Remember...Denial Comes Before Disaster

Elmore County debates existence of area gangs

By Erin Elaine Mosely
Montgomery Advertiser

When a Wetumpka High School student was caught with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol near Wetumpka Junior High School, District Attorney Randall Houston attributed the incident to increased gang-related violence and fighting.

Other law enforcement officers said gangs have not moved into Elmore County or its public schools, but point to age-old disputes between families and communities.

"We have some talk about it a little bit, but not seriously," said Delane Goggans, chief juvenile probation officer for Elmore County. "We might see a few gang signs, but there's not anything organized in Elmore County."

Goggans said the occasional fighting she sees in juvenile court stems from disputes between kids from different areas, "just like any other place."

Richard Dennis, principal at Wetumpka High School, agreed.

"We do have situations where something happens at home or in the family and they come to school and confront each other," he said. "We had six fights in a two-week period. Out of the six, three were the same guys who were arguing out in the community."

Despite the explanation, some Wetumpka students say gang activities do occur at school and in their community.

Quinton Powell, 15, a student at Wetumpka High School, said he often sees gang members exchanging signs.

"I see them all day, every day," he said. "They shake up, wear flags and everything at school."
Briana Johnson, 17, a senior at WHS, agreed.

"They wear white, green, black, blue, red ..." she said. "They all wear the same color, and then they got a handshake."

But Quinton said the fighting is not as rampant as some would think.

"We (Wetumpka High School) don't have that many fights, if you ask me," he said. "Not like Montgomery schools, where they might have fights every day. We don't have fights like that. It's like once every blue moon."

Tim Lewis, a parent and Wetumpka resident, said people should not blame the children.

"It's the parents. It's not the children," he said. "There's so much peer pressure."

In Millbrook, Elmore County's most populous area, school and law enforcement officials said gangs aren't a problem there.

"I won't say we have a problem with gangs. I won't even say we have gangs," said P.K. Johnson, assistant chief of the Millbrook Police Department. "Because of our proximity to Montgomery and Birmingham -- larger cities -- we do have some kids here and, maybe even some young adults, who might have been exposed to that lifestyle. We're not aware of any gangs here."

Bruce Fulmer, principal at Stanhope Elmore High School in Millbrook, said issues arise between neighborhoods, but on rare occasions it spills over into his school.

"These are not gangs," he said. "They are disputes between families. We've had very little or no type of gangs at this school. If we do see something, we move them out of here real quick. We do not tolerate any gangs."

In his two and a half years as principal at Stanhope Elmore, Fulmer said the fights that have broken out at school originated between family members in their neighborhood.

"Naturally, it follows kids to their high school," Fulmer said. "We've basically had zero percent of instances originate on our campus, and when they do they're dealt with harshly."