Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Wednesday announced a new anti-gang initiative, Gang Free Kansas, reports the Wichita Eagle. The plan is patterned after the Wichita Crime Commission's 2-year-old program, Gang Free Wichita. The goals of the Kansas initiative are to keep youth from joining gangs and to educate the community on ways to identify and report gang activity. The National Gang Intelligence Center has reported that 48 percent of violent crime nationwide has a gang connection, Schmidt said.
Schmidt said he envisions Gang Free Kansas as grassroots coalitions communicating with each other to reduce or eliminate the gang influence around the state. Members of the Wichita Crime Commission have been working with the attorney general's office for several months to create the framework for the program. There are resources in Spanish and Vietnamese as well as English, Schmidt said. Gang Free Wichita offers information about street gangs and their impact on society, as well as warning signs for parents.