North Charleston again gets gang-prevention grant
By Noah Haglund (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, September 13, 2007


Federal officials have renewed a grant to help North Charleston's gang-prevention efforts for the second year in a row.

The nearly $70,000 will pay for one of two officers assigned to disrupt gang recruitment and scrutinize graffiti. North Charleston is among 16 law enforcement agencies in South Carolina receiving part of the grant money, which totals more than $700,000 statewide, the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Carolina said.

Police Chief Jon Zumalt said the money will help the department keep gangs from taking root.

"We don't have the entrenched violent street gangs here, and I intend to keep it that way," Zumalt said. "That's the reason for the grant — to stay ahead of it, to try to keep it from becoming a problem."

North Charleston has seen homicides, robberies and drive-by shootings. So far, most of the crime is loosely organized.

It's occasionally affiliated with a neighborhood group but not organized crime.

Police have, however, arrested some members of the notorious MS-13 street gang, who were eventually deported, Zumalt said. Without countermeasures, at-risk youths could be targets for recruitment, he said.

When he worked in Wichita, Kan., Zumalt saw gangs arrive in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Years later, the community is still battling them, he said. Now he's hearing about the same thing in South Carolina cities.

"Columbia has already started to have homicides as the result of gangs, and I don't want it to creep in down here," he said.

The grants are part of Project CeaseFire, South Carolina's part of a federal initiative designed to reduce gun violence.

The North Charleston Police Department is the only recipient in the tri-county area. The only other agency in the Lowcountry was the Bluffton Police Department.

Reach Noah Haglund at 937-5550 or nhaglund@post andcourier.com.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep ... ion_15734/