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In wake of violent crime, schools push back against gang activity

Danville Register & Bee - 8/16/2017

Realizing the school system is an integral part of a community effort to combat gang violence in Danville, city education leaders say they are ramping up training for administrators and imposing intervention tactics including a new code of conduct for students.

"The approach has to be multifaceted," said Danville Public Schools Director of Safety and Security Dave Cochran. "Suppression alone is not enough. We can't just suppress this and hope it goes away."

Cochran - who has years of experience in Danville as a school and district administrator - said street gangs and the violence that can come from them are not a new problem for schools. As a principal at Bonner Middle School in 2004, Cochran said gang affiliation would manifest through clothing choices, like bandanas or rosary beads worn by non-Catholics. In one instance, a student even had the nicknames of sets, or subsidiary gangs, bleached onto his jeans.

"Being aware of gang presence was always an ongoing challenge," Cochran said.

However, recent gang-related shootings and homicides have spurned the school district, along with other Danville entities, to action. On Aug. 6, rising George Washington High School senior Nitaya Adams, 16, died after a disagreement began among a crowd of people along Paxton Street and gunfire erupted. Police believe Adams might not have been the intended target and that the shooting could involve a gang element.

Involving the community

In January, after a year of rising gun crime, Danville City Manager Ken Larking called for the creation of a gang task force.

"City schools are active participants in that process," Cochran said.

Additionally, city officials decided to implement a comprehensive gang violence prevention model from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the National Gang Center. Representatives from Danville government, law enforcement, community services and Danville Public Schools traveled to a conference this summer in Denver, Colorado, to learn about the model.

One of the participants was Robin Owens, the school district's coordinator of support services. Owens said one of the main takeaways from the conference was the necessity of working with other community agencies.

"The comprehensive gang model includes a community approach, and with that community approach and the community effort, the school system is an integral part of that," Owens said.

Owens said the school system's role in the model would help ensure students could receive the support they need to be successful citizens.

The city was applying for a federal grant of up to $125,000 this week, which would hire a coordinator for the program.

Educating school leaders

Cochran said the school district itself also is taking other steps to update its gang intervention tactics.

"This summer, our focus was on education," he said.

In July, every school administrator participated in a seven-hour training course with gang expert and former Richmond Police Officer Hamlet Hood, who is currently a trainer with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice's Gang Management Unit. Cochran said Hood went over gang history, structure, activity and means of identification, among other topics.

"The first step toward this school year was going back and making sure all of our administrators were knowledgeable," Cochran said.

Additionally, all student resource officers in Danville attended 16 hours of training last week, where they also learned about gang understanding and identification.

Even the definition of gangs in the student code of conduct was updated this year, Cochran said. The new definition includes stronger language indicating that students may not encourage gang activity or solicit others to participate in gangs.

Teachers and administrators are told to be aware of attendance, truancy and tardiness issues with students, as well as decreases in academic performance. Cochran said he hoped to refer those students to both internal services such as school counselors and external community organizations like social services.

Lastly, Cochran said the school district is simply talking about the issue of gangs out in the open.

"We realize that one of the worst things we can do in the community is that cone of silence: not to say 'we have a gang problem,' but to go ahead and discuss it openly and frankly," he said.