Come All Ye Faithful to Solve Gang Problem
Shutterstock
Young gangsters are bringing together people of faith.
Gangs have infested Hartford and many of the gangsters haven’t even started high school, according to a Hartford Police memo. Now people of faith are turning on the pressure to put an end to the violence.
Faith leaders have organized as a group called Just Peace and they are meeting on Tuesday morning to address urban violence and discuss what they feel needs to be done to put a stop to it.
It’s long past due for the entire community to work together to put an end to the corruption of young people, they said.
Part of the clergy’s concern is an increase in street violence. Another part is what was revealed in an internal Hartford police memo -- that Hartford has a gang infestation crisis at the city's middle schools and that the city has more than 138 street gangs with 4,000 members.
The memo, which secured the city $500,000 in grant money for youth programs,
also said gang recruitment was at an all-time high. Hartford officials have been at odds over whether the memo overstated the problem.
People who work with at-risk youth say gangs are attractive because the kids are unskilled and bored.
Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez said the city is working to change that.
Posted Tuesday, Oct 27, 2009 - 7:26 AM EST
Top Stories
