BY JULIA HUNTER, NEW ERA STAFF WRITER

In light of this week’s arrest of a Hopkinsville teenager who spray painted gang-related graffiti on several businesses throughout downtown Hopkinsville, Fort Campbell Boulevard and Skyline Drive, the Christian County Community League is aiming to increase awareness about gangs in the area.

A 17-year-old male was arrested Wednesday morning after police caught him fleeing with a can of spray paint in his hand. More than 15 buildings in the area had been marked with Spanish phrases and the term MS-13, the name of a Hispanic gang. The suspect was taken to McCracken Juvenile Detention Center in Paducah.

Christian County Community League, which consists of concerned citizens, representatives from several local agencies and elected officials, will be visiting six Safe Community Networks in the inner-city to spread the word and answer questions on gangs. A panel of their members will let parents know what to look for if they think their child might be in a gang, how to get help and how to talk to their child, said Kelli Stegemoller, director of resident services for the Housing Authority of Hopkinsville.

“I think you have a lot of parents that have a lot of questions, but they are scared,” she said.

During a meeting Thursday afternoon, the group also discussed how important it is that locals understand and accept that Hopkinsville has gang activity. Many members stressed that education on these gangs is impossible without accepting that they are in the area.

“When you start talking about MS-13, the FBI labeled them the most dangerous gang in America,” said Scott Noisworthy, of the Hopkinsville Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit. “Are they as bad as that in Hopkinsville? Absolutely not. Are they here? I guess we found out (this week).”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Pryor, a member of the group, also spoke about how she is working with state legislators on proposing a bill that will increase gang legislation.

Currently, Kentucky has two laws pertaining to gangs, one that regards the definition of gangs and one that makes it illegal to recruit members into a gang, she said.

“We can’t really do anything legally to (gang members),” Pryor said. “Our goal is to be able to put some teeth in our laws. If someone commits a crime, if we can verify they are a gang member, maybe their punishment would be more harsh.”

The group also hopes that the results of a survey they distributed to 4,400 area middle and high school students will help its quest for educating members of the community about gangs.

“The survey will help us know — in the Hopkinsville-Christian County area — where these kids consider to be a hot spot for criminal activity,” Stegemoller said. “We need to know what neighborhoods these are and know what we need to do there.”

Survey results should be complete around early November, Stegemoller said.

The next meeting of the Christian County Community League will be at 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Riverfront Community Room near the Hopkinsville Housing Authority. It is open to the public. For more information call Stegemoller at 887-4275.

JULIA HUNTER can be reached at 887-3262 or by e-mail at jhunter@kentuckynewera.com.