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Posted: 12:57 PM- A pair of bills aimed at tackling Utah's escalating gang problem today earned the approval of the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.
Sen. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden, who is Ogden's police chief and sponsor of http://www.le.state.ut.us/search.jsp?Sess=2008GS&String=SB65&Submit=Find" Target="_BLANK">SB65 and http://www.le.state.ut.us/search.jsp?Sess=2008GS&String=SB75&Submit=Find" Target="_BLANK">SB75, says a spike in gang activity in several Utah cities is a catalyst to add changes to gang laws already on the books.
SB65 makes it a class B misdemeanor to intimidate a minor to join or leave a street gang and increases the penalty for continually recruiting a minor into a gang. The bill makes intimidating a minor to commit a crime or recruiting youth more than once in 180 days to join a gang a class A misdemeanor.
"We want to provide some protection for juveniles who are intimidated by organized street gangs," Greiner said at today's hearing. He said at least 20 states have introduced legislation tied to tightening penalties for gang involvement, such as making promotion of gangs on social networking sites like Myspace a felony and punishing gang kingpins with up to life in prison for their leadership roles.
In addition to SB65, Greiner's bill SB75 allows police officers to order known gang members to leave an area if a group is loitering and "intimidating" people. The bill makes it a class B misdemeanor if gang members don't disperse and sets a $100 fine if known gang members loiter again during certain times.
Both pieces of legislation received support from most committee members today, including Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, who said gangs are a problem in his neighborhood near 560 East and 700 South.
"It's incredibly frustrating for our neighborhood to live with that activity," McCoy said, noting gang activity is increasingly noticeable in the summer months.
Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City, voted against SB75. He also expressed concerns that SB65 may disproportionately target the state's minority communities and asked for an ethnic breakdown of Utah gangs.
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