Pallone bill aims to curtail gang violence

Pallone bill aims to curtail gang violence
Ferraina: School district programs aim at preventing gang influence
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
With replicate bills being introduced in the U.S. Congress, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D- 6th District) is hoping to mount a fourpronged attack on gangs throughout the country.

An impromptu memorial with gang-related symbols marked the site of a homicide 2006. ERIC SUCAR staff An impromptu memorial with gang-related symbols marked the site of a homicide 2006. ERIC SUCAR staff Pallone introduced the Fighting Gangs and Empowering Youth Act of 2010 (H.R. 5969) in the U.S. House of Representatives last week and expects a vote to take place sometime after Congress reconvenes in September following a month’s recess.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced a replicate bill, which has yet to be assigned a number, in the U.S. Senate at the same time.

In a press release last week Menendez explained the aim of the bill.

“From our cities to our suburbs and beyond, families, police, prosecutors are at war with gangs, and we need to give them full support from the federal level,” he said. “That means not only giving them the tools to crack down harder on gang activity, but also developing the activities, mentoring and job opportunities to steer youth and ex-gang members away from that destructive lifestyle.

“This has become a pervasive problem in need of a comprehensive solution, and that’s what we want to help deliver.”

Pallone in an interview last week described the four parts of the bill.

“This is designed to address gang violence in four ways,” he said. “One is prevention, by providing programs and alternatives to kids.

“So after school they can go to a YMCA or Boys [and Girls] Club or do some kind of educational or job training so they don’t get involved with gangs.”

Pallone described the second part of the proposed bill, which focuses on preventing those incarcerated for gang involvement from returning to that lifestyle after they serve their time.

Job training, education and helping them keep in touch with their families are key to preventing recidivism, he said.

“If you leave prison and you don’t have a family to go back to, oftentimes the gang becomes your family,” he said.

Pallone said the final two parts of the bill deal with funding anti-gang initiatives.

“The third thing is increased funding to towns for police, so that they can put police in areas that have high gang activity,” he said. “The last thing is federal dollars for data information, so we can track and have intelligence about gangs and where they are and what they’re doing.”

Pallone, whose district includes Long Branch, Red Bank and Asbury Park, said the problem of gangs is spreading from the cities to the suburbs.

“We have an increase in gang violence throughout the state, not just in cities but also suburban areas,” Pallone said. “There is some indication that because the gun trade and the drug trade is more lucrative in suburban areas, a lot of the gangs that were in the city are moving into the suburbs.

“I think the perception is that gang recruitment and gang violence only take place in major cities, but gang violence is becoming more prevalent in communities throughout New Jersey and across the country.”

Pallone credited Long Branch for holding community meetings that included representatives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Long Branch School Superintendent Joseph Ferraina.

Pallone also said that a large factor in gang prevention is community involvement.

“A big part of this is getting the community involved,” he said. “If the community is watching out and identifying gang activity, that is a big part of preventing the violence.”

Ferraina described some of the efforts the school district has made in preventing students from joining gangs.

“We try to educate the students, the parents and the staff on proper measures of dealing with gangs and preventing gang behavior,” Ferraina said. “Years of experience has taught us that policing our way out of the gangs is really not the answer.

“You just can’t think you’re going to arrest people and that is going to solve the problem,” he added. “We are starting at the age of 3 and continue through high school.”

Ferraina said that the district’s curriculum includes social development and developing communication between parents, teachers and students.

Ferraina also said the district tries to give students extracurricular programs and

sports to help fill the void that a gang might fill.

“The gangs get their foothold because they give something to the children,” he said. “They really try to fill a void for that child.

“Gangs will always have a place unless we are able to reach children and make them feel comfortable in their own skin.”

Ferraina said that there are many different programs and assemblies at all of the district schools to try to educate students about the risk of joining gangs.

He also said the battle against gangs does not necessarily involve the gangs themselves.

“Our battle is not with the gangs, our battle is with us filling the void that has students joining gangs,” he said. “Each person is different, and that is what people don’t understand about education.

“Everybody talks about reading, writing or math, but in schools today we do so much more,” he added. “We really are preventing many major problems that cost the taxpayers.”

Pallone’s bill came the same week that many towns, including Long Branch, Red Bank and Tinton Falls, held events in conjunction with the national Night Out Against Crime, a night aimed at bringing the police departments and their communities together.

Pallone himself attended a National Night Out event in Piscataway, as well as a community forum in Plainfield to discuss a recent string of murders.

While Pallone spoke mostly about New Jersey, he said the problem stretches across the country.

“I highlight the importance of New Jersey, but this is happening all over the country,” he said. “This affects every part of the country, so there is a lot of interest in other states too.”

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.





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