Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools officials unveiled what they called their first comprehensive report on gangs, identifying about 70 gangs with 450 members in local schools, reports the Charlotte Observer. The report included groups with such names as the Beatties Ford Bloods, the Latin Dragon Nation, and the Laotian Crips. School board member Larry Gauvreau noted that the report identifies gangs by name, and urged expulsion of their members.
Officials who put the report together cautioned that the gangs aren’t the kind of violent, organized, notorious gangs that plague larger cities such as Los Angeles. Only about 1 percent of the 2,300 students who face disciplinary hearings in a year are involved in gang activity. School board member Kaye McGarry said, “This is in our schools and we’re not doing enough about it. Acknowledging it and confronting it – that’s the first step in doing anything about it.”
Link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/100/story/124279.html