School program to prevent Gang activity

To most, Orange County seems far removed from the gang-related problems that face many urban areas.

But a rising awareness of gang presence in the area has some people concerned — something that Lt. Larry Faucette of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office attempted to address Wednesday.

Faucette spoke at the county’s Southern Human Services Center as part of a series of brown-bag lunch seminars, sponsored each month by the Healthy Carolinians of Orange County.

Faucette emphasized to the audience of almost 50 that gang activity is not on the rise and should not currently be a source of alarm for the community.

But he added that the community should be aware of the problem’s small presence before it escalates into something of larger concern.

“We’re trying to take a proactive approach here,” he said.

That proactive approach includes a prevention program sponsored by the sheriff’s office at A.L. Stanback and C.W. Stanford middle schools.

Through that program — Gang Resistance Education and Training — local role models speak to students about alternatives to gang life.

“It’s a diverse group — not just doctors and lawyers,” Faucette said. “We have had people who drive trucks come in.”

He said the program, which began in both middle schools in 2002, will be extended to elementary school students this spring.

“If it helps one kid, it’s helping,” Faucette said.

Shannon Mathis of the Hillsborough Exchange Club Family Center said the middle school program is a valuable community awareness tool.

“I know that the problem is pretty concentrated in Durham, and it’s great that Orange County is trying to prevent that from spreading,” she said.

Matt Sullivan, a social worker with the Chapel Hill Police Department, said the small local gang population differs from that of more urban areas in that local gang members often can be classified as “wannabe gangsters.”

These individuals are members of groups that are not as highly organized as nationally notorious groups like the Crips and Bloods, Faucette said.

Because of this lack of organization, the groups tend to fizzle out quickly, much like a short-lived gang in Hillsborough a few years ago, Faucette said.

But Sullivan cautioned against discounting the influence of such groups.

“There’s little control with them. With a more established group, only a few people are in charge, but with these groups, it changes from day to day,” he said. “They’re radical and hard-headed.”

But Faucette expressed optimism about preventing the spread of gang influence.

“We can’t solve all of the problems, but we can deter some,” he said. “And I’d like to try.”

Wednesday’s attendance was the largest of the brown-bag seminars.

Next month’s seminar — on March 23 — will focus on the effects of media on children.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.