Good attendance at the Gang Prevention Seminar and had many speakers. Lt. M. Elder, Deputy Mayor E. Williams discussed an overview of the topics on todays agenda. Deputy Chief Brian Mahone spoke about the launch of Your Life Matters and how college students can also be involved in gang activity. Lou Ann Schwin & Matt Damon spoke on how they have gotten involved in helping children that could be at risk. The Marion County Prosecutors Office shows where the Indiana Code defines a Gang Crime and how three or more people participating in a felony could be considered a Gang Crime. Girl gangs are also on the rise. Additionally, K Tyler spoke about Housing programs that have a One Strike & Out policy and covered some of the Youth Violence Reduction Team. Mayor Greg Ballard spoke on a new $75,000 grant to help go-live with the 211 on April 1, 2014. He mentioned Mentoring Organization, five Parenting Organizations that are available as resources in Indianapolis. They had recently produced Public Service Announcements (PSA) to counter gang & crime efforts on many radio stations oriented towards youths. This was scary: A picture from Wisconsin of a free candy that was advertised to contain 100mg of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Steve, a Sergent from Crime Stoppers (317) 262-TIPS and (800) 222-TIPS, crimetips.org discussed that the Crime Stoppers of Indiana allows people to give crime tips and remain completely anonymous. Most interesting, to me at least, was Detective Derrick Harris and his presentation on Gang Signs & Symbols. Snapshots of tattoos and graffiti where shown. He stressed know what is in your childs backpack. Know who they hang out with and their real names, NOT their street names. Insist that if they dont have a real name then your child does not have any business hanging out with them. To report gang related information go to the IMPD webpage and click GANGS. Sergent Ed Bruce gave a very enthusiastic presentation on knowing your children and getting into their business in an effort to prevent them from getting into gangs. He stressed that ages 10-14 are a prime age in which gangs start recruiting members. Be wary of social media and constantly monitor your childs social media activity. Applications on phone such as KIK and AskMe routinely operate on the internet yet are not subject to many of US laws. Be sure to setup parental controls on your childs phone & computers. Understand that even though your childs smartphone may not have phone air time that they can go to an internet hotspot and still make phone calls over the internet. If your child comes home with a new TV or Phone or Game system, find out where he got it. In his words, Be Nosey. Lastly, Commander Taylor of Community Affairs spoke on Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) He noted that IMPD has one-on-one mentoring and they have a program called GREAT families where they will assist the entire family as well. All in all it was a great wealth of information
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 21:43:47 +0000
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