ATLANTA — Georgia’s Attorney General told Channel 2 Action News that every county in Georgia has a gang presence -- and now, they’re recruiting young children.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was at Atlanta Public Schools headquarters Tuesday, where they just created a gang task force.
The sergeant leading the new unit, Ray Price, is taking the gang knowledge he learned from the Atlanta Police Department and walking it right across the street to Atlanta Public Schools.
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“Kids are looking for love and structure, and at the end of the day, some get it from being part of a gang,” Price said.
Price has 25 years of law enforcement experience and has studied gangs in Atlanta for over a decade.
Price told Channel 2 Action News gangs are now starting to recruit kids as early as 5th grade.
“We lose a lot of our youth in that 9th-grade year,” Price said.
That’s part of the reason why Atlanta Public Schools created a new gang unit.
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“These kids go to our schools and we have to pay attention to what things are happening in our schools,” Chief Ronald Applin with APS told Channel 2 Action News. “We recognize that if we do not get ahead of it, we can lose control of it, and we don’t want to do that.”
The new gang unit is going to identify kids involved in gang activity and help them get out by giving them resources to live a better life. The unit will also work with parents on identifying signs early.
APS started a gang prevention program called GREAT back in 2019.
That program combined with the work of the new gang unit should have a huge positive impact on Atlanta Public Schools.
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