Bellone calls on feds for help with Suffolk gang problem

<p>Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone is calling on the federal government to help deal with the growing problem of gang violence in the county.</p>

News 12 Staff

Apr 24, 2017, 11:04 PM

Updated 2,727 days ago

Share:

Bellone calls on feds for help with Suffolk gang problem
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone is calling on the federal government to help deal with the growing problem of gang violence in the county.
Juan Larrea, a Brentwood High School senior, says the big problem facing the community in which he has grown up is gangs. Reputed members of the MS-13 gang have been charged in the brutal killings of two girls from Larrea's school, and he says the violence just gets worse.
Bellone says while the police department is committed to solving the latest slayings of four young men found in a Central Islip park, allegedly at the hands of MS-13, more needs to be done. He says that with so many unaccompanied minors being placed in Suffolk by the federal government, resources need to be provided to community organizations to make sure young people don't fall prey to gangs.
Brentwood School Superintendent Dr. Levi McIntyre says 400 unaccompanied minors walked through the district's doors in 2014.
Bellone is also calling for a notification system so the federal government can notify school districts, the county executive's office and police when unaccompanied minors are placed in a community.
News 12 reached out to the Office of Refugee Resettlement for comment but did not hear back.