A Penny For Your Thoughts

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). More than 500 participants - local elected officials, law enforcement professionals, social workers, teachers, parents, and non-profit service providers gathered for the largest COG conference in recent memory.

Size was not what mattered most, however. As co-chair of the event, I was most impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of all who attended, and the positive approaches that are being taken to address gang membership. Participants could choose four of twelve breakout sessions throughout the day, on subjects as diverse as the G.R.I.P. program (Gang Resistance Involving Parents), a profile of a local gang murder, dealing with gangs in schools, and probation and police partnership.

We learned about a small program in the District of Columbia operated by the Alliance of Concerned Men. It operates in one ward, on shoestring funding, and pairs at-risk youth with adult mentors and role models. The passion of the Alliance members was evident as they described their efforts to teach the youth in their program about making healthy choices. Heard in another breakout session was the need for communities to take the time to do assessments of gang activity, and then to use the data gathered to create meaningful programs for youth and their parents. Assessment data can change over time, but the information gathered will drive policies and help make the changes necessary to give youth positive alternatives to the gang lifestyle.

In the opening session, Northern Virginia's three Congressmen - Jim Moran, Tom Davis, and Frank Wolf - addressed the growing gang activity in the region, and the federal and local response to it. Congressman Wolf announced that the FBI recently provided his office with a written update on gang activities in Northern Virginia. The report is available by contacting Congressman Wolf's office at 703/709-5800 or online at www.house.gov/wolf.

Montgomery Co. Executive Doug Duncan and Prince George's Co. Executive Jack Johnson outlined the findings of the Joint County Gang

Prevention Task Force. The recommendations of the six-month study included legislative initiatives, a public awareness campaign that is multi-lingual and culturally sensitive, after-school programs, and graffiti removal. The working lunch included a panel of news reporters who discussed the media's responsibility in helping combat the gang program in the region.

The following day, the Office of Justice Programs of the U.S. Department of Justice hosted an all-day executive session to discuss the summit findings. About 30 atttendees reviewed the outcome of the workshops. Ranking high on that list were aggressive enforcement, especially of weapons violations, the need to provide healthy alternatives, such as police athletic leagues; coordinated assessments of gang-related activity in the region; reaching out to parents; and better information sharing across jurisdictions. The group also recommended that COG be the facilitator of the regional efforts, and that funding is a major issue to programs that focus on prevention, intervention, and suppression of gang activity.

Supervisor Penny Gross may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov