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Fayette is 'Ft. Apache' to gangsTue, 10/28/2008 - 4:05pm
By: John Munford
Schools, law officers battle about 8 gangs now operating here Gang expert Wally Marchant, noting that gangs are prevalent in Clayton and south Fulton counties, summed up Fayette County’s problem in a seminar of local officials Friday afternoon: “You’re Fort Apache and you’re surrounded by people who want to attack you. What are you going to do about it?” Fayette’s answer is bringing schools and law enforcement together with prosecutors to address gang-related issues. District Attorney Scott Ballard estimated there are roughly eight gangs in Fayette County that have been brought to his attention. Ballard’s office has used Georgia law against several students involved in a gang “beat-in” fight at Fayette County High School earlier this year, resulting in five-year detention sentences in juvenile court. Scott Isreal, the juvenile and gang detective for the Fayetteville Police Department, said one of the youths involved in that incident had recently moved to Fayette County after he was approached by gangs where his family previously lived. “His mother took him out of that school system, brought him down to Fayette County to have a better lifestyle and he saw the leadership possibilities and developed his own gang ... brought his own gang bibles in,” Isreal said. There is a “huge gang influence” in Fayette County, Isreal said. The Fayette County School System is using its discipline policy to deal with gang-related issues such as the drawing of gang symbols on homework or bringing a gang “flag,” typically a bandanna, to school. “The first offense is going to be five days out of school,” said C.W. Campbell, safety coordinator for Fayette County Schools. “Again, parents a lot of times aren’t happy with that, but that’s reality.” For a second offense, the student is suspended for 10 days and then must attend the alternative school instead of going back to their regular school, he added. “We had a situation where we were taking those people who really didn’t want to learn out of our regular schools and putting them in the alternative school,” Campbell said. The alternative school has a dress code that students must follow, Campbell said. They must wear khaki pants with a white, gray or green polo shirt with a belt on, their shirt tucked in, along with white tennis shoes and white shoelaces. “That takes away some of the problems we’ve had in the past with people still wanting to come in and wear their gang colors,” Campbell said. Of approximately 100 total “gang-related” incidents at the school system last year, about 10 were ultimately diverted for enrollment in the alternative school, Campbell said. Between August and September of this year, there were seven “gang activity” offenses reported in local schools, all of gang symbols students had written, Campbell said. “The teacher sees it, brings it to an administrator and we get their attention real fast,” Campbell said. The school system also held a round of community awareness meetings at each high school so parents could learn about gangs and other issues from school resource officers and D.A. Ballard, Campbell said. Ballard said Fayette’s get-tough approach on gangs needs to be tough “because if we blink, hesitate or wait even in a short time we’ll look up and see that gangs are all over the place.” Marchant noted that there are Asian gangs a few miles down the road in Clayton County where the gang members drive Jaguar luxury cars because their parents own Oriental restaurants. “They’re spoiled brat gang members and when they get in trouble they get the best attorneys in Atlanta and the state of Georgia,” Marchant said. “Money will not buy you justice but will buy you a good attorney, and if there’s a weak link in a case a good attorney will find it.” Marchant also noted that gangs in Georgia often cross racial, ethnic and social lines. “We got rich kids driving around selling drugs and flashing guns, who are spoiled, and we’ve got the poorest of the poor.” One recent gang member in Savannah sold drugs to be the main provider for his family in terms of paying family expenses, officials said. That ended when he was killed in a drug-related shooting at the age of 17, Marchant said. The school system also shares information with law enforcement on criminal issues to stay on top of the matter, Campbell said. login to post comments
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