Communities In Schools of North Carolina addresses gang issue in the state

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WRAL.com

Gangs move, change to stay ahead of police
Gang grafitti

Posted: Jul. 30 5:33 p.m.
Updated: Jul. 30 11:45 p.m.

Raleigh, N.C. — Identifying gang members has become more difficult as they change their signs and clothing to remain a step ahead of law enforcement and as they become more mobile, experts said Wednesday.

Two incidents in recent days, a melee at the Triangle Town Center mall and a shooting on the North Carolina State University campus, have turned a spotlight on gangs in Raleigh. Police Chief Harry Dolan said Monday that the city has a “significant” gang problem that requires a community-wide response.

According to a recent study, there are 13 recognized gangs in Wake County, with the Bloods being the most prominent. There are about 2,400 known gang members or associates in the county. Associates are members who might not live in the area but who have spent considerable time or have been arrested locally.

Shenekia Weeks, a member of the Wake County Gang Task Force, said local gangs are changing the way the look and where they live a contrast to the stereotype of gangs carving out territories that they defend.

“Gang members do not want be detected. They want to continue their criminal enterprise, so they’re going to move and try to be as fluid as they can be without being detected,” Weeks said.

Most gangs are relatively new to the area, and their members are young, according to Weeks and Danya Perry, a gang expert with North Carolina Communities in Schools.

“We are starting to see the manifestation of the first generation of gangs rooted here in North Carolina,” Perry said.

Shootings and fights like the two recent incidents are taking place in high-profile places because Wake County gangs don’t have roots in specific neighborhoods, he said.

“The incident at the mall, that certainly was a warning flag for everybody that we need to be looking at this issue because it’s spilling over,” he said.

Communities need to offer more after-school activities and jobs for teens to begin fixing the problem, gang experts said.

“I think most gang experts will tell you that we’re probably five years behind what’s really going on,” Perry said.

* Reporter: Stacey Cameron

CIS of Lexington/Davidson – Three groups working to get students what they need for school

July 30. 2008 9:00AM

BY JILL DOSS-RAINES
The Dispatch

Two county nonprofits and one bank are working to help students have all the school supplies they need to begin the new school year in August.

To read the rest of this Story from the Lexington Dispatch – click here

CIS of Wayne County – County’s Teen Court is continuing mission of peer-directed justice

Goldsboro News-Argus

By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 30, 2008 1:36 PM

Teen Court — introduced in Wayne County nearly nine years ago as an alternative to youths having a criminal record — has had another successful year, in student numbers as well as funding.

“We have seen marked increases in the number of volunteers working with the program and the volunteer hours,” said Sudie Davis, director of Communities in Schools, which oversees the program. Over the past year, 109 teens have served as jury members, attorneys, clerks or bailiffs in the year-round program. The only adults included are local attorneys who serve as judges.

Photo submitted

Youths volunteering in the Teen Court program gather around Wayne County District Attorney Branny Vickory, right, during a recent training at the courthouse.

The number of defendants served by Teen Court is also on the rise, Mrs. Davis said, but whether that is because there are more infractions or increased awareness of the program is uncertain.

“The purpose of Teen Court is to allow the child to complete it so that the charges against them are dismissed,” she said. “We do work collaboratively with district courts, the DA’s office, Clerk of Court’s office, Sheriff’s Office, police department and possibly 20 to 25 different places where kids do their community service.”

During the 2007-08 fiscal year, Mrs. Davis noted, youth defendants completed 1,463 hours of community service.

Teen Court has been fortunate to receive adequate funding, she added, something many agencies and programs have struggled with in recent years.

In addition to grants and Juvenile Crime Prevention Council support, United Way came through this year,

allowing the program to hire two people at its helm.

“We’re very pleased,” Mrs. Davis said. “This is a program where the grant was written to serve 78 kids and this year we served 135. … Some nights we have two Teen Courts running.”

Tracy Andrews was hired as Teen Court coordinator and Sierra Beaton as volunteer coordinator. Both said they would have liked to have had a similar program when they were younger.

“I wish I could have been involved as a teen volunteer,” Mrs. Beaton said. “(They) really take it to heart and feel like they make a difference, for themselves, for their peers and for the community.”

Ms. Andrews worked briefly as a corrections officer in Raleigh before joining Teen Court at the end of March.

“It’s a wonderful program,” she said. “I think it really makes a difference in these kids’ lives who come in here.”

Parents, too, have appreciated the fact that it’s not simply a punitive program, Mrs. Davis said, but rather one that steers youth in a better direction.

“North Carolina is one of just two or three states where kids 16, 17 go to adult court, and I think Teen Court has been such an asset for those young people,” she said. “It used to be that they would have gone right into district court and it would have been decided, but this way they have a chance to give back to the community.”

“And what better way than peers on peers?” Ms. Andrews said.

As the program grows, so are some of the opportunities for volunteers to gain “on-the-job training,” Mrs. Beaton said. One example of that came in the form of the latest attorney training, held recently at the county courthouse.

The evening session provided students with ways to refine their skills and learn about such aspects of courtroom behavior as making opening and closing statements and being able to think quickly on their feet, she said.

“We’re also trying to develop a program where we have those attorneys and judges come back and mentor teens,” Mrs. Davis said.

The experience proves advantageous to some of the teens, who might be considering a career in criminal justice.

But even if that’s not the ultimate goal, Mrs. Davis said, the greatest success is found in efforts to provide better direction for the next generation. Some now working to help others had formerly been represented at the defense table, she noted.

“About half a dozen volunteers at any given time were once defendants,” Mrs. Beaton said, pointing out they later returned to serve as volunteers.