Local children being targeted as gang recruits

Story highlights:

Children as young as 11 are getting involved with gangs
Programs aim to keep children away from gang lifestyle
Number of children in the justice system claiming gang affiliations in Meck Co. has climbed steadily

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- You've probably heard of the Bloods and the Crips, MS-13 and the Hidden Valley Kings. They're all gangs that have terrorized Charlotte neighborhoods. But police tell Channel 9 that "non-traditional" gangs are growing in numbers.

Those groups don't always have street names, but some do have members as young as 11 years old -- and they could be in every neighborhood.

From breaking into cars and homes and robbing people to selling drugs and committing shootings, police told anchor Liz Foster that gang members are responsible for violent crimes all over the city of Charlotte, and they're recruiting younger and younger members.

"You put guns in people's hands, they feel that they need that sense of belonging," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Captain Mike Harris said. "I think traditional gangs give them that over a period of time."

RAW CLIP CMPD Capt. Harris on gangs targeting young kids:

A few weeks ago, CMPD arrested two juveniles and an adult for robbing two teenage boys at gunpoint at their school bus stop along Cowles Road. That's the type of crime that police link to gangs.

According to Harris, who leads CMPD’s Special Investigations Bureau, children as young as 11 are getting involved with gangs. He said younger children tend to be in "non-traditional" gangs, meaning that they don't necessarily have a street name and they tend to change groups or areas often.

But Harris said those types of gangs can be found in any Charlotte neighborhood, any time.

"With transportation and social media to some degree, they have the ability to live on the east side and commit a crime on the west side and vice versa, so that becomes a challenge for us," Harris said.

Police are concerned that children will get accustomed to that lifestyle without investigators even knowing who they are. Then as they grow older, they’ll move into traditional, more violent gangs.

"That can happen without police even knowing, right?" Foster asked.

"Very much so," Harris said.

That's why police said they can't wait until children are in middle school. They have to start preventing gang activity in elementary schools.

"That's the stepping-off point for us because we find as a person of that age starts to get involved, it becomes harder and harder, even day by day, to pull them away from that kind of activity because it becomes a sense of comfort, security -- somewhat a sense of loyalty," Harris said.

Because police say young gang members typically break into cars and homes before progressing to more violent crimes, they track where and when there's a rash of property crimes with the help of CMPD's Crime Analysis Department. Police can then focus patrols in a particular area (like those highlighted on the map below).

Police admit that it's difficult to track children in gangs, and it appears that the state has the same problem.

North Carolina's Department of Public Safety has researched and analyzed gang activity since 1997, yet in the latest public report published in 2013, researchers noted: "This report has little ability to provide a clear picture of juvenile gang involvement...it would be wise to continue efforts to deter and prevent young people under age 18 from joining gangs."

Helping children leave a gang lifestyle

George Wilkerson has been working on preventing children from joining gangs for years. He says it's about making a connection. Wilkerson runs the Gang Alternative Principles (GAP) program out of First Baptist Church. In its nearly seven years, the program has helped about 650 young men in Charlotte, ages 12-17, leave a gang lifestyle.

MORE INFORMATION: Gang Alternative Principles

"They realize that there is someone who cares about me," Wilkerson said.

RAW INTERVIEW George Wilkerson on reaching out to kids:

Asked if he's confident that if there were more programs like GAP, there would be less of a gang problem in Charlotte, he told Channel 9, "Yes, I think prevention is the key, and I think that young people, if given the opportunity and different alternatives, many of them would choose that alternative."

Records from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety show that the number of children in the justice system who claim gang affiliations in Mecklenburg County has climbed steadily over the past three years and now tops 10 percent.

Wilkerson and police agree that if programs like GAP keep one child from becoming a career criminal, it's a success. In the meantime, police will continue to dedicate investigators and resources to keep the number of children in gangs from growing.

In your neighborhood, police say to watch out for who's coming in and out and don't hesitate to call 911 to report a person or group acting suspicious or trying to intimidate you.

Read our past investigations: