ATLANTA — While the FBI reported violent crime is trending down across Georgia, a new statewide survey shows an alarming increase in gang membership and activity.
The Georgia Gang Investigators Association (GGIA) 2024 Survey was released on Thursday and revealed more than 127,732 known gang members have been identified among approximately 1,974 "violent gangs."
GGIA said this is an 80% over when the association conducted the same survey in 2018, which identified over 71,000 gang members among 1,600 gangs.
The release stated, "The association's 2024 survey does not demonstrate an overall increase in gang violence but does show responding agencies reported that gangs are responsible for approximately 65% of all crime in Georgia."
Jose Ramirez, President of GGIA, said only 86 of the state's 159 counties responded to their survey.
"The response was not positive," he explained.
Ramirez said some agencies and communities don't want to accept it and then admits sometimes it's a lack of knowledge when it comes to identifying gang members and gang activity.
In a recent interview with 11Alive, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said every single county across the state is dealing with gangs and gang members when it comes to violent crimes.
Ramirez wanted to point out that this survey is not hinting at any increase in criminal gang activity but pointing out that gangs are responsible for a majority of the violent crimes happening in communities across Georgia.
He said what's alarming besides the spike in gang memberships is how many children are being recruited.
"Some gang members keeping it in the family. We're talking generational gang members," Ramirez said, adding, "That's a heck of a challenge that we have."
He also pointed to social media and the music industry.
"We're also up against the glamourization of the gang lifestyle," Ramirez said.
He was quick to point out there is nothing glamourous about it; in fact, he said these gang members lie and lure children in with false hopes "about love and acceptance, and that's what these kids are looking for."
He said heading down that path typically only leads to one of two outcomes, "death or imprisonment."
When looking at the latest survey, Ramirez said there is much more work to be done.
"We as a community have to address this together," he said, adding, "The surge in gang membership and violence is a clear sign that we need to take more aggressive and collaborative measures to address the growing influence of gangs in Georgia."
He said legislators have to become more involve in helping fund resources to help not just in prosecution but in education, prevention, intervention and enforcement.
"Because if we don’t gravitate and try to build relationships and recruit these kids to be on our side as productive citizens, these gangs are doing a heck of a job on it," Ramirez explained.
Attorney General Chris Carr said, "This is exactly why we worked with Governor Brian Kemp and the General Assembly to increase penalties for those who recruit a child to join a gang, and it's why we created Georgia's first statewide Gang Prosecution Unit to enforce the law when others refuse to do so."
Carr added, "When it comes to protection our children, we must double and triple down on anti-recruitment efforts across the board, and we must continue to ensure that our law enforcement officers have the training and resources they need to build strong cases that ultimately lead to safer communities."