The initiative kicks off with the South Florida Anti-Gang Summit held September 29-30, 2008, at the Hilton Downtown Miami.  National experts and local leaders will convene to develop a regional gang reduction strategy for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

“A multi-agency approach to gang violence in South Florida will leverage national, state and local resources to help South Florida reduce gang violence,” said Mayor Carlos Alvarez.  “This type of cooperation should help us to combine our resources in order to prevent, prosecute and rehabilitate gang members.”

The summit participants will look at factors contributing to both the increase in gang participation and the apparent rise in the brutality and ruthlessness associated with their activities. Social issues, including the growing presence of single parent homes, absentee fathers, lack of social structure, elevated high school drop-out rates, violence in the media and low income households are all factors to be considered.

 “The number of gang-related crimes is unacceptable,” said Commission Vice Chairwoman Barbara Jordan. “Summit participants will look at the underlying causes and identify effective strategies and national best practices to bring these numbers down, ultimately making our communities safer.”

An indication that gangs are growing more violent is the proliferation of military-style assault rifles that have been used in crimes and have been confiscated by law enforcement agencies throughout South Florida. These firearms include AK-47s, AR-15s, MAC-11 and other military-style assault rifles. The statistics, too, are staggering.

North Miami-Dade witnessed spiraling levels of violence in the past year.  The Miami-Dade Police Department reported a 400% increase in the use of assault rifles and a 167% increase in the amount of juvenile victims from 2005 to 2006, a trend which has continued into this year.

According to the Justice Department, during the first six months of 2006, 5,777 juveniles were arrested in Broward County including 470 arrests for the most serious violent crimes of homicide, sex offenses, robbery, and aggravated assault – many of these were gang-related.

Palm Beach has experienced an unprecedented surge in violent crimes, particularly in homicides and homicides involving firearms.  The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports that murder in Palm Beach is up from 36 reported murders in 2002 to 101 murders in 2006. The percentage of murders involving firearms has ranged from a low of 55% in 1997 to a high of 70% in 2005.