news-record.com

GREENSBORO — The police department announced the formation of a much-anticipated 15-member gang enforcement unit Wednesday with a statement of its purpose.

The officers — volunteers throughout the department — are training this week for their new roles and beginning their enforcement activities next week.

The mission of the unit, as described in the department's statement, is to "reduce crime and related activities perpetrated by identified criminal gangs."

Capt. John Wolfe , head of the police department's investigative support division that contains the new gang unit, outlined four goals:

* promote a safe community environment for all citizens,

* reduce crime and other activities related to criminal gangs and their associates,

* identify criminal gang members and their associated activities,

* partner with new and existing community resources to aide prevention and intervention programs.

Wolfe said the first goal of a safe community is the widest-reaching because the impact of gang violence goes beyond the obvious victims.

"There's an intimidation factor associated with gangs," he said. "Some people have paid very dearly with their lives. But 150,000 people who are intimidated and frightened by this activity, that's a high price to pay as well."

To achieve the second goal of reducing crime, Wolfe said the gang squad will work with prosecutors and with agencies in neighboring communities. "We're really working much smarter than we used to," he said.

The gang unit will follow the model of the department's Violent Crimes Task Force, which leverages relationships with state and federal agencies to produce stronger cases to take to court, Wolfe said. Prosecutors also will cooperate, as they have done on the Violent Crimes Task Force, to rapidly try gang leaders once they are arrested.

The unit is comprised of an intelligence officer, Detective Earnest Cuthbertson, and two seven-member enforcement squads.

Before the gang teams were formed, Cuthbertson dealt with information about gangs that came into the police department by himself. Now, 14 others will be involved with evaluating a backlog of information that has built up, Wolfe said, as well as meeting with school resource officers and attending community meetings to gather information to meet the third goal of identifying gang members and their activities.

But the police can't solve the problem of gangs in Greensboro, Wolfe said.

"It's our job to keep the innocent parties safe," he said. "We can't fix the problem. We can fix the symptoms."

That's where the fourth goal of prevention and intervention comes in. "If we identify a kid out there who is at risk, I want to have a place to send that kid where I know he's going to get the right attention," Wolfe said.

He identified Project Safe Neighborhoods programs as some of a number of church- and community-based programs to help at-risk youth.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or selmquist@news-record.com