Church, WPD hold gang forum

WILMINGTON — Are you concerned your son or daughter may be in a gang? Do you even know how to tell? A local church wants to make sure everyone in the community is up to speed.

With all the attention on gang violence here lately, some members of the community feel we aren’t as informed as we should be. The Union Missionary Baptist Church in Wilmington is trying to teach parents and teens more about gangs in a forum Wednesday night.

The forum includes members of the Wilmington Police Department and the New Hanover County gang task force. They’ll discuss tell-tale signs of gang affiliation and what parents can do if a child is reeled in.

Union Missionary Baptist Church elder Linda Rawley said, “We needed to do our part as a ministry to actually speak out against gang violence. And not only speak out against it, but actually show parents and their young people and the teens in our community what it’s all about. Tell parents really what’s happening in our backyard.”

The forum will be held Wednesday from six p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Union Baptist Church in Wilmington. The church is located at 2711 Princess Place Dr.

Forum organizers encourage both teens and their parents to attend.