Report measures gang influence in Charlotte (N.C.) district

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) school district has unveiled what it says is its first comprehensive report on gangs, identifying about 70 gangs with 450 members in local schools. Officials who put the 40-page report together cautioned that the gangs in local schools aren't the kind of violent, organized, “notorious” gangs that plague some larger cities. The report concluded that gang activity has a relatively minor effect on the orderly functioning of local schools. Officials who compiled the report said only about 1 percent of the 2,300 students who face disciplinary hearings in a year are involved in gang activity.