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DA's office hosts gang training for local law enforcement

Thomasville Times-Enterprise - 1/22/2020

Jan. 21--MOULTRIE, Ga. -- Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bradfield M. Shealy and the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia (PAC) hosted a one-day regional training on Jan. 9 titled Gangs and Organized Crime 101.

The event was held in the UGA Agricultural Extension Auditorium in Moultrie and was presented by John Regan, the gang resource prosecutor for PAC, and Jose Ramirez, a staff instructor for the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Regan is an experienced gang prosecutor formally with the Bibb County DA's Office, and Ramirez is an experienced gang investigator from Savannah.

The topics of the training included an overview of judicial charging, models of gang prosecution, the Georgia gang crisis and recognition and working with law enforcement to build a gang case.

The speakers shared their personal experiences of gang investigations and prosecutions, as well as providing tips and practical suggestions in order to both successfully hold violent gang members accountable and to prevent the growth of gangs in the attendees' communities, according to a press release from Shealy's office.

The Georgia Legislature has declared that the state has a gang crisis, as reflected by the presence of over 71,000 gang members in the state, including (as of Oct. 25, 2019) 14,610 validated gang members incarcerated in the Georgia Department of Corrections and an additional 35,000 gang members under felony probation and parole supervision, the press release said.

"Gang members are also active in the state's Juvenile Detention Centers and school systems, as well as throughout our communities," the release said. "All major races are represented by gangs -- Black, White, and Hispanic, as well as smaller gangs of Eastern European and Asian descent."

The PAC is the administrative support agency for district attorneys' offices in the state and provides training, payroll and human resources support for the state's prosecutors. This training was one of more than 120 trainings and conferences presented by the PAC across the state. While most of the multi-day conferences are held in North Georgia, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth and on the coast, the majority of the trainings are presented as regional training in all geographic areas of the state.

By providing regional trainings, the PAC and local district attorneys are able to provide high quality training at very low cost to local law enforcement and prosecutors, since there are no registration fees nor hotel costs for overnight stays, the DA's office said.

Shealy noted that it is a very efficient use of taxpayer dollars to bring the presenters to the local communities, rather than send attendees across the state requiring additional costs. He noted that in addition to prosecutors from his Moultrie and Thomasville offices, and officers of the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office, there were attendees representing prosecution and law enforcement agencies from Brooks, Cook, Lowndes, Thomas, Tift, Lanier, Mitchell, Worth Sumter, Berrien and Rockdale counties. Agencies represented included DA offices, sheriff's offices, police departments, Department of Juvenile Justice, Southern Regional Technical College and the US Probation office.

Shealy expressed appreciation for all of the agencies that sent representatives to the training in order to obtain a better understanding of the scope of the gang problem. Whether it is organized property theft crimes, drug trafficking or violent crimes, gangs are often working together, rather than fighting with each other, in order to accomplish shared objectives.

In closing, Shealy noted that all agencies, no matter what their respective roles may be in the system, have also got to work together in order to effectively address this serious threat to public safety.

The DA also noted that there are upcoming PAC regional trainings scheduled on elder abuse in Valdosta on March 10 and family violence in Quitman on March 13 and encouraged agencies to register for these local trainings.

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