Bringing awareness to gang activity, violence in Scranton

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Bringing awareness to gang activity and violence in our area the hot topic during a forum in Scranton Wednesday morning.

The Interagency Council of Lackawanna County hosted the gathering.

A number of police, first responders, and community groups talked about ways the community can help keep young people engaged and steer them away from gang involvement.

There has been a recent spike in gang-related crime in the region.

The group also said they want to refer to the activity as group violence rather than gang.

Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell notes the group hopes through community involvement, they can tackle the problem and keep young people away from gang-related activity.

“It’s really a combination of prevention, intervention and enforcement. Prevention coming from the community support, involving individuals in more positive activities. Intervention to identify high-risk individuals and provide treatment whether that’s for mental health or for youths disorders and then enforcement using law enforcement to enforce the crimes,” said Powell.

There were several key speakers at Wednesday morning’s event.

The 28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick served as the moderator.

The Interagency Council is made up of a number of community agencies who work together for the good of the region.

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