Yes, Metro Atlanta Has a Gang Problem, Officials Say

ATLANTA, GA -- A string of high-profile crimes in Fulton County has prompted leaders to acknowledge that metro Atlanta has a gang problem.

City leaders said there are more than 135 gangs with more than 2,000 members operating in the area, according to local news reports.

“We do have an increase, it is a significant increase from how it was and I think that this is going to continue to get worse if we do not do something about it now,” Keith Lamar, Fulton County deputy district director of community prosecution, told WAGA-TV.

“Last couple of weeks we have had a couple of issues at our gas stations and we think it might be a little related to that, so therefore we want people to know this is what is going on,” Lamar was quoted as saying.

The issue was most recently in the news late last week when a woman's car was stolen near downtown Atlanta.

The victim told a local TV station that she pulled up at a gas station near the Georgia Dome. A female asked to use her phone, but she refused. That's when she says she was attacked by the woman, who knocked her down. Three men then appeared and jumped in her vehicle and sped off.
"I was starting to get scared, I was like, 'She's crazy, let me just leave the store before something happens," Emma Ebosi told WGCL-TV.
"That's like the scary part cause it can happen anywhere now, like I don't feel safe at all anymore."

Read more: Police looking for 3 men, 1 woman in carjacking

Atlanta and Fulton County aren't the only areas experiencing crime. High-profile shootings have been reported in Cartersville and Gwinnett just in the past week.

Lamar said that many of the offenders are young people who have been recruited as young as 9 years old.

“The reason they are joining the gangs because they feel like they have no hope, these people are actually giving them something to think about so lets go out there and be pro active to get them back on the right track,” Lamar told WAGA.

Fulton County officials have mandated that convenience stores in high-crime areas hire security and/or install surveillance cameras to deter crime.

Image via Pixabay