Friday, January 08, 1999
Gang signs concern Boone County officials
2-day conference to look at problem
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BURLINGTON — Gang-related signs have surfaced in Boone County: red bandannas, graffiti and violence, all tied to a small group of perpetrators.
Authorities hesitate to call it the work of gangs or gang “wannabes.”
“I don't want to classify them as wannabes, because I think they take offense to that. I think when you classify them as wannabes, that there are those who will try to prove to you that they're more than that,” said Barry Drizin, chairman of the Boone County Alcohol and Other Drugs Communities That Care Committee. But, “I don't want to downplay the potential risk that they cause.”
So, what do you call the youths?
“Misdirected kids,” Mr. Drizin said. “I think for the most part, a lot of these kids have sensationalized what gangs are about.”
Mr. Drizin is coordinating a free, two-day conference Jan. 29 and 30 to address the growing problem of gang activity in Boone County. Florence police and Champions of Northern Kentucky, an arm of the governor's office that deals with substance abuse and violence in communities, will assist with the event.
This is the second year for the gang conference.
“This is set up as an informational meeting to give people ideas about what to look for, who to call, what the community can do to address this,” Mr. Drizin said. “We all hope that we won't have to keep doing this every year. The intention of these meetings is not to try to scare anybody.”
Speakers will be Florence Police Lt. Tim Chesser; Gil Esparza, a former San Antonio, Texas, gang member and Northern Kentucky University senior; and gang expert Robert L. Enoch, who is CEO of Enoch and Associates.
Mr. Enoch, a former police officer who studied gangs in Chicago, Cleveland and Washington, D.C., said he plans to discuss gang behavior and how to identify the gang members.
“This is something that is occurring in the suburbs,” Mr. Enoch said.
“I think they look at it as an inner-city problem. And quite often, (suburbanites) look at it as an ethnic or racial problem.”
Mr. Enoch also prefers not to describe the problem youths as gang “wannabes.”
“They are potential gang members, and they'll use any means that they can to get that identification,” he said. “We want to make it uncomfortable, (to prevent them) from even thinking about com ing into a community,” he said.
Mr. Esparza, who remembers his uncle being shot and killed during gang violence, said he wants to help fill the gap between the youths and the community.
“I just have a heart for these kids. I just don't want to see them fall through the cracks,” said Mr. Esparza, a member of the newly formed Northern Kentucky Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Council. “Through the grace of God, I've lived to be able to (do) what I'm doing now. I want to be a bridge to these kids.”
IF YOU GO
The conference is 1-5 p.m., Jan. 29 and 30. Day 1, for professionals, is in the Ferguson Room of the Boone Extension Office on Burlington Pike (Ky. 18) and Camp Ernst Road. Day 2, for the public, is in the auditorium of the Florence Police Department on Ewing Boulevard. To reserve a seat by Jan. 27 or for more information, call Barry Drizin at 334-2116.
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