Crackdown On MS-13: New Gang Prevention Unit Targets 10 High-Risk Suffolk County Schools

In an effort to amp up efforts to tackle escalating gang violence, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday the deployment of a new gang violence prevention unit, targeting 10 high-risk schools in Suffolk County.

The gang violence prevention unit will consist of 10 New York State troopers, who will be deployed to the "high-risk" schools that serve as "ground zero" for gang recruitment and activity, Cuomo said.

The 10 schools are reportedly in six targeted districts: Brentwood, Central Islip, Huntington, Longwood, South Country Central and Wyandanch.

The goal, the governor said, is to put the brakes on deadly gang activity before young people even get recruited; the troopers will also seek to identify early warning signs of any potential gang activity in schools.

At least one school district wasn't happy about the plan.

"At no point did any state official or otherwise reach out and ask what we need or don’t need," Huntington School District Superintendent James Polansky wrote in a letter to members of the school district.

The gang violence prevention unit will also coordinate with the Suffolk County Police Department to launch an "Educate the Educators" program, which will help teachers and faculty recognize the early warning signs of gang involvement and recruitment, a release from Cuomo's office said.

In addition, State Police will roll out a gang awareness curriculum directly to students to teach them about the dangers of gangs and foster a relationship between students and police, Cuomo said.

Cuomo made the announcement on the one year-anniversary of the horrific murders of high-school students Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas by MS-13.

The new initiative follows earlier initiatives by Cuomo to expand access to state intelligence and law enforcement assets in the fight against MS-13.

In April, the governor launched expanded patrols in Brentwood and Central Islip, providing an additional 25 state troopers and added six investigators to the FBI-led Long Island Gang Task Force.

"Our number one job in government is to keep all New Yorkers, and especially our children, safe. By partnering with our schools, we will be better prepared to stop gang activity before it starts and end this heinous cycle of violence," Cuomo said. "This is just one step in our ongoing efforts to eradicate the threat of MS-13 and ensure that every student remains on the path to a bright future."

President Donald Trump spoke in Brentwood in July about the insidious MS-13 gang that's been terrorizing local communities across Long Island in the county.

And in his speech, he promised to rid the gang-ravaged communities of Long Island of the "animals" on their streets.

"Together we're going to restore safety to our streets and peace to our communities. We're going to destroy the vile criminal cartel MS-13," he said.

MS-13, Trump said, are brutally violent. "They don't like shooting people because it's too quick, it's too fast," he said. Instead, they "knife them, cut them, let them die slowly because it's more painful. These guys are animals."

RELATED:

• Trump Endorses Police Brutality During MS-13 Talk On Long Island
• Trump On Long Island Brings Out Supporters, Protesters Alike [Photos, Video]
• Watch Trump's Full Speech/Read The Transcript

Long Island has been hit hard, with 17 "beautiful young lives" murdered since Jan. 16 on Long Island alone, he said.

"They butchered those little girls. They kidnap. They extort. They rape and they rob. They prey on children. They shouldn't be here," Trump said.

MS-13 beats with victims with clubs, slashes them with knives and machetes, he said.

"They're animals"

"They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields. They're animals.

"One by one, Trump said, the administration is "liberating American towns," something he never expected on sleepy Long Island where he said he grew up; Trump actually grew up in Queens.

"We will restore law and order on Long Island," Trump said. "We will bring justice back to the United States."

Trump said he had a message for every gang member and criminal alien: "We will find you. We will arrest you. We will jail you. And we will deport you."

He lauded ICE officers, who recently conducted the largest crackdown of criminal gangs in U.S. history, with 1,400 suspects apprehended, more than 200 illegal firearms seized, and nearly 600 lbs. of narcotics uncovered.

What's needed

Trump said additional resources are needed from Congress, who, he said, was stepping up to help. ICE, he said, currently has 6,00o officers, not enough, with another 10,000 needed to "eliminate MS-13."

And then he urged police officers, dealing with "thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, 'Please, don't be too nice.'" Talking about how police will often protect the head of a suspect being thrown into a police car, he said, "You can take the hand away, okay?'"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Trump also called for Congress to fund additional federal immigration judges and prosecutors to "dismantle deadly networks" despite "laws horrendously stacked against us for years . . .made to protect the criminal.".

The gruesome discovery in a Central Islip Park this April of four young men believed to have been murdered by MS-13 members has brought an international spotlight to Suffolk County, with elected officials and law enforcement vowing to fight back.

MS-13 coverage on Patch:

• MS-13: An Inside Look At The Brutal Gang And Its Insidious Spread On Long Island
• Crackdown Nets 39 MS-13 Arrests In 30 Days
• AG Jeff Sessions Warns Deadly MS-13: 'We Are Targeting You'
• 3 MS-13 Gang Members Reportedly Charged In Brutal Quadruple Homicide In Central Islip
• Feds ID Alleged MS-13 Gang Members Charged In Dozen Long Island Murders
• Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa Offers Plan To Rein In MS-13
• War Against MS-13 Rages On, Police Chief Discusses Concerns
• Watch Live: Suffolk Police Commissioner Tim Sini Testifying Before Congress On Deadly MS-13 Gang
• 'We Are At War:' Dozens Of MS-13 Gang Members Arrested, Indicted

Patch courtesy photo.