Suffolk Police Commissioner Tim Sini testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee Wednesday to detail the struggle of getting a handle on MS-13 – the gang police believe are behind a string of slayings in the county. 

Police say 17 out of the county's 45 homicides since January 2016 have been linked to the El Salvadorian gang. 

Sini told the Senate committee that some of the 400 confirmed MS-13 gang members in Suffolk are minors who came to the U.S. and were granted asylum through the federal unaccompanied minor program. He also said that school districts and local law enforcement need to be notified when the federal government places one of those unaccompanied minors in communities like Brentwood. 

"We can be proactive in dealing with this very vulnerable population," Sini said. 

He also stressed the need for a national and international database of known gang members.

News 12 Long Island spoke by phone to Evelyn Rodriquez – the mother of Kayla Cuevas, who was allegedly murdered by MS-13 last September in Brentwood. She says she feels law enforcement is doing all it can, but says Suffolk needs federal dollars for anti-gang programs and after-school activities to keep vulnerable kids off the streets.