Harford County?s sheriff is seeking a permanent commission to look into ways to fight gangs.
His decision capped a two-day anti-gang summit that drew nearly 150 people seeking ways to respond to the growing presence of Bloods, Crips and other gangs in Harford County.
Volunteers from the summit will continue to meet and form a planning committee to review the county?s response to gangs, identify gaps and suggest new measures, Sheriff Jesse Bane said. By year?s end, Bane said, he will approach the County Council about amending the charter to create a permanent commission on criminal gangs.
“At the time the county charter was written, gangs weren?t even on the radar,” Bane said. “After I?m gone and everybody at that summit is gone, that commission will still be there. The gangs will still be there, and this keeps them right at the front of the agenda.”
Summit participants recommended better coordinationamong school, church, law enforcement and community leaders.
“Everybody has some kind of program to help deal with gangs, but it?s often one of those cases where the left hand doesn?t know what the right hand is doing,” Bane said.
He pointed to his office?s Gang Resistance Education and Training program, being used by only a handful of teachers. Programs such as the Boys and Girls Club or Big Brothers/Big Sisters can provide the sort of role models potential gang recruits lack, but suffer from a shortage of mentors, he said. Grants could provide money for other anti-gang efforts, he added.
Panelists concluded the county lacked programs for “disengagement” ? getting existing members out of gangs and back into the community, similar to the Baltimore City police?s “Get Out of the Game” program, Bane said. Making sure existing members and potential recruits had jobs would be a major point of such an initiative, he added.
