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GREENSBORO — Larry Jordan remembered the heartache on the faces of the families at funerals for young men gunned down by recent gang violence in the city, and he simply wanted to know what he can do.

Greensboro firefighter Jesse Walker wanted to know why young people believe they are being ignored in his community, and he wanted to pick up pointers on identifying gang members should he come in contact with them on the job.

A variety of reasons brought Greensboro residents to a forum on gangs Tuesday night, but almost all who packed an N.C. A&T auditorium beyond capacity said they came in search of one common answer: How can we help?

Eliminating the city's gang problem will take a communitywide effort, Greensboro police Detective Ernest Cuthbertson told them.

"We have to be stewards of our community," he said. "Don't feel afraid to engage a young person in conversation because it's not your child."

What works, Cuthbertson said, is the community getting involved in the lives of young people. "I want every church, every community leader, every citizen to roll up their sleeves and get involved because that's the only way we are going to deal with this as a problem."

The forum taught Kenneth Doggett, another Greensboro firefighter, to be more observant when he's on call.

"I thought it was a real good forum," Doggett said. "I'll pass the information that I got here to the guys that I work with who weren't able to make it."

As the police department's only full-time gang investigator, Cuthbertson led a 90-minute forum .

"Everyone wants to know why we have gangs — we have gangs because it's a microcosm of what's going on in our society," Cuthbertson said.

Gangs, he said, flourish for three main reasons — racism, prejudice and cultural bias.

Police say the city had at least 10 gang-related homicides last year. The problem has progressively gotten worse, with four homicides and several shootings linked to gangs this summer.

Greensboro ranks third in the state for gang activity, behind Durham and Fayetteville, according to a National Youth Gang Center survey .

To tackle the problem, police formulated a plan to put a gang task force on the streets similar to ones in Charlotte, Durham, Raleigh and Winston-Salem.

On Tuesday morning, the City Council chose a short-term solution , rearranging existing police officers to eventually form a permanent 20-member gang squad.

The move, which comes without any immediate additional funding, will eventually cost $1.5 million next year to replace the reassigned officers and buy additional equipment.

"Police intervention cannot be the only intervention," Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small said at the forum. "It takes a village."

As for Cuthbertson, he dreams of the day he won't be needed to tackle gang violence any longer.

"My vision is that I want to be put out of work," Cuthbertson said. "I don't want to do this job anymore. It's important for us to take stake in these kids and show them a different side of our society."

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7157 or rseals@news-record.com