Wednesday, March 10,1993
The Battalion
Page 3
Community leaders
Continued from Page 1
Although suppression is the
best way to deal with committed,
lifetime gang members, interven
tion and prevention are the opti
mum methods for reaching less
active participants, he said.
Crouch said gangs were a rela
tively small national problem in
the 1950s and 60s and blamed the
increase, which began in the mid-
70s, on the loss of opportunities
and resources in the inner cities.
"Gangs are one manifestation
of national economic and social
"Gangs are one
manifestation of
national economic
and social shifts."
-Dr. Ben Crouch,
associate dean of Texas
A&M University's
College of Liberal Arts
shifts," he said.
Mark Ricketson and Hugh
Wallace of the Bryan Police De
partment's Street Crime Appre
hension Team (SCAT) said Bryan
has seen a decline in profit-moti
vated gangs, but turf -based
gangs, which are harder to detect,
are on the rise.
Wallace said gang prevention
should begin in the schools.
"There's no easy solution, but
if we can prevent one person from
joining a gang it's worth it."
Sgt. Dan Jones of the College
Station Police Department said
the potential for gang violence is
high because armed, rival groups
are congregating in the same ar
eas, namely apartment complexes,
motels, shopping centers and
schools.
College Station is particularly
vulnerable to property crime be
cause of the number of residential
areas and high numbers of college
students leaving town during
breaks, Jones said.
"Something could happen at
any time," he said, "If everyone
can work together, we can get the
gang problem beat."
While the percentage of the
crime increase is alarming, the
real numbers are not that large,
said Ernie Wentrcek, director of
juvenile services for Brazos Coun
ty-
Wentrcek outlined programs
used to reform gang members and
eliminate potential problems say
ing it is important to get started at
"a stage early enough to turn the
tide before we're swallowed up."
Ronnie Jackson, a director of
alternative programs for the
Bryan Independent School Dis
trict, said if people really want to
know what the situation in the
schools is, they need to ask their
children.
"There's a lot out there that
kids are exposed to," he said.
He told the audience that stu
dents often feel that adults are ap
athetic to the problem, and are
getting involved only for "media
hype." Jackson said children also
say adults would rather "get back
to going to church and playing
golf."
Paul Hatch, of the College Sta
tion Independent School District,
compared gangs to cancer saying
it doesn't take a whole lot of it in
"There's no easy
solution, but if we can
prevent one person
from joining a gang
it's worth it."
-Hugh Wallace
Bryan Police
SCAT member
the body to ruin a person.
Hatch said what used to be
harmless activity may not be so
anymore and emphasized that al
though there is a problem, there is
also hope.
"Most kids are making the
right decision,"he said. "This is a
moral question."
Father Victor Robles empha
sized the need for the community
to come together and said it's im
portant to teach respect for the in
dividual and for authority.
Robles quoted former states
man Adlai Stevenson, "Peace
making is more difficult than
making war."
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