Officials at Augusta meeting say Georgia has gang problem

Augusta Chronicle - 9/26/2019

Sep. 25--Georgia has a gang problem.

Rep. Carl Gilliard, chairman of the state House Study Committee on Gang and Youth Violence Prevention, stated that belief at a meeting Wednesday of the group in Augusta. The Savannah Democrat said 71,000 gang members have been identified throughout the state, but believes there are many more. The committee was created during the 2019-2020 session to study ways to prevent the increase of gangs and youth violence in the state.

The meeting was the committee's third and this one focused on gang prevention, said Rep. Brian Prince of Augusta, who is a member.

"It gave us an opportunity at the first meeting to talk about the problem, identify it," Prince said. "The second meeting we had in Savannah, Georgia we actually had some people that gave some sort of testimony about what is going on, not just out in the community, but in the jails and prison system."

Gilliard said House Resolution 585, which created the study committee, is important since it focuses on prevention of gang activity. They hope to have recommendations and a report ready by Dec. 1 and help break the cycle.

"Law enforcement continues to tell us they can't do it by themselves. It's going to take a collaborative community effort," Gilliard said. "Our hopes are that as we bring coalitions of people from around the state that we are able to get the information that is needed to help our law enforcement."

The meeting at the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce included presentations from various state and local agencies, including the Augusta Judicial Circuit. District Attorney Natalie Paine said her office is very interested in gangs and prosecuting those involved.

"The sheriff and I, specifically in Richmond County, take it very seriously. One thing that we are both very committed to is taking them out," Paine said.

The DA office has two dedicated gang prosecutors, which Paine appointed within the last two years, that have helped make progress in taking down organizations instead of just prosecuting individual members. Since becoming DA, Paine said her office has utilized the gang statute more, but it's been a process to get everyone acclimated to it.

"It was a little bit of a growing process acclimating the court to it and also using the statute and learning how to use it," she said. "It's a complicated scenario, however, if you utilize it right, it is very effective, so that is one thing that we haven't been using but we have started using a lot more."

Paine said she has seen more youths involved in gangs and violence. The fact those younger than 17 don't face the same penalties as adults could contribute to the increase in youth involvement in gangs.

Paine said there are over 100 gangs in Augusta that range from small to very large, but nothing compared to what metro areas like Atlanta face. She said gangs tend to be found in lower economic areas.

" I don't know that anyone can give you a particularized number," she said. "We have a database that we use to keep track of them and it grows daily."

She feels meetings like this are important and show the state is committed to combating gangs.

"The governor has really pushed for prosecution of gangs and taking it seriously and addressing this," Paine said. "To have the chairman here today and this committee studying, gathering information (on) what are our issues here in Georgia and what are the ways we can combat this the most effectively, I think that is a great step in dealing with this epidemic here in Georgia."

Gilliard said it's important to hear from different groups to see how they are impacted by the epidemic. He hopes to gain information that lead to solutions.

"We don't have all the answers," he said. "We didn't get here overnight, so every parable of information that we get today will be viable important. We are ready to get to work."

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