Assemblyman Johnson to Host Friday Gang Summit

JOHNSON TO HOST FRIDAY GANG SUMMIT
Conference Will Examine Growing Street Gang Problem in North Jersey
 
(ENGLEWOOD) - Law enforcement experts, community advocates and religious leaders are among the individuals who are expected to participate in a special Legislative Gang Summit that Bergen County Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson is organizing for this Friday.

The Gang Summit will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 20th,
at the Englewood Municipal Court Complex, 73 South Van Brunt St., Englewood.

"The street gang phenomenon is destroying neighborhoods, terrorizing residents, corrupting our youth, and driving up our state's murder rates," said Johnson (D-Englewood).  "All sectors of society need to work together in confronting the growing menace of street gangs in our communities."

Johnson said he organized the summit in an effort to raise public awareness of street gangs and promote discussion of strategies to combat the problem.

 Johnson, the newly appointed Chairman of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, called for the summit to address issues raised by the New Jersey Gangland Security Task Force, which found that the state lacks a reliable way of identifying and tracking gang-related crimes.

The most recent of such reports by the New Jersey State Police said that 148 distinct gangs operate in New Jersey, and gang membership has more than doubled from 7,500 members in 2001 to 17,000 in 2004.  Police say the gang problem is contributing to rising homicide rates in New Jersey's largest cities.

Johnson said a panel of 12 legislators from North Jersey - including Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (both D-Bergen) have been invited to sit on the summit panel.

The list of invited speakers for the four-hour session includes the following:
· Lt. Earl Graves - Essex County Prosecutor's Office - Gang Specialist/National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE);
· Jiles Ship - Attorney General's Office/NOBLE/NJ Association of Criminal Justice;
· H. Lawrence "Buzz" Wilson - Men & Women for Justice;
· Retired Bergen County Sheriff's Officer Joe Viola - State Gangland Security Task Force;
· Dr. Craig Piper, M.D. - State Gangland Security Task Force;
· Dr. Duane Dyson - Violence Prevention Institute - State Gangland Security Task Force;
· Rev. Dr. John H. Spencer, Jr., Pastor - First Baptist Church of Englewood;
· Rev. Dr. Lester W. Taylor, Pastor - Community Baptist Church of Englewood;
· Rev. Dr. Calvin McKinney, Pastor - Calvary Baptist Church of Garfield.

For more information on the Legislative Gang Summit, please contact Yvette Roland, Assemblyman Johnson's Chief of Staff, at 201-541-1118.

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