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Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Perry, Cornyn praise gang legislation
By RENAE MERLE
Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN (AP) - New laws strengthening the power of local law
enforcement authorities should hinder the proliferation of gangs
in urban and rural Texas, Attorney General John Cornyn said Tuesday.
"I don't have to tell you that criminals are always trying
to evade jurisdictions, always seeking the weak link in our chain,"
Cornyn told the Texas Gang Investigators Association.
"Increasingly we see the migration of gangs from urban
to suburban to rural areas."
The number of gang members in Texas has steadily increased,
Cornyn said, with the latest estimates putting the total around
85,000.
"Because of the size, scope and seriousness of the gang
problem I believe my office needed to evolve from information
gathering to prevention and now active assistance," Cornyn
said.
Adding to the problem, he said, is that some gangs now use
the Internet to get their messages out.
It's important for law enforcement to learn to use that information
to investigate and prosecute gang activities, he said.
Lawmakers passed a variety of bills to strengthen the push
against gang violence, including one directing the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice to notify local law enforcement when known
gang members are released from prison into their jurisdictions.
The state will provide specialized training to help parole
officers monitor and supervise those individuals, said Lt. Gov.
Rick Perry.
"I know that gangs are a cancer on Texas, destroying innocent
lives and introducing our young people to a lifetime of crime
and hopelessness," Perry said.
Lawmakers passed a package of anti-gang laws "tackling
gang crime like a doctor would tackle cancer - with prevention,
early detection and aggressive treatment," Perry said.
"To gang leaders and other criminals across Texas the
message is simple - you have terrorized our neighborhoods and
communities for too long," he said.
Perry cited a new law creating a statewide anti-gang database,
which will allow law enforcement from across the state to share
intelligence about individual gang members.
The database "will tighten the law enforcement net around
those gang members who would threaten our families and our communities,"
Perry said.
The attorney general's office also plans to unveil the Gang
Resource web site on the Internet by the end of the year, Cornyn
said.
The web site will not have information about individual members,
but will give law enforcement quick glances of certain groups,
including common identifiers, enemies and alliances, he said.
Officers will be able to use the web site to reach out to law
enforcement in other cities, he said.
Just as important as the laws enhancing penalties for gang
activity are the measures passed by lawmakers that take a preventative
tone, including some that encourage after-school centers, Perry
said.
"Giving young men and women an alternative to joining
gangs will work. We know it works and just really need to see
these really proliferate across the state of Texas," Perry
said.
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