Gangs, Drugs & Violence: A Threat to All Communities

Airs: June 26, 2008 1-2pm EDT

Sponsor(s): MCTFT, CADCA

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Odds are you have a street gang in your neighborhood, or close to your home. Throughout the United States, gangs are no longer confined to the large urban communities. They're now originating and functioning in many of the smallest of towns across America. Gang members are now found to be a mixture of ALL races, cultures and ethnicities and in some cases within the same gang.

Too often we hear the phrases, "We don�t have gangs in our community" or "All we have are a bunch of wannabes." The inference here is that since the gangs in communities didn't originate in Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, they aren't real gangs. Nothing could be further from the truth. If a group of youths in your community have banned together and call themselves by a particular name; if they use signs, symbols and or colors; and if they are committing various crimes and dealing drugs; they ARE a gang � regardless of what members of the community say.  No one wants the stigma of having gangs and drugs. However, by denying their existence, the community is doing the gangs a favor - they are allowing them to develop, grow stronger in numbers and develop a power base.

"Gangs, Drugs & Violence: A Threat to All Communities" shows how people across the country are taking a strong stand against gangs, senseless crimes and drugs in their communities. This one hour training broadcast will help concerned citizens identify and understand the severity of gang activity in all communities, drug dealing and its least likely members. This broadcast also focuses on the importance of impressionable children longing for acceptance from their peers, which can be deadly. Communities play an important role in helping to protect the safety of children and neighborhoods. We'll travel to a city where the school police task force is working with the community to be proactive with youth.

Gang experts will discuss current trends and how education is vital for strength and awareness.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how "My Space" and other web sites are widely used and how they're utilized for gaining vital information.

• See how school officials are proactive in combating student gang and drug activity.

•  Hear from real gang members from middle class families and how they operate at such young ages.

• Lean how gangs are populating small towns and what communities are doing to keep them safe from increasing violence.

• Hear how denial can be catastrophic and deadly and why parents are speaking out.

• Understand the power and control of gangs.

Target Audiences: Primary target audiences for this program will include high school students, teachers, parents, law enforcement officials, drug prevention specialists, Drug-Free Communities Act grantees, administrators, school drug counselors, treatment providers, drug court members, policy makers, business leaders, coalition volunteers, drug demand reduction coordinators, criminal justice professionals, members of the religious community and other community partners who may be interested. This program is also suitable for Public or Cable Access television distribution.

Content Providers:

Harold Rochon, Lieutenant and Commanding Officer of the Violent Crimes Task Force; Detroit Michigan.

Lieutenant Rochon began his law enforcement career in 1985 with the Detroit Police Department and has worked with gangs since 1986. Lt. Rochon has been assigned to the operations Safe Home Task Force with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Gang Task Force, Undercover Gang Intelligence Unit and Office of Inspector General Housing and Urban Development. Lt. Rochon is also the author of the book �Terrorists in Designer Jeans�. Lt. Rochon has taught Narcotics Officer Training and Advanced Narcotics Training School. He has also instructed for the Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Attorney�s Office, the National Law Enforcement Institute, the Detroit Police Department, the Undercover Law Enforcement Association, the Tri-County Law Enforcement Officers and many colleges, universities, community groups and churches. Lt. Rochon travels throughout the United States as an instructor for the Multijurisdictional Counter Drug Task Force Training (MCTFT).

Lieutenant Rochon earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Anderson College in Michigan. He is certified by the U.S. Department of Justice for instruction.

Marshall DePew, Lieutenant assigned as Special Assistant to the Chief: Community Crime Reduction Strategies: Indianapolis, Indiana.

Lieutenant DePew is a 24 year veteran of the police department. As supervisor of the Narcotics & Neighborhood Resource Office (NRO) he directed a strong proactive effort to combat crime concerns. He has been involved in Weed & Seed since WESCO was selected as Indianapolis' first site. Marshall worked uniform patrol for five years. During his assignment to the Narcotics Branch he led the office in arrests for seven straight years. Following his promotion to Sergeant in 1994 he was assigned to direct the newly created NRO unit. In its first nine months the group made 700 arrests and it was a catalyst for numerous improvements. He has helped design and manage a variety of innovative projects including firearms reduction, anti-gang initiatives and street level narcotics enforcement.

In February 2008 Lieutenant DePew was selected to be Special Assistant to the Chief of Police. He is in charge of Community Crime Reduction Strategies, a newly created citywide position. He works with all areas of the department to develop effective tailor- made initiatives to combat crime issues.

He has spoken at various training conferences in the US and Canada. He is a 2006 recipient of the Michael K Connor Public Service Award. Lt DePew has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati.

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