The gang problem in Henry County has been very noticeable to law enforcement officials for quite some time, and the county is receiving some federal funding to assist an ongoing local initiative to combat it.
Sheriff Keith McBrayer told the Board of Commissioners that he formed the Henry County Sheriff’s Office Gang Suppression Unit in 2017 after seeing the need to face the gang issue head-on, due to gang violence inside the Henry County Jail as well as other gang activity around the county.
During his presentation at the commissioners’ September 17 regular meeting, McBrayer said there are an estimated 77,000 gang members in the state of Georgia. “We can safely say that at any given time we have more than 100 gang members in our jail,” he said.
The board voted at McBrayer’s urging to accept a $198,933 Project Safe Neighborhoods grant from the Northern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office through the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. It requires no matching local funds.
The HCSO unit has been collaborating with the Henry County Police Department and McDonough Police Department, and McBrayer said the police in Hampton and Locust Grove are also working with them now to gather information.
When he initially formed the unit, McBrayer appointed two deputies to it. “They do a remarkable job and have been able to gather an unbelievable amount of information about gangs and gang members from Henry County and surrounding areas,” he said.
A database has been created through which the unit has been able to identify hundreds of individuals, as well as at least 15 gangs they represent. Most of that information has come from jail records and school resource offices, whom McBrayer said have been exceptionally helpful.
The Gang Suppression Unit works closely with the Henry County District Attorney’s Office to make use of the Georgia Criminal Street Gang and Terrorism Prevention Act, which McBrayer said allows for longer sentences for violent offenders. “We have found that the only thing gang members are afraid of is longer prison terms,” he said.
Deputies have prosecuted 96 street gang warrants for violations of the Georgia Criminal Street Gang and Terrorism Prevention Act since the Gang Suppression Unit was created, according to the sheriff, who added that some of the most violent crimes in the county are being committed by gang members.
The sheriff plans to hire an additional gang investigator with the grant funds and also buy additional equipment and supplies necessary for surveillance in investigations.
“This equipment will aid us in building cases for prosecution by helping match weapons in Henry County to crimes in other counties, and improving officer safety by limiting the time it takes to test an offender for illegal narcotics,” he said.
