Augusta -
A new bill targets gang activity in Maine.
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee held a public hearing on LD 1707, "An Act To Define, Prevent and Suppress Gang Activity in the State" at the State House on Friday.
Representative Amy Volk of Scarborough worked with the Maine Gang Task Force and the criminal law advisory council to put it together.
It would require police agencies to come up with their own definitions of criminal street gangs and street gang activities and to inform one another when those activities take place.
"I was presented with a lot of evidence by the president of the Maine Gang Task Force, and some of which came from the FBI, that gangs are moving into Maine. They're not coming here in droves, but this is something that we have to have on our radar screen when a few years back maybe we didn't have it on our radar screen, but let's get ahead of the problem before it becomes a crisis," said Representative Volk.
She says the bill is a way to keep police throughout Maine on the same page when it comes to gang activity.
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