Advocacy groups ramp up efforts to end gang violence

LAS VEGAS – The latest homicide in the valley has catapulted gang violence back in the spotlight.  A 23-year-old man was gunned down Tuesday night near Eastern and Sahara in what police say might be a graffiti war.

Now, advocates are ramping up efforts to bring peace to gang-infested communities.

“We are working tirelessly, said Pastor Troy Martinez, Rebuilding Every City Around Peace.

Pastor Martinez was at the scene Tuesday night comforting the family of 23-year-old Adan Gavilanes.

“At that moment they’re not thinking right,” Pastor Martinez said.  “They’re willing to go and take vengeance, and so we’re there to break that cycle of violence.”

According to Pastor Troy, preventing retaliation will help reduce what might be a growing problem.

“We are seeing an extreme amount of increase in gang recruitment and gang violence, and it’s very difficult,” Pastor Martinez said.

Martinez is a former gang member who turned to religion to change his lifestyle; now he’s chair of the community advocacy group Rebuilding Every City Around Peace.

Rebuilding Every City Around Peace are in the process of training more people to respond to crime scenes that are gang-related.  Pastor Martinez says it takes a collaborative effort to end the violence.

Metro’s gang unit was put back together after a significant increase in violent crimes.  Most of the crimes have been directly linked to gangs.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo dismantled the gang unit last year in a move he calls “decentralizing.” But after some time, the sheriff revitalized the gang unit.

“So basically those detectives went out into the area commands, but over a period of time their workload became overwhelming, so they didn’t have that concentrator or that centralized function,” Sheriff Lombardo said.

Metro couldn’t say if and how effective the unit has been thus far, but Pastor Martinez believes the war against gangs should be a priority.