About 100 people turned out Tuesday night for Elgin’s citywide Neighborhood Watch meeting to learn more about efforts to curb gangs.
“The answer isn’t, `build more institutions,”‘ said Jerry Butler, superintendent of the Illinois Youth Home in St. Charles. “The money needs to be spent on programs in the schools, churches and community organizations.”
Butler said that 87 percent of offenders sentenced to the Illinois Youth Home admit to gang affiliations. A higher percentage, 93 percent, admit to illegal drug usage.
Abbott Middle School Principal Greg Scheider said that it is harder than it was five or ten years ago to detect gang members in the schools. “They used to be very up front about it,” he said.
Elgin School District U-46 imposes strong sanctions against gang activity, such as suspension and expulsion, but those solutions aren’t successful because many of those students receive insufficient parental supervision said Scheider.
