Summit addresses gang problem in North Ga. - Hall official: Illegal immigration a contributor


By Matt Stewart, The Gainsville Times, July 14, 2005

More than 70 North Georgia law enforcement agencies gathered at Georgia State University on Wednesday to discuss gang activity, which officials say no longer is just a statewide problem, but a national problem.

Joe Amerling, an investigator with the Gainesville-Hall County Gang Task Force, gave a presentation at the meeting addressing North Georgia gang crime. Amerling said illegal immigration was a topic several different agencies wanted to discuss....

The meeting, arranged by David Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, is the first of its kind since Nahmias took over the position last December, Amerling said.

"(Nahmias) sees this as a nationwide problem, not just here locally," Amerling said of the new U.S. attorney. "He's a squared-away guy, and gangs are a focus of his. He recognizes that gangs are on the rise nationally and that we can no longer turn a blind eye to them."

On Wednesday, officials from agencies including metro Atlanta and Cherokee and Habersham counties worked to come up with strategies to defend gang violence in their respective areas....

According to the Hall County Sheriff's Office the five main gangs in Hall are SUR 13, centered around Rabbittown and New Holland; BOE, south of Gainesville; PLC 21, a gang that covers the largest area near Oakwood and Candler and up Atlanta Highway into Habersham County; MVS, south of Gainesville near Gillsville Highway; and the gang known as Southside, south of Gainesville on Atlanta Highway.

Read the complete article.