Montgomery County could be spending triple last year’s amount on gang initiatives if County Executive Ike Leggett gets his way.
And in stark contrast to some more hotly contested items on Leggett’s submitted budget for the coming fiscal year, his proposals for reducing the number and scope of youth gang membership throughout the county have so far been met with general acceptance.
A lot of this agreement has to do with the multiagency approach to the gang problem, with the total budget for gang improvements coming to $6 million collectively.
Montgomery County Police is set to see additions to its growing gang task force. Violence prevention programs as well as a host of summer school, after-school and outreach services will be funded to a more sizable degree.
Police Chief Thomas Manger told The Examiner when the budget figures were unveiled that he is satisfied with the extra attention Leggett is paying to gangs.
“Our hope is that the added officers will make a dent in the problem, as well,” he said.
According to the police department’s latest counts, released in the 2006 annual crime report, the county has close to 1,000 active gang members, with the Silver Spring district possessing the most, and the Hispanic gang MS-13 still the most populous.
In terms of the state’s attorney’s office, Leggett is proposing to add two lawyers who will specifically prosecute gang-related crimes.
And in the Health and Human Services realm, some new services being suggested include a nearly $50,000 program geared exclusively to young girls who could be vulnerable to gang involvement.
Leggett had been set to discuss all of these projects Wednesday at Montgomery Blair High School. However, the event was canceled as a result of the morning’s serious crash that hospitalized two police officers.
The County Council must approve a budget by June 1.
