Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ Citywide Gang violence ramped up in a major way in 2014 leading to a rash of murders, shootings, paybacks and the growth of Salisbury’s gang-related drug epidemic involving heroin, crack, and meth. Gang violence penetrated the Rowan-Salisbury Schools in Salisbury with a shooting at Salisbury High School and numerous lockdowns during the year.
The murder and violent crime epidemic ratcheted up in Salisbury with most of it attributed to the city’s numerous gangs. Just about every neighborhood in Salisbury has been affected by shootings, drive-byes, break-ins, brutal assaults, and the sale of heroin, crack, and meth. Salisbury has become infamous for its heightened gang activity and the city’s limited response to it except to open a questionable part-time substation in the violence plagued West End. Local neighborhood activist William Peoples reported he seldom sees much in the way of substantive patrol in the city’s West End community likely due to the city’s undermanned police department. William Peoples is none too happy with the city’s lack of response to the West End’s need for safety street lighting. In city hall’s budget they prioritized funding for a bike lane over the West End’s need for safety street lights.
It’s pretty well accepted among those who study urban gang activity about what works with diminishing gang activity. Look at any major city that has some success with overcoming gangs. Here are the most common solutions based on “prevention” rather than “cure” (The city of Salisbury is absent here):
• Assist parents and key care givers to understand their parenting/nurturing role and how to be more effective at it. Gang life has its roots in early home life. Finding adults who can help in filling in the gaps for absent parents.
• Very important is providing interesting, stimulating, and meaningful activities for young people’s involvement. These activities displace gang activities and enhance the probability of a teenager getting turned on by the power of stimulating interests leading to a healthy lifestyle and a future. After school activities, libraries, clubs, ball teams, playgrounds are of major importance. Make sure your community has them. Get in city halls ear.
• Gangs provide protection from rival gangs. Find out ways a teenager can find protection other than resorting to gangs.
• Gangs are a source of status through membership and being a leader in a gang. Find out how to achieve status and leadership roles outside of gangs.
• Develop mentoring programs for teenagers with adults they respect and admire. Such a mentor is achieving through work and a lifestyle that is legal and comes from a similar background as the youngster being mentored.
• Gangs provide affiliation, a sense of being a part of something. So do athletic teams, church groups, and clubs. Make sure teenagers have access to these alternatives. Is your community lacking athletic facilities and playgrounds? Make sure city hall knows about your community’s needs.
• Make sure after school programs and recreation areas are safe and gang free or else gang influence will be present.
Salisbury gangs main business enterprise is drugs. Currently Salisbury is suffering from an epidemic of heroin, crack, and meth (now a growing favorite in minority neighborhoods).
