Gangs are a growing problem in Raleigh. Experts say nearly 50 gangs are operating in the city right now.
"There's a lot of gang activity. There's a lot of drug activity," says Tim Prince, a violence prevention specialist who works with at-risk youth.
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Prince was born and raised in Raleigh.
"I was a preacher's kid," he says. "My life growing up, it was church, church, church."
He was first introduced to the gang life in middle school.
"I felt like that life was better than the church life. So I went head first into the streets. It actually took me almost losing my life – going to prison – for me to say, 'Hey, this ain't it.'"
Now, Prince works with his friend Ty Hinton in an organization called Team Truth 919.
Hinton says, "I was shot eight times in the back while sitting in my car, with a AK-47." He lost a nephew to gang violence in Raleigh.
Team Truth 919 organizes community events at parks and community centers in Raleigh where they and other advocates talk to young people about choosing a better path.
At a recent event, a gang member called in from death row call to share his story with the crowd.
Data from the North Carolina Division of Juvenile Justice shows that when an adult intervenes in a young person’s life within the first year after they join a gang, 70% get out. That same data shows that people who spend two or three years in a gang are only 10 to 15% likely to get out.
Hinton says the Team Truth 919 motto is: You not a product of your environment. You're product of your mindset.
The next Team Truth 919 event is planned for June 15 from 12 to 2 p.m. at Nash Park, 200 S. McDowell St. in Raleigh.
Gangs and how they recruit kids was the subject of a WRAL Documentary. "Easy Targets: Gangs getting younger in NC" premiered on June 6, 2024.