Cuomo Proposes New Anti-Gang Strategy For Long Island

As part of the lead-up to his State of the State Address next month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new plan to help combat the spread of MS-13 on Long Island. Cuomo says the new initiative will help ensure that young people have better options available to them than joining a gang, including constructive, supportive networks they can turn to for help or guidance.

"MS-13 and the senseless violence it trades in have made New York communities fearful and recruited too many youth to a dead-end path of violence and crime and we refuse to let this continue," Cuomo said. "The key to our comprehensive plan to change that is to target gang activity by attacking the root cause — youth recruitment — through programs and outreach to protect vulnerable students from being prayed on, and stop the scourge of MS-13 once and for all."

MS-13 engages in a wide range of criminal activity and is uniquely violent, oftentimes engaging in brutal acts simply to increase the gang's notoriety. Despite violent crime being down dramatically in Suffolk County over the past several years, a recent uptick in violent crime has been traced directly back to the gang.

Under this new plan, the state will implement a comprehensive strategy to provide at-risk youth in Suffolk County with greater access to social programs and alternatives to gang activity. According to the National Institute of Justice, the vast majority of gang members join between the ages of 11 and 15. A study in Fairfax, Virginia showed when the state implemented a strategy focusing on after-school prevention, serious gang activity decreased by 39 percent. Additionally, a study of after-school programs in 12 high-risk California communities found that, among participating youth, vandalism and stealing dropped by two-thirds, violent acts and carrying a concealed weapon fell by more than half, and arrests were cut in half. School discipline, detention, suspensions and expulsions also dropped by a third.

The governor is putting forward a five-point plan:

• Expand after-school programs in at-risk areas: Cuomo proposed investing $2 million to extend the Empire State After School Program to schools and nonprofit organizations located in at-risk areas on Long Island. This expanded initiative will keep young people engaged in sports, music and other educational programming during after-school hours and help deter any potential gang activity or involvement.

• Expand job and vocational training opportunities for at-risk youth: The proposal also calls for creating a special $5 million program within the New York Youth Jobs voucher program in order to provide individualized job training to young people who are the most at risk from being potentially recruited into gangs. The employment and training program will also provide tax incentives to companies that provide job opportunities for at-risk youth.

• Provide gang prevention education programming to at-risk students: The state would make a $1.5 million investment over three years in locally run programs targeted at middle and high school students focused on early intervention and violence prevention. As street gangs such as MS-13 often attempt to recruit young people that are middle-school age, the initiative will provide in-school training and support to help students avoid gang recruitment, peer pressure, violence and delinquent behavior.

• Expand comprehensive support services for at-risk young people, especially immigrant children: MS-13 is infamous for its efforts targeting vulnerable young people, especially immigrant youth without strong family ties and social support. To provide immigrant youth with the resources they need to succeed, Cuomo proposed investing $3 million over three years to support comprehensive case management for at-risk young people, with a focus on unaccompanied children entering the United States. This will include medical and mental health support, addiction treatment, trauma and family counseling, language training and other community support services.

• Deploy a Community Assistance Team: Finally, Cuomo will deploy a Community Assistance team composed of six State Troopers, three investigators, one senior investigator and one supervisor. This team will partner with local law enforcement and will identify and engage gang activity hot-spots or respond to departmental and community requests for increased service.

Cuomo says this new five-point plan is just the latest effort the state is making to combat gang violence on Long Island. In April, Cuomo directed the state police to deploy resources on Long Island to help combat MS-13, including 25 Troopers to conduct high visibility patrols in Brentwood and Central Islip, as well as undercover operations specifically targeting and saturating neighborhoods known to have high levels of gang activity. The state police also provided six new investigators to the FBI-led Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of more than 30 members of federal, state and local law enforcement partners, and helps agencies combine intelligence and other resources to conduct comprehensive investigations into gang activity.

Photo: Gov. Cuomo's Office