Jackson County Sheriff Janice Mangum joined WDUN’s The Martha Zoller Show Wednesday to discuss what tactics are being used to help prevent gang growth in Georgia.
As gangs continue to grow nationwide and in Georgia, efforts are being made to combat that growth by keeping kids off the streets. Attorney General Chris Carr was joined by law enforcement agencies from all over the Peach State earlier this week to discuss how they can best prevent gang activity.
Mangum brought the lessons she took from the meeting into a discussion with WDUN’s Martha Zoller on The Marth Zoller Show Wednesday morning.
“I see a lot of things happening with our young people,” Mangum said. “And they're recruiting these kids at younger ages, as young as 11, and even under 11. So that's what I took from the meeting, there was a lot of people in there, a lot of resources and partnerships, it's really good to have that [so] you can network together to try to stop this and keep our children safe.”
Zoller expressed concern for the ebb and flow of gang activity since the 90s, stating her hope for some more effective change. More specifically, she asked how parents and community members can be aware of how gangs are doing their recruiting.
“I do think parents need to be aware of what's going on with their children, through their phones, their social media, because I do think these gang members are trying to get our children because as young as 11 and younger, they know there's not going to be any jailing of those young kids,” Mangum said. “And I think they're using our children in these gangs, which is a sad thing.”
It is common for communities toward the northern end of Georgia to be more removed from concerns like gang activity. Often enough, gangs are more popular in higher-density areas. However, Mangum said gang-style activity is creeping into areas like Jackson County, so it’s important to be aware of their tactics.
“We're vigilant and trying to investigate these things and make sure that we get a handle on it,” Mangum said. “We have had a case in the past with some gang colors and stuff and trying to get our kids and we tried to put a stop to that right away where there was an investigation and we were able to make an arrest.”
Mangum said Jackson County even experiences gang-related graffiti.
“But it is here, we see tagging and we take care of that when we see it here in Jackson County on our bridges are our signs,” Mangum said. “And as soon as we see that we get that removed and taken care of and we're going to fight with everything we got to protect our kids.”
