Attorney General Bill McCollum Press Release

December 17, 2008
Media Contact: Jenn Meale (850) 245-0150
Printer Friendly    en Español

Attorney General Brings Gang Reduction Strategy to Capital City

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum and members of the Coordinating Council on Gang Reduction Strategies today joined elected and government officials, law enforcement, nonprofit group leaders and the business community in Florida’s Capital and surrounding communities to continue implementing Florida’s first-ever statewide gang reduction strategy. The strategy is being implemented using regional task forces throughout the state, and today’s organizational session at the Tallahassee Automobile Museum follows yesterday’s regional task force meeting in Fort Walton Beach.

“Neighborhoods throughout the state of Florida, including right here in the Capital City, are suffering under the violence and intimidation of gangs, and it’s time to bring that reign of terror to an end,” said Attorney General McCollum. “The leadership provided today by our state agency heads and experts in prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation clearly sets the stage for the next phase of the implementation of our statewide gang reduction strategy.”

Key to the statewide gang reduction strategy’s success is a cooperative and collaborative effort that addresses the three goals of stopping the growth of gangs in Florida, reducing the number of gangs and gang members, and rendering the remaining gangs ineffectual. Participants at the Region 2 Gang Reduction Task Force Organizing Session are focusing on the areas of prevention/intervention, law enforcement, and rehabilitation and re-entry. Region 2 consists of Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Lafayette, Dixie, Suwannee, Hamilton, Columbia, Franklin, Liberty, Gadsden and Madison counties.

An important objective is providing effective intervention programs for young people who are the most likely targets of gang recruitment and identified young gang members. Joining Attorney General McCollum at today’s organizational session will be Rhodes Scholar and Florida State University football standout Myron Rolle, who will speak to participants about the importance of positive role models and education in motivating young people to make the right choices in life.

The law enforcement community actively participated in today’s initiative to discuss improving data collection and information exchange among state and federal authorities on gangs and gang members and their activities. This component will also focus on coordinating law enforcement and prosecution efforts by setting priorities and targeting the most problematic and dangerous gangs, gang activities and gang-related prosecutions all over Florida. Representatives from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, sheriffs, police chiefs, members of the Florida Highway Patrol and others were on hand to provide insight and begin planning how to meet their objectives.

The strategy also emphasizes the importance of working to provide gang members currently incarcerated with job training and other essential rehabilitation skills. One of the rehabilitation and re-entry objectives is to expand programs designed to help incarcerated gang members prepare for re-entry into society upon completion of their sentences. Re-entry objectives include counseling and mentoring these former gang members so they will turn toward becoming productive members of society when released. The Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Corrections, and other parties involved in this particular aspect of the strategy were all present today.

More information about the gang reduction strategy and a full list of Coordinating Council members is available online at: http://www.safeflorida.net/safestreets. The next organizational session will be held in Saint Augustine on January 14, 2009.