By Barbara Boyer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA — Teen gangsters in South Philadelphia got a stern warning yesterday from Administrative Judge Kevin M. Dougherty: Land in court and expect to “kiss your mother goodbye” — because street violence will no longer be tolerated.
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who has been hosting town meetings this week throughout the city to collect crime-fighting ideas, accompanied Dougherty at a news conference and said he hoped a new project - the Juvenile Gang and Violence Intervention Program — would be successful and then be implemented citywide.
The program teams 17th District police officers with the Philadelphia Family Court’s Juvenile Probation Department. At any given time, about 6,000 youths are on probation, said James Sharp, the city’s chief probation officer.
The goal of the program is to share information that will be used to identify groups of youths involved with violent crime and to increase probation supervision or lock up those who continue offending.
Gang activity in South Philadelphia has increased in recent years, with the Bloods and the Crips actively recruiting, officials said.
“We now proactively seek out those who seek to destroy the fabric of our community,” Dougherty said, standing with Sharp and the 17th District commanders, Inspector Stephen Johnson and Capt. Kevin Bethel.
“Those juveniles who continue their path of crime and violence need to know: We are united and we know who you are,” Dougherty said. “To echo the comments of Mayor Nutter, enough is enough.”
Johnson said the 17th District was selected for the program because the number of young people shot there was twice as high as in any other district. Last year, the district had more than 800 violent crimes reported, including 167 gun assaults.
Bethel said that numerous arrests already had been made and that drugs and guns had been confiscated.
“We’re going to change the quality of life in this community,” Bethel said. “These guys can’t just run up and down the street shooting.”
Much of the crime, officials said, centered around gang activity and groups of neighborhood youths clashing with organized gangs.
Capt. Charles Bloom of the Criminal Intelligence Unit said the Bloods and the Crips were focused on making money, with much of their activity based on drugs.
Copyright 2008 The Philadelphia Inquirer