In an effort to create awareness about gang violence on Long Island, Nassau County Legislator Norma Gonsalves and the Nassau County Detective's Association sponsored a "Gang Violence in Our Community" seminar on May 11.

After every chair was filled, seminar-goers began lining the walls of the upstairs room in the East Meadow Fire Department Headquarters eager to obtain information. Mike Walsh, second vice president of the Nassau County Police Department's Detective's Association, began with some hard hitting facts.

"The influx of gangs created havoc in our community," Walsh said. "Not two or three days go by that you don't see a gang-related shooting or stabbing."

Legislator Gonsalves said that people tend to think they are immune to gangs.

"Even the most affluent communities are faced with this problem," Gonsalves said. "It is good to become more aware of the warning signs for ourselves."

Retired Detective, Special Investigations Squad, Corey Alleyne took over the presentation from there. He told the crowd he was there to look at a picture bigger than just what was going on in East Meadow and that mentioning specific communities only stigmatizes them.

"I don't think we do ourselves justice if we say 'not in my own backyard, it's only in other places'," Alleyne said. "What happened in Lynbrook last September is proof that we all have to be concerned."

Alleyne then showed a clip from the A & E Network about gang violence in the military on Navy ships. It mentioned incidents where gang members threatened their superior officers.

"If the military has been infiltrated, how can we here in East Meadow and on Long Island snub our noses and say it doesn't affect us," Alleyene said. "Gangs on Long Island operate on such a sophisticated level that they are able to steal cars and export them to other countries."

A gang, by definition, is a group of three or more individuals who are tied together by turf, ethnicity, gender, etc. and are normally involved in anti-social, criminal behavior.

There are many identifiers of a person who is in a gang: wearing the same color all of the time, hand signs, tattoos or burn marks.

"If you see your child associating with kids you have never seen before, while it may not mean they are in a gang, something should go off in your mind," Alleyne said.

Alleyne said that we can't stop the gang violence problem until we find out why our youth is joining. Gangs utilize the same carrots regular, sanctioned organizations and activities use.

"We all want to be a part of something," Alleyne said. "And that's what gangs use to get people in."

Kids are intrigued by gangs because they think they are fun, exciting and they get a sense of belonging from them. Alleyne says we have to use the things that attract kids to gangs in order to get them away. It is important to reach young people before they become involved in the twisted, distorted mentality of gang members. He stressed the point of prevention and persistence.

"Often we fail our young people when we give up on them," Alleyne said. "Every component of the community should be involved. You need to take what you learned here and bring it to the community."