Gang War: Bangin' In Little Rock

Meet a Real Hero from Pine Bluff, AR- Sgt. Richard Davies

2009-07-08T13:12:00.001-05:00

Hope In Action! Excellent Gang Prevention and Intervention Ideas

2009-06-29T06:54:00.002-05:00

This video is from several years ago but still has a most timely message. It is about 30 minutes long but I encourage you to watch it especially if you are looking for some creative intervention and prevention ideas. Onward!

Arkansas Youth Challenge- From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

2009-06-20T06:39:00.001-05:00

Guard program helps teens change lives

Classes, service projects put graduates on right path, families say

By Evin Demirel

Saturday, June 20, 2009

LITTLE ROCK — Sixteen-year-old McKenzie McGeahy knew she needed to change direction.

In Harrison, she had been “running with the wrong crowd” - drinking, using drugs - until her mother, Cynthia McGeahy, learned about the Arkansas National Guard Youth Challenge online and signed her daughter up for the 22-week program.

On Thursday, McGeahy joined 57 other teenagers graduating in the program’s 32nd class at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Cadets marched in lock step through friends and family packed into Davis auditorium to receive diplomas, awards and scholarships.

Heads held high, they “left faced” on shined black boots.

“She’s a lot more respectful of people,” Cynthia McGeahy said afterward.

“Yes, ma’am,” her smiling daughter said.

The program, designed for 16- to 19-year-olds who are high school dropouts or in jeopardy of dropping out, provides students with 200 hours of basic high school math, reading and writing that can lead to high school diplomas or General Educational Development diplomas.

Sponsored by the Arkansas National Guard in conjunction with the governor’s office andthe state Department of Education, the program stresses academic, social and physical development. It aims to produce “a well-rounded individual,” said program director Robin Gifford.

The cadets wake up at 5 a.m. on school days to exercise, then have normal school hours before retiring to do homework.

“When we’d get back to the barracks, we’d study for hours,” said Jade Byrd, 17, of Fayetteville, who said she was four grades behind at the program’s start.

She has since improved by three grade levels, mostly by honing her math skills, shesaid.

Overall, the graduates improved their scores by an average of 1.5 grades, Gifford added.

Every Thursday, cadets performed community service including helping disabled children, walking dogs from animal shelters and working at food banks. They also were involved in local cleanups and clothing donations, McGeahy and Gifford said. Altogether, the graduates logged 4,292 hours of community service. The cadets were required to put in 48 hours each,Gifford said. They averaged 74.

Such activities helped the teens mature, cadets and family members agreed.

Shealese Washington of Brinkley said her son, cadet Darion Washington, 16, was failing school and was disrespectful to older family members.

Sensing that Darion was headed for deeper trouble she entered her son into the program as a “preventative measure.”

Now, the teen “respects himself” and “values others’ opinions,” she said.

His new found goals include getting a job, earning a GED and one day entering the U.S. Air Force.

Twenty-nine cadets earned their GEDs, four joined the Arkansas Army National Guard and one joined the U.S. Navy during the program, Gifford said.

Many others, though, intended to earn their diploma or join the military, she said.

Mentors guide the cadets for one year after their graduation, she added. By the end of that year, about 85 percent of the students are working, going to school or in the military.

McGeahy plans to join the Air Force and then attend college to practice obstetrics and gynecology. McGeahy, who said she used to boss around her six siblings too much, is confident that she now controls her future.

Arkansas, Pages 11, 17 on 06/20/2009

Join the Gang War Group

2009-06-07T06:10:00.000-05:00

Join my discussion group by clicking here.

Need a speaker?

2009-06-04T17:18:00.005-05:00

Do you need an inspirational and motivational keynote presentation for your conference or training? Contact me for several available public and private presentations that have been developed over the years. Click here for more information. CEUs available for most disciplines.

What others have said:

Thank you for your excellent presentation to the Adjutants General National Security Seminar. Your insights on the dynamics of street gangs were well received by the seminar participants. Your lecture was timely, thorough and exceptionally thought provoking and set the stage for additional discussion within the group. We look forward to your return to the Army War College in the future.” John F. Connelly, Colonel, U.S. Army Acting Commandant U. S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania

This program is extremely informative and insightful for the novice. It really enlightened me and illustrated what gangs are all about.” Phillip J. George, School Psychologist Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, Massachusetts

"Steve doesn't just talk to kids, he shares with them. They open up to him, because he knows what he's talking about. His sincerity and concern are obvious to kids..." Dr. Ridge Hammons, Corpus Christi (TX) schools

"Your assembly made me realize violence is not just isolated to big cities and you also inspired me to try and start a conflict mediation group in our school. Thanks for caring about us." 10th grade student, Lathrop High School, Fairbanks, Alaska

"...the students I've talked to after you left were very positive about your visit with us. The ones I have in class who talk of gangs, etc. were very quiet...This is the third time I have heard you speak. Each time I am moved." M.A. DuMond, teacher, DeWitt (AR) high school.

"The response has not just been good from the parents but also from the kids. I have never and probably will never again see one person command 800 seventh and eighth graders without the use of a microphone. ... A lot of good things came from your visit to Lauderdale County. You showed us the facts but also gave us solutions that might work in our community. One thing is certain. We will never be the same." Margy Neil, Chairman of The Violence Stops Here, Ripley, TN.

"...I think we are too quick to say, it's not my problem. Instead we need to change our attitudes and try to do something positive and take back our communities. We should follow the example of Mr. Nawojczyk and get up and go out and do something..." 12th grade student, St. Mary's Academy, New Orleans, LA.

"You are such a strong yet humble speaker. It is interesting to see how you never get in the way of the message. The stories can stand on their own but your strong exhortations come through very clearly." Carol Martin, director STEP/Excel program (AR)

"...I really liked Mr. Nawojczyk, he made me think about things going on around me...I am going to try and be a good role model for my little brother and sister now." 8th grade student, Rose City Jr. HIgh School, AR

Kool Aid Interview

2009-06-04T09:22:00.001-05:00

"Kool-Aid" aka Benjamin Hopkins was a teen when he was involved in the Folk gang scene in the Arkansas area. He appeared briefly in the HBO documentary, Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock. Shortly after it aired, Benjamin was sentenced to prison. These are some of his thoughts...

Benton County (AR) Does PAL

2009-06-04T07:52:00.000-05:00

The Benton County Sheriff's Department has started a Police Activities League (PAL) in Northwest Arkansas.

This is only the second department in Arkansas to have a PAL program.

North Little Rock's PAL has been operational for over ten years with huge success. Good luck to the Benton County Sheriff's Department on this most exciting adventure. The youth of Benton County are the true winners.

Click here to watch a news story about it.

Went to Boys State Again Today-- Here is an article I wrote a couple of years ago--

2009-06-03T16:34:00.002-05:00

During the first week of June for the last 16 years I have loaded up in my car and traveled the 30 miles to Conway for my yearly rejuvenation.

Back when the gang violence was at epidemic proportions, I was serving as the Pulaski County coroner and had developed a national reputation as being one who was knowledgeable in the dynamics of gangs.

For some reason, the people who put on the American Legion Boys State each year thought my message would be a good one for the thousand or so high school juniors from around the state to hear.

My first year, I was a nervous wreck. I knew that high school boys are always some of the hardest to reach. I labored over the content of my talk and finally settled on just being myself. I would simply tell them of my “conversion” from being a person who felt the answer to the gang problem was more jails, tougher laws and meaner cops to a person who understood that in order to effectively deal with the problem communities must balance suppression and enforcement with prevention, intervention and treatment programs.

I told them stories of young mothers who I had to sit with and counsel them over the loss of a child. I told of how families struggled to get through the life-changing events caused by a child who made a poor decision.

I encouraged the Boys Staters to engage in some sort of public service as a career. If they weren’t destined for that, I told them to stay involved in their community. I challenged them to become “agents of change” for their generation.

After my first speech to them those long years ago, I got a five minute standing ovation that brought me to tears. It seemed to go on forever. The fires of my hope for the next generation was stoked. And, it gets stoked each year.

I always learn more from the young men at Boys State than I teach them. I don’t teach really, I just reflect on my nearly 25 years of studying death. After all, what you do when you study death is done to benefit the living.

I look forward to many more years of my trek to UCA and the feeling of hope in my heart that is always greater on the trip home than it was the trip up.

Next week, a trip to the delta country and a completely different set of young men.

The following Tuesday, I was headed the other direction from North Little Rock. This time I was making my 9th trip to the Tucker Maximum Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections to speak to the 9th class of the U.N.I-TY program. UNITY was started by an inmate serving life without parole, a prison psychologist and a Correctional Officer Captain. The acronym stands for You and I Teaching Youth. It is a program that is mostly attended by lifers and former gang members. They meet for about 15 weeks and work on many problems inmates deal with on a daily basis.

It is a lot different looking into the eyes of these broken but hopeful souls than it is into the eyes of the Boys Staters. One can’t help but wonder if their circumstances had been different when the inmates were younger if their lives would have taken a different turn.

When I converse with the men at the prison, I am also someone instilled with a little hope because they are so willing to share their lives, which in turn helps me to do my job.

Both audiences make me realize we are all in this together. Somehow, whether you are a ward of the state or a future leader of our state or country, there is a common bond. The need to connect. The need for nurturing caring adults in the lives of children. To turn a worn out phrase, it truly does, it seems, take an entire village to raise a child.

Now I’ll wait until it is time to either go to Boys State or prison again. In the meantime, I’ll continue to share the messages shared with me.

And here is an article written about a previous visit to Boys State in 2004:

Coroner, former gang leader tell Boys State of harsh street war realities
By KODY FORD
Log Cabin Staff Writer

Ten years ago, an HBO documentary, "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock," prominently featured two central Arkansans - then Pulaski County coroner Steve Nawojczyk and a Crip gangleader named Leifel Jackson.

A decade later, the two men stood on the same stage in Main Hall at the University of Central Arkansas speaking to Boys State delegates about the dangers of gangs and the gang culture.

Nawojczyk served as Pulaski county coroner from 1983 to 1994. He became famous on the streets and on television because of his desire to stop the deaths surrounding gang violence; he used photographs of slain members and bystanders.

Nawojczyk said at first it was hard infiltrating street culture, but the photographs, which gang members often called Nawojczyk's "ghetto pass," allowed the coroner to move unharmed in and out of gang territory.

But not after having a hit put on him by a prominent Crip/drug dealer. The hit was later repealed.

From 1992 to 1993, Little Rock had a higher per-capita murder rate than Los Angeles and New York. In 1988, the Centers for Disease Control sent Nawojczyk a directive saying to report all deaths of African-American males under age 19, because the homicides among this demographic were being considered an epidemic.

He stressed that often victims of gang violence are not gang members but are bystanders.

Nawojczyk says, "Bullets don't have names on them."

This year, according to Nawojczyk, 10,000 people will die from gunshot wounds and 400 of those will be under 18.

Throughout his time reaching out to inner-city youth, Nawojczyk said the gang members and at-risk youth belonged to the "Five-H Club," meaning they were "hopeless, homeless, helpless, hungry and hugless."

Nawojczyk, who currently serves as Director for Juvenile Services for North Little Rock, says the key to stopping violence is simple.

"These kids join gangs because they want identification, recognition, belonging, discipline, love and respect," said Nawojczyk. "Every community must offer this to children."

After he finished, Nawojczyk brought Jackson to the stage. The former gangleader made a confession.

"A long time ago, I put a hit on Steve and if it had gone through, I wouldn't be standing here today," said Jackson.

Jackson thought Nawojczyk was an undercover narcotics officer out to infiltrate Jackson's drug ring. Eventually, Jackson realized why Nawojczyk was visiting his neighborhood.

Jackson, who spent eight-and-a-half years in prison before being released about two years ago, had a thriving drug ring in the Little Rock area. At its peak, Jackson says he was making around $80,000 a day. Shortly before he was arraigned, Jackson's home burned along with the $1 million in cash he kept inside.

"I always cared about the community," said Jackson. "I'd take kids to skate every few weeks, buy them shoes or food if they needed it. I thought selling dope helped the community.

"But how do you justify people dying by taking kids skating and buying them shoes? You can't."

At age 12, Jackson began smoking marijuana and by 14 he was mainlining hard drugs including cocaine. He said he fell prey to two myths growing up.

"I heard two lies growing up," said Jackson. "My mother always said 'Go to school and everything will be all right.' I went but I never paid attention. Also everyone said you could just smoke a little marijuana and everything would be okay because it wasn't addictive. Marijuana is a gateway drug."

Today, Jackson has turned his life around. He works as a mentor and tutor at the Sherman Park Our Club in North Little Rock. Jackson feels Our Club is a better way to serve his community.

Recently, Jackson finished filming a sequel to Gang Wars. In the film, Jackson visits with gang members from the original film as they speak out about how gang membership destroyed their lives.

The Boys State delegates seemed very moved by the speakers.

"Leifel made me realize that we have major crime problems here in Arkansas, not just in Los Angeles or New York City," said John Sims, a student at Conway Christian High School.

"His complete turnaround is remarkable since he was in the middle of the gang culture."

Cop Kills Cop and Riles Up NYC

2009-05-31T08:22:00.000-05:00

City Year! Yes!!!

2009-05-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

A Day in a City Year from City Year on Vimeo.

Steve and the former Mayor of Springfield (MO) chat about youth violence

2009-05-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

Rapper T.I. Moving to Arkansas...

2009-05-16T07:11:00.005-05:00

T.I. is moving to Arkansas, but not to enjoy our beautiful state. He is being put into the Federal Correctional Facility in Forrest City, ARKANSAS.

T.I. was convicted on gun charges. It is hoped those who listen to and admire this man will learn from his errors. It is also hoped, he will have learned his lesson and will work hard to turn the tide of violence when he is released.

Story here.

Mentoring Central in Arkansas

2009-05-10T11:57:00.003-05:00

The Mentoring Central Board of Directors met not long ago in North Little Rock, Arkansas to begin planning their vision to provide well grounded adults to become mentors to the youth of North Little Rock, and perhaps beyond.

The group's president, Dara Booth, can be emailed at DaraBooth@yahoo.com if you desire more information.

Mentoring works. This program will change lives and neighborhoods.

The Grief, Anguish and Anger Go On and On and On...

2009-05-05T07:19:00.001-05:00

From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Man who shot 6-year-old girl convicted again

Mom recalls hitting car floor, grabbing baby as bullets flew

By Linda Satter

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

LITTLE ROCK — It was nearly midnight on May 12, 2008, when Lashandria Washington, weary from a day of work, parked her car in the lot of the North Little Rock apartment complex where she lived and walked around to the rear passenger door to unload her 7-month-old daughter.

“As soon as I opened the door, I heard a lot of shots,” the young mother recalled Monday from the witness stand for Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims in a bench trial of Ricky Dale Smith, 21, the man accused of firing the shots.

After an hour-long trial, Sims convicted Smith of three counts of attempted murder, three counts of committing terroristic acts and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and sentenced him to 110 years in prison. The sentence is to be served consecutively to a sentence of life without parole that Smith is already serving for the December 2007 shooting death of Washington’s 6-year-old daughter, Kamya Weathersby.

The child died when gunmen sprayed the Little Rock house where she lived with her mother, two siblings and her mother’s boyfriend with 42 bullets in a pre-dawn attack, killingher as she lay in bed watching cartoons with her 3-year-old sister, Desiree, who was grazed by a bullet.

In January, Smith was convicted of capital murder and four counts of committing terroristic acts, and was sentenced to life without parole for the Dec. 29, 2007, killing of Kamya. Four months earlier, another jury convicted his half brother, 19-year-old Kevin Lawrence Banks, on the same charges, and Banks also is sentenced to life without parole.

Testifying on Monday about the 2008 shooting, Washington recalled being “pushed in” onto the floorboard and pulling the baby’s car seat over toward her as she went.

“I prayed this wouldn’t be my time this time,” she remembered.

The 27-year-old mother recalled lying still until her boyfriend, Antoine Demetrius “Turtle” Jones, 29, who had been in the front passenger seat, urged her to get up, and the three ran to her cousin’s house nearby, where they called 911.

“I was just hoping to make it,” Washington said.

Jones - who prosecutors said was the intended target in both attacks - had returned fire at a passing car, but it had kept going, and the couple feared it would come back.

In a nonjury trial that lasted just over an hour Monday, Sims also heard the testimony of a woman who lived about five blocks away, who said she was awakened by the sound of a car crashing into another at West 47th Street and Pike Avenue.

The woman, who didn’t attend the trial but whose earlier testimony was read into the record, identified Smith as the man she saw - as she stood on her porch in her pajamas - jump out of the driver’s seat with a long gun on a strap. She said he paused momentarily under a streetlight and then, upon seeing her looking at him, ran the other direction.

Defense attorney Lea Ellen Fowler challenged the woman’s identification of Smith, who the woman at first told police she couldn’t identify.

Officer Richard Gray of the North Little Rock Police Department testified that he arrived at the intersection at 11:35 p.m., where he found that a 1998 Nissan had collided with a Buick that was turning onto West 47th Street. Both vehicles were extensively damaged, to the point that each car’s air bag deployed, Gray said.

Gray testified that he found a .45-caliber handgun with 11 rounds in the clip and a leather holster on the Nissan Maxima’s floorboard. DNA samples taken from the Maxima’s deployed air bag matched a cheek swab taken from Smith, a state Crime Laboratory technician testified.

Outside the apartment complex at 4920 Augusta Circle, detective Michael Gibbons testified that he found 16 shell casings and saw several bullet holes in the 1998 Cadillac that Washington had been driving. One bullet pierced the window next to where Washington’s baby was sitting in a car seat, he said. One went through the rear passenger door. And one, he said, went through the passenger headrest and lodged in the back seat, where it would have hit the baby if Washington hadn’t moved her car seat out of the line of fire.

After the convictions of Smith and Banks for Kamya’s death, prosecutors in March dropped charges against another brother, Marqus Tyrell Smith, citing an “unreliable” witness.

Prosecutors said the convicted men and one other unidentified man were after Jones because Banks feared that Jones had told people that Banks had killed another man, Brent Pettus, 25, just days before Kamya’s death. Banks was convicted in Pettus’ death in November.

After court Monday, Washington said she was glad that Smith was convicted again, and she is confident he won’t be getting out of prison, ever. But, noting that he still faces federal charges, she said, “It still ain’t over.”

“I don’t know them, and they don’t know me,” she said, “but they took somebody from me that didn’t mean anything to them.”

Arkansas, Pages 9, 14 on 05/05/2009

The Hate of Today Continues to Amaze Me

2009-05-01T16:09:00.002-05:00

5 indicted in Donaldson cross burning

The Associated Press

Friday, May 1, 2009

Donaldson (AR) — Five Arkansas men have been indicted on suspicion of burning a cross in a woman’s yard because they suspected she associated with black men.

The Department of Justice announced Friday the indictment of the five men, all from Donaldson. The federal grand jury indicted the men on suspicion of civil rights charges, and all but one face charges of making false claims to the FBI.

The five men pleaded not guilty in a hearing Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant. A trial date is set for June 12 in Hot Springs.

Indicted were 20-year-old Jacob Wingo, 21-year-old Dustin Nix, 29-year-old Clayton Morrison, 38-year-old Darren McKim and 42-year-old Richard Robins.

My YouTube Channel- Bookmark it.

2009-05-01T05:33:00.001-05:00

Cradle to Prison Facts

2009-04-29T07:39:00.002-05:00

Facts about the Arkansas Cradle to Prison pipeline. Click.

Reclaiming Futures

2009-04-26T15:52:00.000-05:00

Reclaiming Futures.

IIR- NYGC

2009-04-20T08:17:00.003-05:00

The Institute for Intergovernmental Research offers a great page on their website that keeps up with current news items from around the nation that have to do with gangs and youth violence. Click here for that page.

Did you know that 31% of school kids in urban areas report gangs in their school? To find out lots of information that will benefit you and your efforts to curb youth violence, click here.

Gang War One and Two-and Ain't No Deny'n

2009-04-18T19:10:00.002-05:00

And this is "Ain't No Deny'n- Gangs and Violence"

Tweet Ticker

2009-04-17T13:25:00.003-05:00

You will note to the right-----------> a new "Tweet Ticker". I will be tweeting frequently with interesting tidbits. It's a great way to get new info. Join me at www.Twitter.com/GangWarSteve

Gangs Exist-- Denial Comes Just Before Disaster

2009-04-16T05:31:00.001-05:00

The War On Drugs Cost Clock and Racial Shift in Prison Population...

2009-04-15T18:23:00.004-05:00

The Cost of the war on drugs is shown here.

Racial Shift in Drug Prisoners-From the Washington Post.

Forbes looks at the use of marijuana and cigarettes at the same time. Not so good for users of both. Verdict out on pot alone, at least in this study.

Hispanic Home Invasion Crime

2009-04-13T09:07:00.007-05:00

Police: Little Rock man shot dead in robbery

The Associated Press

Monday, April 13, 2009

Police say a Little Rock man is dead after he was shot during a robbery at a southwest Little Rock apartment.

Police say a man broke into the apartment on Base Line Road and robbed 30-year-old Oscar Gonzales and four others in the apartment. According to police, the robber then shot Gonzales in the lower chest.

Gonzales later died at Baptist Health Medical Center.

Police have made no arrests. Gonzales’ death is Little Rock’s 13th homicide of the year.

*********************************************************************************

The above story was in the daily paper in Arkansas this morning. It seems that there are a lot of crimes being perpetrated upon the Hispanic population in the Arkansas area. A Google Search turns up a lot of hits related to Hispanic related crime.

Is this a trend in your area? Do Hispanics commit crime mostly against other Hispanics? I'd like to hear from you in the comments section.

It is a difficult statistic to arrive at since many times when a Hispanic is the victim of a crime, they go unreported because the victim fears an "official" contact with the authorities.

UPDATE: From New Orleans-- And from Mississippi--

GANG-INTERVENTION.ORG

2009-04-13T06:48:00.000-05:00

Click here to visit Gang-Intervention website.