Although gang violence is recognized as a statewide issue, Passaic County, specifically the city of Paterson,stands at the front and center.
Gang violence has been prevalent in the state since the early 1980s.
Currently, there are an estimated 31,000 gangs in the nation, claiming 850,000 members, including more than 17,000 in New Jersey as of 2003.
Lawmakers Aim To Arrest Growth In Gang Violence
~ BY MICHAEL RISPOLI
GANNETT STATE BUREAU
TRENTON -- As gang violence in the state grows, state lawmakers are seeking to pass laws helping stem the problem before it spreads further.
The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee heard testimony Monday for the third time this year from anti-gang and prevention groups on pending proposals, which include gang education seminars for school administrators, students and teachers and increasing penalties in gang-related crimes such as recruitment of minors and community gun possession.
Duane Dyson, chairman of the nonprofit Violence Prevention Institute, said reviews of gang violence programs from the last 10 years found they did not produce the results they were looking for and that the problem is spreading.
"The state of New Jersey cannot afford to allow youth violence to run rampant," said Dyson. "This is not just an urban problem. This is a New Jersey problem."
Although gang violence is recognized as a statewide issue, Passaic County, specifically the city of Paterson, was front and center at the hearing.
Members of the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and the Paterson police department gave a graphic, startling presentation on gang violence in the county. Pictures of gang related deaths and testimony from gang members drove home the reality of the situation.
"It was unnerving. It makes you realize what is really going on," said Sen. John Girgenti, D-Passaic, chairman of the committee.
Dalton Price, detective for the Paterson police gang unit, stressed the direness of the situation.
"This is not something that is just on television. This is not a joke. This is for real. We don't want to believe it, we wish it didn't exist, but it does exist," Price said.
Gang violence has been prevalent in the state since the early 1980s, when West Coast gangs spread to New York and New Jersey. Currently, there are an estimated 31,000 gangs in the nation, claiming 850,000 members, including more than 17,000 in New Jersey as of 2003.
The average age range for gang members is between 12 and 24 years old, with members beginning as early as 7 years old. Ninety-five percent of those in gangs are high school dropouts.
Javier Castellanos, detective of the Passaic County Sheriff Department and head of the Passaic County Gang Intelligence Unit, has given seminars on gang education and prevention but said more needs to be done.
"We have to come up with something on the state level where we can educate all these kids and reach them before the gang members do," said Castellanos.
Three bills moved onto the full Senate for consideration, but action on two was delayed.
Members of the committee fundamentally supported all of the bills but expressed reservations on specifics, such as how school administrators would be educated on the subject and how to uniformly apply gang education across the state. The appropriateness of some of the gang prevention material to be shown to elementary school children was also a concern for some lawmakers.
Michael Rispoli: mrispol@gannett.com
Copyright © 2006 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
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GANG PREVENTION EDUCATION PUSHED BY SENATE PANEL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
By Martin C. Bricketto
mbricketto@sjnewsco.com
Gloucester County Times
TRENTON -- Proposed laws designed to crack down on criminal gangs that have spread throughout New Jersey and prevent them from enlisting youngsters were released by a Senate committee on Monday.
Under one bill, all schools would be required to educate elementary students on preventing gang violence.
Experts testifying before the Senate law and public safety committee stressed that gangs like the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings were not just an urban phenomenon and that a multi-pronged attack plan was needed to combine education, law enforcement and social programs.
"One of the problems that we've had was that some of these people don't even realize that there is a gang problem," said state Sen. John Girgenti, committee chair.
The committee has been investigating the issue of gangs in the state.
"We're trying to take it down to the local level to make sure everybody is aware that this is a pervasive problem," added Girgenti, D-Passaic County. "The younger we start, the better."
Other provisions would subject those who distribute or possess a "community gun" a firearm passed back and forth among gang members to increased penalties, as well as require courts to review whether bail money for gang-related crimes was acquired legally.
The measures have already passed the Assembly. Those approved Monday will now head to the full Senate for a vote. More actions are expected from the committee during future meetings.
A proposal that would impel school administrators to attend seminars on gang violence was held after state Sen. Nicholas J. Sacco, D-Bergen County, described it as "a feel-good bill" that "wasn't as productive as it sounds on paper." Several districts had already gone far beyond that in terms of gang education, Sacco noted.
Sacco instead recommended that the state require teachers to receive in-service training on gang prevention and that districts develop a gang education plan to be submitted to the state for approval.
Detective Javier Castellanos of the Passaic County Sheriff's Department said he has seen children as young as seven year old on the verge of becoming full-fledged gang members. In many areas, gang life is passed down through families, according to Castellanos.
"This whole gang mentality is being forced on kids through their parents," Castellanos said. "We have to get the message out to children and families."
The committee did not vote on a measure that would have elevated the crime for recruiting a minor into a gang.
A 2004 New Jersey State Police survey estimated that there are more than 16,000 gang members statewide, including 28 gangs with more than 100 members. That same study revealed increased gang activity in suburban areas.
Girgenti said the cost of the new elementary education standards would be minimal since the materials are currently available through the state. He noted that gangs are a topic already addressed in some existing programs like D.A.R.E.
The committee is aiming for a comprehensive set of reforms, Girgenti has said. Other solutions may take a greater investment, however.
Speaking before the committee, Craig R. Levine, senior counsel and policy director with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said one program geared toward gang members in the Little Village section of Chicago in the 1990s yielded some success by combining increased law enforcement efforts with social services offering education, jobs and counseling.
Any singular approach is inadequate, according to Levine, who stated that gang prevention efforts in California have largely failed because they rely too heavily on law enforcement.
If battling gangs takes resources, the expense of doing nothing is even pricier in terms of both human lives and dollars, experts say.
Duane Dyson, a trauma physician who chairs the Violence Prevention Institute, said treatment for gun shot wounds amounts to a $126 billion cost annually. It costs about $322,000 to treat a patient with gunshot wounds, he said and many of them are uninsured.
"There are going to be no quick fixes," Dyson added. "We're talking about a generation plus."
© 2006 Gloucester County Times.
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