Safe Teens = Safe Streets Forum on Gang Prevention
Pictured from left: Paul Pattwell, Supervisor in Charge, Newark Public Library; Tina Keresztury, Associate State Librarian and Forum Coordinator; David Rible, 11th District Assemblyman; and Creighton Drury, Director of Prevention Strategies, Assistant Attorney General.
Gang Prevention strategies were discussed by experts, concerned officials and community leaders as the New Jersey State Library hosted Safe Teens = Safe Streets: New Jersey’s First Working Forum on Community Collaboration at Mercer County Community College on May 14. Its purpose was to bring together legislators, county prosecutors, youth services commission directors, county social services board directors, educators, gang prevention professionals, librarians, and representatives of other community agencies serving children and their families, to develop strategies and a call to action to prevent New Jersey’s children and teens from joining gangs.
Ron Hampton, DSG, NJ State Police and president of the NJ chapter of the East Coast Gang Investigators Association, noted that a lot of communities are in denial, with gang prevention not a priority. “This has resulted in gangs growing in those areas. There are 794 gangs in New Jersey; 191 can be considered uniquely named,” he said. “The Bloods are the most active in recruiting and are present in 211 municipalities. According to the FBI, gangs are behind 80 percent of crime in the United States.”
Creighton Drury, Director of Prevention Strategies, Assistant Attorney General, NJ Dept. of Law & Public Safety, who was appointed by Governor Jon Corzine to focus on gang prevention and keeping New Jersey safe, said “no other state is trying to address this problem in such a comprehensive way with prevention, re-entry and enforcement.” He said building community relationships, coordinating resources and keeping kids in school were keys to prevention.
The conference wrapped up with the facilitators of each breakout session reporting the recommendations made by participants. “We’ve gotten a lot of good ideas,” said Tina Keresztury, Associate State Librarian, “these will be delivered to Attorney General Drury for his review.”
The State Library sponsored the conference in collaboration with several other agencies and organizations to raise awareness of the role that all can play in helping to fight the problems of gangs in our state. It is hoped that this working forum will present an opportunity for collaboration for the participants and provide a stimulus to the development of new ideas and strategies that can be presented to the Office of the Attorney General’s Prevention Coordinating Council.
Collaborators were the East Coast Gang Investigators Association, the Gang Awareness and Intervention Network, the Juvenile Justice Commission of New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Correction, the New Jersey Library Association Urban Libraries Section, the New Jersey State Police, and Robin’s Nest, Inc.
For more information about the conference, contact Tina Keresztury, Associate State Librarian, at 609-278-2640, ext. 134 or tkeresztury@njstatelib.org.