by elizabeth farina
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“There are only three choices a gang member will end up – hospital, jail or cemetery.”

That was one of many memorable quotes from the 26-minute documentary “The Wrong Family: Virginia Fights Back Against Gangs” filmed by award-winning Metro Productions in 2008. The powerful educational tool about gangs from the Office of the Attorney General premiered on Wednesday, June 10, at The Byrd Theatre in Carytown for business community members.

“It’s a film that I believe many people in our office can be proud of,” said Attorney General Bill Mims.He was appreciative of the filmmakers and the law enforcement officers who “worked so hard to educate our citizens, protect them and to [help] eradicate this terrible gang problem.”

Mims added that when he saw the film for the first time, it reminded him of a bill he co-sponsored in the General Assembly 12 years ago as part of the first gang-related legislation. “At the time, the gang problem had begun to permeate neighborhoods in Northern Virginia and in particularly in Fairfax and Eastern Loudon [County], the area I represented. We simply took Virginia’s existing mob violence statute which dates back to the early twentieth century and drafted concepts onto it to try and attack the gang problem,” he said.

Since then, a comprehensive effort statewide has marched forward to not only educate, enforce and punish, but “to do everything we possibly can to eradicate gangs,” Mims said. “The education component is critically important and that’s why this video is so important. It is a powerful, powerful – disturbing – video in many ways but it is exceptionally well done.”

The Wrong Family is an uncensored view of gangs in the Commonwealth. The images are graphic and the straight-forward dialogue from gang members, law enforcement, and physicians do not gloss over the harsh realities for those involved in the criminal organizations that attract youth starting at the age of 10. One clear message is that gangs are not about youth finding a place to belong, but are about making money and having power.

“The children that get involved, they come from all walks of life,” said Chesterfield County Police Detective Keith Applewhite, who also serves as vice-president of Virginia Gang Investigators Association. “They come from the poorest neighborhoods to the richest neighborhoods. A lot of parents feel that if they live in a nice neighborhood, there’s not going to be that problem,” Applewhite said in the film.

Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Richmond Michael Herring reiterated after the film that the public should revisit the stereotypes of gangs. “My exposure to the gangs derives back to the movie Colors,” Herring said. “Most of the subjects in the film were African-American … for years, years – even after I became an attorney – I was convinced that gangs were mostly an African-American phenomenon. It’s only recently that I’ve come to realize the greater percentage of gang members are not actually African-American. You have an incredibly large community of Hispanic gang members and a growing community of white gang members.”

Herring also noted that the violent behavior of gangs has quieted over time because gangs do not want to gain attention in a community and prefer the underground advantage. “You see it in prostitution. I didn’t realize it, until this morning, you also begin to see it in small businesses. Gangs are all about making the money. They’re not about the abject violence,” he said.

And it is through educating the public that the Office of the Attorney General and state and local law enforcement officials are hoping to break the cycle and find out about community suspicions of gang-related activity in business fronts. The film is just one step forward in outreach in the Commonwealth.

Michael Favale with the Office of the Attorney General said that the message is that “gangs are not an African-American problem, a Hispanic problem, an Asian problem, or a white problem. They’re really society’s problem. It’s not a rich problem or a poor problem. We want to get this video out to as many folks as possible,” said Favale, who serves as senior assistant and chief of the special prosecutions and organized crime section in the Office of the Attorney General.

Applewhite explained that some students in middle and high school have seen the film. “Our children know what’s going on in school. You take this information and share it with them,” he said.

However, the message isn’t always appropriate to show to large student assemblies, added Rick McKeel, executive director of Regional Drug Free Alliance and sponsor of the premiere showing. “The film hasn’t penetrated the schools as much because the information is graphic,” McKeel said. “And some principals are concerned with the aftermath of the showing. They [teens] react to this differently than you and I.”

The film is available for community organizations and groups to view, but Favale cautions that it’s really important that the message is presented in a proper way and partnered with someone from the law enforcement community. He added that the right setting to view the film is crucial as well as the law enforcement partnership be available to answer a lot of questions about the dangers and viable solutions that viewers may have after watching the 26-minute film.

Herring added that the community does need to ask the tough questions, which are difficult to answer. “We are very reluctant to say to you all, ‘This gang is in this neighborhood.’ But more often than not that is precisely what we [all] want to know. ‘Where are the gangs? What are the signs? What are the activities so I can help my child avoid them and so I can, with my neighbors, purge [gangs] from my community?’ And you will frequently get a response, ‘It’s classified.’ It’s in your interest to get that information,” he said.

Herring added that there are ways that law enforcement can answer those questions for parents without revealing too much in ongoing investigations.

Favale also noted that the message is not only directed towards parents, but towards all persons who are involved in a child’s life and are taking an active role in that young person’s life. Some deterrents that have been created within the city include Midnight basketball and activities at the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC), but there are also resources available in more rural settings where gang activity has increased over the last decade. “There are resources in place,” Applewhite said.

To request more information or training for your community from the Office of the Attorney General, click here.

OTHER RESOURCES
Virginia Gang Investigators Association
Gang Reduction and Intervention Program
Community Coalitions of Virginia
Regional Drug Free Alliance (Central Va)
Chesterfield Substance Abuse Free Environment