The Vance County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Monday evening to give the Vance County Juvenile Crime Prevention Committee (JCPC) an additional $15,000 to complete the Vance County Gang Assessment Survey.
According to Vance JCPC Chair Frank Sossamon, a grant was received from the state for the Vance JCPC to do the survey. Sossamon told board members that Vance County received $25,000 to do the work, half of what other counties received. He said the grants were awarded on a tier structure that was developed by the state, and he had no other explanation as to why Vance County’s award was less than neighboring counties.
Sossamon told members that the requested funds would be used to finish the study and proceed to the second phase of the study. The second phase will concentrate on implementing remedies suggested by the first phase of the survey.
The survey has a paid project manager, Deborah Fields, and a paid research analyst. All other work has been performed using a combination of volunteers and in-kind services. Sossamon indicated that working closely with Granville County on the assessment has made Vance’s process “a little more efficient”.
Fields told commissioners that the JCPC is “within hours of having [the survey results] ready to present to you.” She said that part of the issue was that no one really knew what the costs would be at the onset of the project.
Commissioner Deborah Brown, who sits on the JCPC board, stated that commissioners would be “pleased” by the study. She said it was “very much needed”, and told members that Vance has “the worst [gang] problem of any neighboring counties”.
“We really do have a problem and we really do need to address it,” Brown said.
Commissioner Dan Brummitt told Sossamon and Fields that he supports the survey, but stated that the county needs to be kept more apprised as to what is going on.
Newly-elected Commissioner Gordon Wilder asked how the survey ties into the information gathering being done by the Henderson Police Department. Sossamon responded that the HPD’s work is all part of the assessment.
The $15,000 will come from the county’s contingency or general fund. The JCPC expects to apply for additional funds from the state at the end of the month.