by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“This is not just about the black community, this is about the entire community. We have to be together,” said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum to the attendees at the 24th National Conference on Preventing Crime in the Black Community which is being held this week at the Hyatt.
The gathering of elected and appointed government officials, law enforcement officials, social service providers, community advocates and young people is held each year to “explore new ideas on how to combat crime in the African-American community,” said Darrell Daniels, director of Derrick Brooks Charities Youth Programs in Tampa, who has been attending the conference each year for the past 20 years.
After quoting a long list of statistics regarding crime in the African-American community included that there is a “disparate number of African-American males in our jails and prisons,” McCollum said, “While it’s important to recognize statistics it’s more important to do something about it.”
McCollum also talked about gang activity and its impact on crime in all communities. In particular he said it’s not limited to a single ethnic group.
“There are currently 1,500 gangs in Florida with about 50,000 members. It’s one-third Hispanic, one-third White and one-third African-American,” he said. “Gangs are the primary retail outlet of drugs as well as retail theft and domestic violence.”
McCollum then addressed the several hundred middle and high school students in the audience.
“Gangs are recruiting young people at 10 years old,” he said. “They are promising them bicycles their parents can’t provide or offering $10 to a young person with no money in his pocket to be a lookout. Pretty soon you’re part of a gang. We have to focus on young people to prevent gangs and gang violence and we need partnerships with every organization involved with at-risk youth.”
State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Angela Corey also talked about the need to reach kids at a young age and prevent them from seeking a life of crime.
“We’ve got to save our children,” she said. “They don’t deserve to be the next ones hurt or the next ones victimized by crime.”
McCollum said the two-day conference with dozens of topic-specific workshops and exhibits from a wide array of social service and law enforcement agencies is an opportunity for learning.
“I think the biggest thing you can take out of this conference is your commitment to be the best you can and make a difference,” said McCollum. “If you take just one idea from here and take it back to your community your life will be better.”
Daniels said he and other people who attended the conference this year are committed to coming back as many times as it takes to improve conditions in the lives of African-Americans.
“Crime in the black community does not take a rest,” said Daniels. “I come to the conference each year to have the chance to get new ideas on how to combat crime in the African-American community.
“When we can stop young men from throwing babies out of cars on the Interstate, when we can stop a gang from putting 58 rounds into a house in Tampa and murdering a baby over a fight that happened two years ago, when we can stop a young man from shooting a football player over an altercation that took place in a club months earlier — until we can eradicate those problems we’ll have this conference.”
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