Taking on Gangland: Using money and politics to get tough on Edgewood
February 8, 2008
Tired of watching the unstemmed blood flowing from Edgewood? So too are a contingent of elected officials who let loose this week with a flood of proposed legislation, millions of dollars in federal funding and renewed resolve to wash Edgewood and Harford County clean of its gang infestation.
But can this latest attempt to flush out Edgewood’s growing number of Bloods and Crips, of which the state now says there are more than 300 members in Harford County, succeed where so many others have failed (see: Harford County Sheriff’s Office Southern Precinct, Guardian Angels patrol, Community Watch program, State Police Activity League Center, etc)?
A series of eight separate bills introduced within the last week by state Sen. Nancy Jacobs aim to hit gangs where it hurts - seizing their property, charging their young members as adults rather than juveniles and stretching out the sentences of gang members convicted of crimes - while a new Gang Elimination Task Force, created with nearly $3 million in federal funding, was also announced this week. Continue reading Taking on Gangland: Using money and politics to get tough on Edgewood
