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Brooke Walker Reporting A conference today addressed the issue of gangs. The 16th annual Utah Gang Conference is happening at the South Towne Expo Center.
The conference allows national and local experts to discuss ways to deal with new gang crime, new gang culture, and this year, a new group of gang members.
"They're doing the car jacking, they are doing the kidnappings."
"They" are girls, and girls were the focus of a session today at the Utah Gang Conference. Youth Violence consultants fear that efforts to prevent and educate are missing that important group.
Nationally, female violence is on the rise. So are the number of girls taking part in gangs.
"No they might not subscribe to the Blood and Crips, but if they have a click and a name and commit violence, they are just as much of a gang as anybody else."
Experts say these girl "clicks" act out to prove power and strength. They say, in many situations, girls can actually be more violent than the boys because unlike boys, girls can hang on to resentment. That often leaves the violence and anger that escalates over time. It creates a growing concern for school officials and authorities.
Girls and gangs is just one issue being discussed. Twenty other workshops will address a variety of topics, including community involvement, drug courts and in-school prevention.
The annual conference is highly attended with the idea that local representatives can take ideas back into their individual communities.
The conference is sponsored by the Salt Lake Area Gang Project and continues tomorrow.
