RICHMOND

Officials working to curb gang activity in Virginia have a new tool at their disposal – a law that lets them strip alcohol licenses from businesses that permit criminal gangs to use their property as hangouts.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed a bill that gives the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control that power during a Friday meeting of a state anti-gang panel he created nearly two-years ago.

“The significant uptick in gang activity and worries about gang activity, of course, has been the subject of public policy focus in Virginia for some time,” Kaine said.

The governor said the new law targets “management of the establishments (who) are not just innocent bystanders. They’re willing partners with gang members, and sometimes tacitly and sometimes actively, support the criminal activity of these gangs.”

Del. Paula Miller, D-Norfolk, sponsored the legislation during the 2008 General Assembly session.

“It’s not just cities like Norfolk and the large metropolitan areas anymore,” she said of gang activity. “It’s everywhere, unfortunately, in our communities across the Commonwealth.”

Recognizing that trend spurred Chesapeake officials to form a gang awareness task force two years ago.

A community forum on gang awareness was held Thursday in Chesapeake.

City Councilman Cliff Hayes said the goal of the campaign is to “make the community aware of gang activity. For the longest time so many in this community, not only this city but the region... didn’t recognize that the problem existed.”

While many experts say gang activity is increasing, statistics can be hard to come by because of the way crime data is compiled.

“That’s the hard thing with most agencies right now because the traditional style gang problem is only a few years old in this area,” said Portsmouth Police Det. Ken Gavin.

“Our systems weren’t set up to track gang-related criminal activity.”

Another complication is that gang members arrested by police don’t often admit to affiliations with organized crime groups because that can lead to stiffer penalties, added Gavin, chairman of Portsmouth’s gang task force.

But public awareness about the problem is increasing, he said.

“A lot of the citizens are starting to see that now and starting to educate themselves,” Gavin said.

“We’re getting inundated with requests to provide gang awareness training to civic leagues and church groups.”

Tougher laws and enforcement can reduce gang issues but Kaine reminded officials Friday that the work must continue.

“There’s no silver bullet for something like this,” he said.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com [1]