By Brynn Grimley

 

Concerned parents and community members gathered at Herndon High School March 31 to speak with local law enforcement officials about gangs and what is being done to identify and reduce gang involvement in the area.

 

Initiated by the Greater Herndon Community Coalition and presented by the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, the discussion touched on how to identify gang members, gang graffiti, gang tattoos and why people join gangs, among other things.

Gang Education 101: Education,

Eradication
Community members, concerned parents attend gang-awareness meeting.

In addition, Sgt. Jerry Keys, Herndon Police, identified two primary gangs in Herndon — Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and the 18 Street Gang — along with identifying other gangs in the area, including the London Towne Crips in Chantilly and 51 MOB.

 

Herndon High School's Student Resource Officer, Michael Murn, — a Fairfax County Police officer of 24 years — was present to answer questions specific to the school along with administrative staff, including principal Frances Ivey.

 

In addition, Herndon Police Chief Toussaint Summers Jr., head of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, spoke about the need for community involvement.

 

 DURING THE PRESENTATION, Herndon Police detective Claudio Saa defined gangs as "a group of people, often youths, who join together and take part in violent and criminal activities." Saa, also a member of the regional gang task force, stressed that violent and criminal activities is what makes a gang.

 

Saa also explained that gang members range in age, race, gender, and that just because a child is wearing a certain style of clothing or color, or is from another country, does not mean they are in a gang.

 

"There is no one particular group, gang members are from all walks of life," said Saa to audience members comprised primarily of parents in addition to town staff, Vice Mayor Darryl Smith and Del. Tom Rust (R-86).

 

"Don't confuse gangs with simply the immigrant population," said Keys. "There's white gangs, black gangs, Hispanic gangs."

 

In response to the perception that gang violence is getting worse, Murn said gangs are just as violent today as they were 10 years ago.

 

He added that although there is the occasional story of an innocent bystander being caught in the middle of a gang shooting, most gangs target rival gangs.

 

In addition, Keys said people should not assume all violence reported on the news or in the community is gang related.

 

"A lot of what we see that's jumping out at people is just plain youth violence, not gang violence," he said, adding most gang crimes are low level like graffiti.

 

At the local level, he said Herndon police are active in identifying gang activity in town and try to monitor anything they deem suspicious.

 

"We got out and the first thing we do is gather info," he said, explaining they take photographs of gang graffiti before painting over it in addition to monitoring possible gang members and their activities.

 

"There are gangs in Arlington that come to Herndon and go out to Loudoun County and into Prince William County — they're very mobile," he said. "It's not that we're sitting here with gangs living all around us.

 

 THE MOST COMMON concern from audience members was why is Herndon the new hot spot for gangs and should they worry about their children's safety while at school?

 

"It's our fault for not getting after it sooner," said Murn. "It's not that it wasn't here, it's that we weren't on top of it."

 

At the school level he assured parents that their children were safe, saying the school has strict rules about acceptable clothing — to discourage gang paraphernalia — and that all staff members have participated in gang-awareness training.

 

"We've taken tremendous steps at the high-school and middle-school level to make sure staff is trained," said Ivey. "The county has strict students rights and responsibilities rules that we follow to a 'T' — if they break those it depends on the extent, but we will suspend and even expel if we have to."

 

In addition, Ivey said the school tries to contact parents if they think a child is involved with a gang and do what they can through intervention or prevention.

 

"Children still have to violate the law," Murn explained about requirements for expulsion. "You have to be deemed a threat, a physical threat, to other students — just wearing [gang] colors doesn't count."

 

Keys also stressed it's up to parents to know their children and where they are.
"Get children involved in positive activities, be around them, know what they're doing," he said. "Talk to them, even if they're not receptive."

 

Smith, a retired Herndon Police captain of 30 years and an active volunteer with the area's youth through Vecinos Unidos/Neighbors United, said American culture has also influenced today's youth.

 

"Kids think it's cool to get a 40-ounce bottle of beer and go hang out with the guys or with the girls," he said referencing today's music videos and television shows.

 

"When you have kids by themselves at home because their parents are working two or three jobs, then that's a problem," he said. "They join a gang because they want belonging, they want love and gangs offer that."

 

Smith said in addition to parents talking with their children, the community also needs to get involved.

 

"We need, as a community, to start encouraging our neighbors and friends to call the police when there's a party in the neighborhood," he said. "We're getting into party season with graduation and spring flings coming up." Keys said if neighbors are ever concerned about a party or see something suspicious, they should call the police immediately.

 

"This needs to be an altogether, combined group effort to try and community-raise these kids," he said.

 

Summers said if parents or community members see suspicious activity that they think could be gang related, including the flashing of gang signs or graffiti in the area, they should call 1-800-NO-GANGS.

 

"The gang task force is trying to coordinate all the programs in the area so they can work together," he said about the prevention phase of the task force. "Rep. [Frank] Wolf [(R-10)] has given us money to help and now we're trying to entice people to work together."

 

He stressed unless the region works together, gangs will continue to exist in the area.

 

"It's got to be a holistic approach, it can't just be the schools or the community," he said. "It's got to be everybody."