By Kathy Amoroso
May 9, 2005

Over 100 mayors, police chiefs and other top municipal and law enforcement officials gathered April 27 in Washington (DC) for a National Summit on Gangs. Led by Conference President Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Vice President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill, the summit focused on the growing gang violence in cities at a time when federal resources are being reduced.

The summit was funded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and conducted by The Mayors- Institute for Community Policing as part of its continuing effort to monitor the expansion of community policing and document its successes. COPS Office Director Carl Peed opened the session, welcoming the participants and detailing the community policing resources available both through his office and at numerous Regional Community Policing Institutes around the country.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) served as the keynote speaker and outlined the details of her bi-partisan legislation on gangs, The Gang Prevention and Deterrence Act.

"Gangs in this country have become coordinated, criminal enterprises that operate on the national level," according to Feinstein. "Indeed, over the past two decades, gangs have become far more violent, far more numerous, and far more broad in scope than they ever were previously. This is why we need a strong federal response to gang violence."

"I have introduced The Gang Prevention and Deterrence Act with Senator Orrin Hatch to stem the tide of gang violence. This legislation:

• creates new federal crimes to enable prosecutors to target violent gang members;
• makes changes to current law to allow for effective prosecution for violent street gang crimes; and
• authorizes $762.5 million for law enforcement and community groups for suppression, prevention and intervention programs.

In my view, this legislation would take an important step to reduce gang violence, and it is my hope that the Senate will act quickly to approve it," Feinstein said.

Setting the stage for the day-long discussion of gangs and community policing, Dr. Scott Decker of the University of Missouri — St. Louis Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice summarized the growing gang problem and the rise of MS-13, a new gang composed mostly of Salvadorans and Central Americans. This gang, whose members are mostly illegal aliens, is considered to be the fastest growing and most violent street gang.

The first panel focused on Effective Gang Intervention Models, and included presentations by Paramount (CA) Mayor Diane J. Martinez, Representative Linda Sanchez (CA), Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Ralph Ornelas, and Steve Nawojczyk, Director of Youth Services in North Little Rock. Moderated by Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, this session outlined the successful Gang Resistance is Paramount (GRIP) program, which strives to keep children out of gangs. "It is key to stop the problem before you are overwhelmed," stressed Sanchez. "Programs like GRIP work and are very effective."

"Where is the money," Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley asked in the second panel on Gang Violence and Intervention Strategies. "We know these gangs are ongoing criminal enterprises and we arrest them and put them away, but where are the millions and millions of dollars these guys are making? Where's the IRS in this equation? What are they doing about this, all this money, these million dollar homes and luxury cars they're buying with cash? Why aren't we capturing these resources to use to combat the gang problem in the first place?"

"We're using drug forfeiture resources to fund the expensive surveillance cameras and other equipment used to monitor gang activity. There needs to be more of this," added Chicago Police Superintendent Philip J. Cline.

This panel, moderated by Gary Mayor Scott King, Chair of the Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force, included presentations by Daley, Cline, Director Joseph Santiago of the Trenton Police Department, and Gary Chief Garnett F. Watson, Jr.

The afternoon session opened with a panel on Building or Enhancing Collaborative Partnerships/Regional Gang Prevention Efforts, moderated by Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Chair of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee, and featuring presentations by Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill, Jay R. Johnson, Commander of the Long Beach Police Department Gang and Violent Crimes Division, Michael Garcia, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Chris Swecker, Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Michael R. Bouchard, Assistant Director of Field Operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In his presentation, Garcia discussed the Attorney General's Anti-Gang Coordination Committee. This Committee will report directly to the Deputy Attorney General, who will lead the Department of Justice's anti-gang activities. The Committee will advise the Department on resource allocation, policy, and budget recommendations to help them continue to drive down violent gang crime.

The final panel of the afternoon on Suburban Encroachment: The Broad Reach of Gang Activity featured Representative Frank R. Wolf (VA) and included presentations by Alexandria (VA) Mayor William D. Euille, Alexandria Police Department Deputy Chief Earl Cook, and Fairfax County Gang Prevention Coordinator Bob Bermingham.

"I believe in intervention and prevention. In my community, they are recruiting as young as third and fourth grade. We need to stop this. Growing up in southwest Philly, we would go to the Police Athletic League to box. We'd go to the police department because we knew the police officers," Wolf said.

"We also need programs regarding rehabilitation," he added. "We need to go into the gangs to offer them opportunities to help them get out. We provided funding in Virginia for tattoo removal programs to help these folks gain employment and we need to expand this effort."

Plusquellic closed the summit with remarks from COPS Office Chief of Staff Tim Quinn. "In the area of training, the COPS Office has a lot of value to add," Quinn said. "We have a network of 28 RCPI's, and they have a role to play in helping local law enforcement deal with youth gangs."