Meeting spotlights how gangs ruin lives
Community leaders, others speak out at city’s forum on combating problem
By LEE HIGGINS
lhiggins@thestate.com
Hubert Williams of Irmo was a 10-year-old in Durham, N.C., when he turned to gang members after being picked on at school.
“I went to the gang members, and I asked them to help and protect me, and they started to protect me,” Hubert told 90 law enforcement, school, political and religious leaders during a city gang strategy meeting Thursday.
Now 13, Hubert has resisted associating with gangs locally with the help of programs, including Project Gang Out, a group run by ex-gang member A.V. Strong that helps youths stay away from gangs. Hubert gave the city credit for holding the brainstorming meeting.
“Everything you can think of, you should do,” he said.
Gangs aren’t a law enforcement problem, school problem, or church problem, but a community problem, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
Lott urged law enforcement to speak to churches about gangs, urged the city to create a quick-response team to cover up graffiti immediately after it appears and urged Columbia-area school districts to implement gang-prevention programs that begin in kindergarten.
“We’ve got to create a new generation that doesn’t accept gangs as a way of life,” Lott said.
People shouldn’t simply talk the talk, but they should walk the walk, said Margie Gallman, vice president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, a group of Columbia-area clergy that responds to community needs.
At 19, her son sold drugs and became involved in gang activity in Fairfield County. He tried to get out but was beaten “half to death” by other gang members, Gallman said. Now 32, he’s better, but some mental and physical scars remain, she said.
Columbia Police Sgt. Vandell McCary described how he was so focused on his job and volunteering as a mentor last year that he didn’t pay enough attention to his 13-year-old daughter. She had problems in school, dropped out, got lured into a gang and ran away. After serving 30 days in a juvenile-detention facility, she got her life back together.
“The gangs out there, they’re smart,” he said. “They don’t just target the single-family homes. They don’t just target the minority families. They target the rich kids. They target the kids with good grades.”
Thursday’s meeting came less than two weeks after three people were wounded in a gang-related shooting outside Williams-Brice Stadium after the Palmetto Capital City Classic football game.
At least two Bloods gang members flashed gang signs at four Folk Nation members before a Folk Nation leader opened fire, police said.
The city is planning a follow-up meeting in six weeks, Mayor Bob Coble said.
By LEE HIGGINS
lhiggins@thestate.com
Hubert Williams of Irmo was a 10-year-old in Durham, N.C., when he turned to gang members after being picked on at school.
“I went to the gang members, and I asked them to help and protect me, and they started to protect me,” Hubert told 90 law enforcement, school, political and religious leaders during a city gang strategy meeting Thursday.
Now 13, Hubert has resisted associating with gangs locally with the help of programs, including Project Gang Out, a group run by ex-gang member A.V. Strong that helps youths stay away from gangs. Hubert gave the city credit for holding the brainstorming meeting.
“Everything you can think of, you should do,” he said.
Gangs aren’t a law enforcement problem, school problem, or church problem, but a community problem, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
Lott urged law enforcement to speak to churches about gangs, urged the city to create a quick-response team to cover up graffiti immediately after it appears and urged Columbia-area school districts to implement gang-prevention programs that begin in kindergarten.
“We’ve got to create a new generation that doesn’t accept gangs as a way of life,” Lott said.
People shouldn’t simply talk the talk, but they should walk the walk, said Margie Gallman, vice president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, a group of Columbia-area clergy that responds to community needs.
At 19, her son sold drugs and became involved in gang activity in Fairfield County. He tried to get out but was beaten “half to death” by other gang members, Gallman said. Now 32, he’s better, but some mental and physical scars remain, she said.
Columbia Police Sgt. Vandell McCary described how he was so focused on his job and volunteering as a mentor last year that he didn’t pay enough attention to his 13-year-old daughter. She had problems in school, dropped out, got lured into a gang and ran away. After serving 30 days in a juvenile-detention facility, she got her life back together.
“The gangs out there, they’re smart,” he said. “They don’t just target the single-family homes. They don’t just target the minority families. They target the rich kids. They target the kids with good grades.”
Thursday’s meeting came less than two weeks after three people were wounded in a gang-related shooting outside Williams-Brice Stadium after the Palmetto Capital City Classic football game.
At least two Bloods gang members flashed gang signs at four Folk Nation members before a Folk Nation leader opened fire, police said.
The city is planning a follow-up meeting in six weeks, Mayor Bob Coble said.
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