Gang intervention needed now

A handful of Burke County teens have been charged with or are suspected in a dozen armed robberies in three counties.

Four have been arrested, to the surprise of their unsuspecting families and friends, and are facing the possibility of many years of hard time. According to Richmond County authorities, the young toughs were trying to gain rank in K9, their new gang modeled after the big national criminal organizations.

This incident should open the eyes of community leaders to the fact that gang activity here is real, it is growing and it is a threat to the safety and welfare of our citizens.

Communities all over the country have been forced to allocate resources to gang intervention programs and it's time for us to do the same. The Burke County Sheriff's Office should take the lead in forming a county-wide gang task force with the involvement of all local police departments.

Gang activity grows out of environments where young people have little or no supervision, organized activities or positive role models. Its prevention will require the effort of parents, teachers, churches, civic organizations and private citizens.

There are groups as nearby as Augusta which can provide leadership for this effort and they are eager to do so. Obviously county lines are no barrier to criminal activity.

If we don't recognize the presence of gang activity in our neighborhoods and schools and then do something about it, we are inviting big city crime into small town Georgia.

It may be too late for the four young men who have just been arrested, but it's not for dozens of others who are watching from the sidelines.