The Chronicle

Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: News
Last update: 11/13/07 at 6:49 AM EST

Eugene Brown

With gang violence a consistent concern for Durham residents, city officials are considering resurrecting old laws used to prosecute mafia members in an effort to tame Durham's gangs.

The laws fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a federal statute implemented in 1970. With the act in place, law officials were able to prosecute known mafia members with harsher sentences.

Today, Durham gang members convicted of a crime are tried as normal offenders, but under RICO, they would be prosecuted more strictly if their association with an organized gang could be proven, a move some say is necessary to fight a persistent gang problem.

"In fighting crime, there are no magic bullets," City Council member Eugene Brown said. "Somehow the message has to get out that gang activity will not be tolerated."

If convicted under RICO laws, a defendant can be fined as much as $25,000 and sentenced to anything from 20 to 30 years in prison.

Although RICO results in stricter sentencing, Mayor Bill Bell said proving RICO can be time-consuming and often takes up a lot of resources.

To prove that RICO applies, police and prosecutors must show that a criminal committed at least two felonies within a 10-year period while part of an organized criminal group.

Former council member and mayoral candidate Thomas Stith, however, said he is an advocate of using RICO.

"Our gang problem is running rampant," Stith said in a mayoral debate on ABC 11. "We need to send a clear message that Durham is closed for business for violent crime and gang activity."

There are approximately 30 active gangs in Durham with roughly 800 members, ranging in size from small neighborhood units to large-scale ones with national associations, Durham Police Department Capt. Ray Taylor told The Chronicle in January.

"[Curbing gang violence] is a very high priority for the police department," Taylor said. "Twenty-nine officers have been assigned to the gang unit, and everything they do is directly or indirectly related to gangs."

Still, Brown said Durham's current system for combating gangs is not working well, and gang membership continues to grow.

"RICO is a tool in the arsenal and it should be used," he said.

RICO laws have been used in other areas, such as Florida, New York and even Charlotte, and have been regarded as fruitful, said Erwin Chemerinsky, Alston and Bird Professor of Law.

"Mayor Bell is correct that RICO adds additional proof requirements, but it has been used elsewhere successfully," Chemerinsky wrote in an e-mail.

It is unclear at this point whether RICO will be used in Durham, but some city officials have supported using it despite concerns that it is costly.

Although RICO laws have yet to be implemented on gang members in Durham, Brown said Durham residents are ready for gang activity to decrease. With RICO, he said citizens may have something to look forward to.

"RICO needs to be there to send the message that Durham is getting serious about gangs-it is going to be 'bye-bye time' for criminals," Brown said.

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