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Gang activity is an issue that Florida Law Enforcement is trying to combat. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum says gangs spreading throughout the state are a big problem. There are approximately 1500 criminal street gangs active in Florida today and over the last three years felonies have risen more than 60 percent. McCollum says the spread of gangs is not just happening in big cities, they have been found everywhere, "there is gang activity in every one of Florida's 67 counties. Everybody's touched; it doesn't matter whether you're in an urban area or a rural area."
The number of crimes committed may not be as surprising as the age that some members are recruited.
"Gang members actively recruit minors," says McCollum , "Some as young as 10 years of age to commit crimes for gangs because minors won't be seeing as much time in jail, and they are also kind of the future of the gangs and that presents all kinds of problems to us."
McCollum knows that these younger children are very impressionable to the older gang members. McCollum’s solution to this wide spread problem... harder punishments and consequences for those involved.