"love" and support that may be missing from that person's life.
I guess what's unclear to me is that some statistics were provided about the numbers of gangs and gang members in Greensboro. I'm wondering how many, if any, of those are non-criminal "family" gangs.
The police have a standard set of criteria that they use to determine whether the label "gang member" applies to any certain person. I have that information somewhere buried in a pile of papers somewhere that I don't have time to locate at the moment.
Not all gangs are criminal in nature. The police concentrate their efforts on criminal gangs and those are the ones represented in their statistics. Many cultures, some of which are in Greensboro, operate in a "gang" structure but are not committing crimes. Their are merely together because of their common interests and cultural beliefs.
Thanks for emphasizing that point that was made several times at the forum last night. Police efforts are being focused on the CRIMINAL gangs.
Okay, I see.
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