Banding together against gangs

Parents of west county students have resolved to squash gangs in their schools before the problem reaches the tragic proportions of other areas besieged by youth violence.

Administrators, teachers and parents from the 19 Arundel and South River feeder schools said they were enlightened by a presentation last week inside the Village at Waugh Chapel community center in Gambrills by Western District county police Sgt. T.J. Smith.

During a student safety meeting Thursday night, Smith told them about the take-down of a Laurel-based Crip gang, West Side Mafia, the gang Dead Man Inc. in north county and other gang elements encroaching into their communities.

"I am shocked. … What was really shocking to me to hear is that (gangs) recruit as young as 6 or 7," said Michelle Ware, who has two children at Crofton Woods Elementary School.

It was the first time the school communities gathered to discuss gangs since the death of 14-year-old Christopher Jones May 30 in Crofton. Police said two teenagers from Crofton, who were reported to be a part of a neighborhood gang called the East Side Diamonds, were responsible for Jones' death.

Jones had transferred from Arundel High School, where one of the teenagers charged was a student, to South River after his mother suspected he was being bullied.

"Our tsunami warning was May 30," Smith said. "It brought to light so much that needed to be discussed. It's not as bad as it seems, but it's a problem."

County police, along with County Executive John R. Leopold and the Greater Brooklyn Park Council, also held a meeting Thursday night to help educate the public on how to spot gang activity. A similar meeting was held at the school in February, officials said.

Paul Stack, a pupil personnel worker at Brooklyn Park Middle School who attended the meeting, said police have done a good job of teaching school workers how to recognize potential gang activity.

"Our issue is the wannabes - the kids who have a romanticized notion of gangs," Stack said. "We squelch that."

Both meetings included a slide show detailing gang warning signs, such as wearing particular colors or symbols.

The slide show included photos of gang graffiti spray-painted on the side of schools and on overpasses around the county. Smith told west county parents and administrators to pay particular attention to cell phone use, MySpace pages and YouTube. Certain photographs and videos on the Web sites often point to signs of gang affiliation, he said.

"You're paying for that cell phone, why can't you look at it?" Smith said.

After Smith's presentation, parents and school officials held breakout sessions to brainstorm tools to combat gangs.

Ideas included finding a way to turn the word "snitch" into "protector." Another idea was to lobby state leaders into strengthening and broadening the statutes to allow tougher prosecutions of gangs.

"We are going to attack this head-on," said Devon Smith of Crofton, a county school official with the Office of School Performance.

Lorna Leone, the school performance director, said administrators from each school will present ideas from the meeting to their schools.

County Board of Education member Victor Bernson Jr. said he was not sure yet what could be done policywise, but he would like to see similar gang-awareness presentations given during back-to-school nights.

"Awareness is really low," Bernson said. "I think a back-to-school night is a great time to take that captive audience and educate them about gangs."