The Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act is our tool for fighting gangs. The act allows us to punish crimes that gang members commit much more severely when those crimes benefit the gang. An offense that might carry only a small fine can bring 15 years in prison if it is committed by a gang member to carry out the gang’s business.

The act is complicated.

So, we invited Georgia’s leading expert on gang investigations to teach a class to law enforcement officers.

At first, we planned to have it in the grand jury room at the courthouse. Interest was so great that we needed more room. Chief Steve Heaton of the Fayetteville Police Department volunteered to host the class at his department.

The class was scheduled for 8:30 on Monday. I arrived at 8:00. There were already about a dozen Peachtree City Police cars in the parking lot. In all, we had 26 officers at the class. Tyrone Police, Peachtree City Police, Fayetteville Police, and Fayette County Sheriff’s Deputies were there. School resource officers came. Majors and Captains and Lieutenants and Sergeants and Corporals and rookies attended. Christy Jindra, our juvenile prosecutor was there.

The class lasted for eight hours. It was entertaining. It was inspiring. It was very informative.

You should have seen the faces of these officers. They mean business. They’ve seen what gangs have done to other places and they are determined to stop them here. In fact, they’ve been preparing for years to repel the threat of gangs.

You should be very proud of these men and women. I certainly am.