(Gang-related graffiti in Downtown Lakewood) New Jersey’s top law enforcement officials say they will target “increasingly sophisticated” white-collar crimes in a stepped-up effort to curtail the growth and expanding influence of gangs. In addition, authorities want not only to take down a gang’s leadership, but to find ways to successfully reintegrate rank-and-file members into society. Speaking in response to the Asbury Park Press’ seven-part series on gangs, which concludes today, Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Division of Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor said the approach to combating the increasingly diverse nature of gang crime will be more aggressive, better coordinated and comprehensive. The Press investigation showed that gang-related white-collar crime is becoming more prevalent, affecting people and businesses in all parts of the state.
“We won’t do it in a one-street approach,” Dow said. “It will be a partnership, a shared responsibility of intel(ligence)-led policing … to address a plague on our community.”
By using existing state and federal statutes and beefing up intelligence-gathering and sharing operations, Dow and Taylor’s plan of attack against “increasingly sophisticated” gang crimes includes:
1) Using information obtained in drug trafficking and weapons probes to uncover other illegal acts. Example: The two-year probe of a Bloods-directed bank fraud case involving college recruits who were not gang members resulted in the indictment last summer of more than two dozen people. Investigators uncovered the scheme during a separate probe.
2) Coordinating and centralizing data from law enforcement at all levels … state, federal, county and local … to take down not just a single gang leader, but an entire leadership structure.
3) Seeking enhanced penalties, including stiffer prison sentences and higher fines, as allowed under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) act for gang-related crimes.
4) Advising the 21 county prosecutors to add the new offense of first-degree criminality to any charges against a defendant committing a crime for the benefit of, or in association with, a criminal street gang. The first-degree criminality charge permits stiffer penalties.
5) Examining the results of a pilot “re-entry” program. Attorney General Dow said details on the new program, aimed at addressing issues faced by gang members when they are released from prison, will be announced next month.
In a separate interview, Gov. Chris Christie said the core of the anti-gang initiatives put into place by Dow and Taylor will be modeled after those enacted by former New York City mayor and U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani.
“We’ll be using state and federal RICO statutes going after gangs,” said Christie, a
former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. “I’d like to see my attorney general using RICO much more aggressively against gangs.”
Christie acknowledged that with budget shortfalls, “this is a time of limited resources.” But the governor said he is determined to see that gang members in prison get vocational training and that those who enter the prison system with drug habits receive rehabilitation services.
Incarcerated gang members also must be prevented from using cell phones to conduct business from behind bars, a problem documented in a probe last year by the State Commission of Investigation.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan said he wants the federal government to pass a law to allow cell phone signals to be jammed in prisons.
“Once you can jam cell signals,” Lanigan said, “contraband is useless. That’s a lot of problems solved with one bill in Congress.”
Criminal Justice chief Taylor said a lot of gang problems can be solved by successful prosecutions of gang hierarchies.
“If you take down the leadership, there is a vacuum,” Taylor said. “If you are arresting 50, 60 people and you’re getting a whole lot of top-level people, it’s not as easy a progression for the lower-level people who are inexperienced in leadership to take over.”
A critical preventive measure is warning schoolchildren about the perils of gang life, Dow said.
“Prevention and education is critical,” Dow said. “There is great demand to have
(experts) come talk to students, parents, educators.”
Kids, in particular, Dow added, are subjected to the constant “glamorization of gangs in music, movies, sports, TV. (Wearing) colors started out as something good … remember your school colors?”
Said Taylor: “We need to educate at the very beginning, to reach the kids, and then do it again for those individuals in gangs who want to get out of gangs.” APP
