Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Local lawmakers are expressing their surprise and frustration at a growing gang problem in D.C.’s suburbs. The problem is becoming especially evident in Montgomery County, where police say almost one-third of its homicides last year were gang-related.

“I don’t know if we know how we’re going to deal with this,” Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner said at Wednesday’s council of Governments meeting. “People basically say to somebody,’ if you don’t join my gang, your family or your home country is going to be in very deep trouble.'”

Just last week, Montgomery County Police announced the arrest of a man tied to an El Salvadorian gang, accused of a brutal stabbing of a landscape worker in Gaithersburg. Oscar Delgado Perez had been deported twice but had returned to the area.

“I know we’re all struggling with that phenomenon,” Berliner said. “That’s new for us.”

While Berliner said they’re still exploring how to deal with the problem, Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg offered advice as they’ve seen a decrease over the last decade.

“People who sit around the table with us include not only the police, but school counselors, school officials, youth organization leaders,” Silberberg said. “It’s a broad-based approach. We’ve found it to be really effective in a really proactive way.”

Officials at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments agreed that gangs know no boundaries, so it would be useful to share best practices.

“They can float from our city to Fairfax County to Arlington and all the way up to Montgomery County, and back again,” Silberberg said. “These things go in cycles. It just depends on who is coming through and what the economics are.”

Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved (PHOTO: Montgomery County Police)