NAACP seeks dialogue on gang presence in city Prosecutor will meet with community leaders to discuss gangs Oct. 11 BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - The president of the Greater Long Branch NAACP said last week there is a gang presence in the city and called on local and county officials to address the violence in the city's neighborhoods. "We are not experts," Lorenzo "Bill" Dangler said in an interview Monday. "But we are playing our role [as community leaders] and we need the help of law enforcement." Dangler, along with several other community leaders, met with Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin on Sept. 27 at the prosecutor's Asbury Park office to discuss gangs, crime and violence in Long Branch. The Long Branch Concordance is scheduled to host a strategy meeting on the issue of gang presence in Long Branch Oct. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Brookdale Community College annex on Broadway, and Valentin is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on the topic at the meeting. Dangler said he asked the Prosecutor's Office for the meeting because he wanted to find out what is being done at a higher level to curtail gang activity in Long Branch. "We wanted the meeting to know what [the Prosecutor's Office] is doing to address gangs," Dangler said. "We did not get that [at the meeting]. There was nothing concrete that came from the meeting." Dangler added that the nearly two-hour meeting was "more of a friendly meeting to get to know the community." Valentin could not be reached for comment by deadline Tuesday. In a prepared statement distributed at the meeting, Dangler said that "Gang violence is no longer limited to major cities. Gangs now operate in cities of all sizes, as well as suburban communities throughout Monmouth County. "As law enforcement executives and officers, you can no longer afford the luxury of denying the existence and the effects of gang activity in Long Branch," he continued. "We have seen the drug trafficking, struggled with the increase in robberies and assaults, [and] as a result of these issues, law enforcement has had to deliver death notifications to parents of gang members and families within our community." In addition to Valentin and Dangler, in attendance at the meeting were Long Branch Public Safety Director William Richards and Long Branch Police Capt. Richard Bryson; NAACP members Edward Reeves and Al Jelks; Concerned Citizens Coalition (CCC) members Avery Grant, Julia Wheeler, Joe Turpin and Willie Thompson; and Long Branch Housing Authority Executive Director Tyrone Garrett. Richards said Monday that the meeting with the prosecutor went very well. He added that the Long Branch Police Department is addressing violence in the city. "The Juvenile Bureau is tracking any problems [in the city]," Richards said. "They stay on top of what is going on and who is doing what." Although Richards admits that there is a "manifestation of a gang presence" in Long Branch, he said there is no prevalent gang problem. Dangler said he presented Valentin with a list of recommendations at the meeting that was composed by the NAACP and the CCC. In a statement read at the meeting, he said, "strategies that focus on prevention, intervention and suppression are needed and ... police can and should be involved at all levels across the county and, more importantly, in Long Branch." He read a list of 20 recommendations composed by the NAACP and CCC executive committee. They include: + Provide a true assessment of the nature and scope of gang activity in Long Branch and Monmouth County; + Establish an inter-county/community gang-prevention task force consisting of civilians and law enforcement with subcommittees in each municipality; + Identify primary geographic areas and populations that require concentrated gang-prevention efforts; + Identify existing community resources available to respond to the problem of gang activity; + Hold municipal/community town hall meetings to gather input from residents. Valentine has agreed to read over the recommendations and said he will schedule a follow-up meeting for a date to be announced in the future, according to Dangler. Dangler said he disagrees with Richards and Valentin's assessment that there is no gang problem in Long Branch. "The prosecutor said [at the meeting] the numbers don't add up and there is no gang problem," Dangler said. "How do you tell me that?" Grant said the meeting was a good start. "It was an initial meeting to get to know each other," Grant said. "We made recommendations and made it quite clear that no matter what they say the statistics are, we still have a feeling that there is increased gang activity in the city. "It was a good meeting," Grant continued. "[Valentin] said he knows there is an issue growing and he said he will work with our community." Dangler said that he will continue to keep the lines of communication open with the Prosecutor's Office. The Oct. 11 meeting that Valentin will address will focus on ways in which adults can help prevent gang influence in schools and in the community, according to a press release from the Prosecutor's Office. For more information about the meeting, call (732) 571-1670 or e-mail lbconcordance@lbc4help.org.