news-record.com

RALEIGH — As senators voted unanimously to strengthen penalties for involvement in criminal street gangs Wednesday, elected officials from Guilford County said the state needed to emphasize prevention programs.

Should the emphasis be on prevention or enforcement? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

"We certainly have them; they contribute to crime and violence. But to what degree is speculative in some places," Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson said. "Every young person who does something criminal and bad may not be gang-related."

Mayors of most of the state's biggest cities, including Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Burlington, visited the General Assembly to press for a pair of gang-prevention bills Monday. One would define and toughen penalties for gang-related activities. The other would create gang-prevention programs.

Johnson did not attend Wednesday's gathering, saying she had work-related conflicts. Had she attended, the mayor said, she would not have sided with those who are convinced new penalties are needed.

"What you get into is groups of people who are not necessarily doing any criminal activity or violence being identified and targeted," Johnson said. "I have some reservations about that."

Her predecessor, Keith Holliday, was more outspoken on the gang issue and put his weight behind the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition's effort.

But Johnson's stance is in keeping with the tack taken by several of the legislators who represent Guilford County.

"I think we need to do something, but I know that our emphasis ought to be on trying to turn some of these young people around," said Sen. Katie Dorsett, a Guilford County Democrat.

Gangs have even become a political issue in the race for governor. Republican nominee Pat McCrory, Charlotte's mayor, made it a centerpiece of his campaign. Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, the Democratic nominee, has said she favors strong anti-gang legislation.

McCrory was one of the mayors on hand as the Senate took up the measures, saying he is glad an apparent logjam is broken.

The twin issues of punishing those involved in gangs and keeping young people out of gangs have been intensely fought at the legislature. Some would like to see the emphasis placed on enforcement, and others say prevention is the best way to address the problem.

Last year, the enforcement side won out when the House passed a bill to define certain aspects of gang activity as a crime and impose stiff penalties. That bill stalled in the Senate, where those whose sympathies lied with prevention struggled to redraft it. That bill passed the Senate 47-0 Wednesday and is likely headed to a conference committee to work out differences.

The Senate also passed 47-0 a measure that would use local juvenile crime prevention councils to spearhead and fund anti-gang activities. That second measure must next go to the House and depends on state budget writers setting aside $10 million for those activities.

"We're going to have to find the money for it," said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat who is one of the chief budget writers in the House. "If you're keeping kids on the right track, then you don't have to deal with the gangs."

Politically, the enforcement section of the bill probably cannot win final approval without funding for the preventive programs.

"My thing has been all along that even the punitive sections of this bill would not pass unless there were money being appropriated for intervention, prevention and suppression. To me, that is the key to this bill," said Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat who has worked on anti-gang legislation for six years.

"I'm concerned how the law is going to be used, but the laws need to be strengthened," said Darryl Kosciak, Youth First Coordinator for the city of Greensboro and director of The Hope Project, a program that offers at-risk teens positive alternatives to gang involvement.

Arresting young people for becoming involved in gangs doesn't improve a community's gang problems, Kosciak said, adding that the juvenile crime prevention councils the bills would fund are key to fighting gangs.

"Until that's fixed, all the laws in the world aren't going to matter," he said. "Unless there is just as much attention paid to prevention and intervention, all the suppression in the world isn't going to matter."

Staff writer Sonja Elmquist contributed to this story.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com.