Gangs a problem in small towns

LAGRANGE, Ga. - Authorities said gangs are no longer just an inner city problem and it exists in small towns too.

Sergeant Mark Cavender with the LaGrange Gang Unit knows the streets of LaGrange and said the structure for gangs in their city has always existed and serves as a breeding ground for well organized criminal street gangs associated with larger cities in search of existing structure in small towns.

"You've already got the structure and the foundation, we're going to give you the backing and the support of the Rollin 60 Crips or the Pyru Bloods," said Sgt. Mark Cavender.

Sgt. Cavender said they also look out for gang members who migrate from other areas into Georgia and LaGrange.

"They do have their local leaders, but we do have evidence that suggests there is funding as well as reporting back to and even taking orders from other nationally known gangs," said Sgt. Cavender.

Investigators said the best recruiting tools are fear, intimidation, and the chance for fatherless boys to feel a sense of belonging.

"Kids who have little to no involvement, family involvement at home, these gangs will give them that. they'll give them that family feeling, that you belong to us," said Sgt. Cavender.

Sgt. Cavender said arresting people will not solve the gang problem; the only way to change the problem is to change the thinking.

"Sports activities and people taking time with them other than the gangs or the crime side and mentoring them along the way and helping them," said Sgt. Cavender.

Help is what some LaGrange teenagers got back in July.   14-year-old Demond and Deion Woodard and 13-year-old Jalen Parham and Dylik Smith said they were approached by a gang member at the LaGrange Housing Authority's basketball court.

"They kept asking us and we kept saying no,' said Dylik Smith.

"I do not want to die," said Deion Woodard.  "It's a lot of people getting killed and stuff over gangs and going to jail and I do not want any of that."

The teenagers asked the CEO of the LaGrange Housing Authority, Zsa Zsa Heard for jobs.  Heard said when she realized why they wanted jobs she hired them on the spot.

Heard knows there are other kids out there who need help and as hard as it is, she has had to turn children away because they simply do not have the space.

 "We lose them, so that's concerning because I've heard the teacher say these were really good kids, and we lost them," said Heard.

Heard believes there is a lack of programs in the community and feels if there were more community engagement, mentoring and education program in elementary schools, children would have an alternative.

 "We're hoping to capture them now at 5, 6, and 7 so, when they become a teenager, that desire to be in a gang is not even there," said Heard.

The four teenagers Heard hired are now smiling, laughing and grateful for the opportunities they've received and the chance to make a difference in other kids lives.

"Everybody gets to that point in their life where you've got to go left or right and it just depends on which way we go," said Sgt. Cavender. "But if we don't have anybody trying to direct us and guide us, which way to go and leave it up to us in our 13-year-old mind, then who is really to blame at the end of the day if that 13-year-old goes the wrong way?"