The Director of the Tippecanoe County Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Initiative says gang violence is the number one threat to the community.
Kathy Redd says that type of activity is prevalent in the area and targets children even before elementary school.
She says to combat the problem, the entire community needs to become more proactive.
Redd says her organization has identified nearly two dozen gangs within the local school corporations and at least 48 national and regional gangs in the county, but says the amount is likely closer to 70.
She says one stigma is that gangs are often associated with people in poverty.
However, Redd says that is not true and gang affiliation is not confined to any socio-economic status.