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North Miami Beach police making gang awareness a priorityNov 16, 2010 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL -- Before hosting a workshop to inform the community on gangs and violence, North Miami Beach Police advertised on the city's website -- and in local schools and funeral homes. "We have a problem," said North Miami Beach Police Chief Raphael Hernandez. There are 130 documented gangs in Miami-Dade County, he said and 13 operate out of North Miami Beach. At a meeting Nov. 10, law enforcement officials and gang experts delivered a clear warning. "We have zero tolerance for criminals and gangs," Hernandez said. The message to the community was both parts informative and a call to action. "I hear often that we don't have enough young men of color to mentor our youth," said Laura Kallus, director of PanZOu Project, a North Miami Beach-based outreach program for gang members and at-risk youth. Of the 13 known gangs in North Miami Beach, 11 are Haitian gangs, one Hispanic and another predominantly African-American. In North Miami Beach, gangs usually name themselves after local parks or streets that double as a place for drug peddling, police say. "Gangs kill people," North Miami Beach Detective Alex Morales said. While no one at the meeting denied gang violence and activities requires a tough response, officials also called for increased intervention and prevention at home. Family members, friends and social networks can serve as buffers from gang involvement, Morales said. North Miami Beach Detective Jodi Schuster said through a partnership with local schools, authorities have been able to successfully prevent and mediate tense situation when feuding gang crews take their beef to school grounds. "Yes, there are gang members even in the elementary schools," Schuster said. Students were cautioned about hanging out with gang members. "Your whole life can change by a stroke of our pen by documenting you as a gang member, " Morales told the audience of about 40 people which included students from local schools. For nonprofit social agencies like PanZOu, Kallus said a constant challenge is receiving funding to keep the program running. "A lot of times when we say we work with gang members, people say they'd rather donate to another cause like the Humane Society," Kallus said. "It just doesn't pull at your strings the same way." In a video clip shown to the audience depicting Palm Beach gang members, a young man raps, "Been thuggin' since I was a youngin' so it's nothin.' " But North Miami Beach Councilman McKenzie Fleurimond, who grew up in Little Haiti and witnessed the burgeoning gang scene, asked audience members not to be dismissive about the possible consequences they may face if they choose to get involved in a gang. "A lot of my friends who I grew up and went to school with either got killed or ended up in jail," he said. To see more of The Miami Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Miami Herald Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |