City gang problem starkly before us
In your paper’s Perspective section of Sunday, (Feb. 5), the Rev. Bill W. Smith, retired jail chaplain, thoughtfully delineates reasons for gang membership.
Earlier in the week, you paraphrased Chattanooga’s Police Chief Bobby Dodd’s understanding of gang membership, along with his duty to protect the community from crime and violence.
Churches and neighborhood groups are beginning to try to eliminate gangs by dealing with the root causes. I am heartened by the fact that we are no longer expecting the schools to handle the problem alone.
Moreover, I believe that the growing attention being given the problem of gangs is in great part the result of your paper about a year or so ago beginning to consciously headline the violence and gang activity in our community, which before had pretty much been ignored.