A bill designed to stiffen penalties of gang-related crimes committed by juveniles is not receiving wide support from law enforcement officials.Sgt. Dennis Matko, a detective in the strategic planning bureau of Columbus Division of Police, said House Bill 2 does not properly address the problem of gangs in Ohio.”Gang members don’t become less of a threat after they turn 18,” he said. “In most cases they become more of a threat because they become the leaders of the gangs.”Matko said the bill will conflict with current law, the Ohio Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law.RICO is effective and the new law could reduce its impact, Matko said.Discrepancies between the laws would allow defense attorneys representing gang members to play one law against another, he said.The current RICO law is broader and targets habitual criminals or career offenders, he said. Rep. John Garcia, (R-Toledo), who sponsored House Bill 2, said in a statement that the law in place is not effective enough to stop Ohio’s gang problem.”Existing law is not getting the job done,” he said. “This bill, along with prevention and intervention programs that are currently in place, will give law enforcement the added teeth they’ve been asking for to combat this problem.” David DeVillers, director of the gang unit for the Franklin County prosecutor’s office, said the new law will make it harder to prosecute gang members and lessen the offense.RICO requires prosecutors to prove a gang or group exists, and that the person in question is a member of the group, DeVillers said. Matko said provisions he favored in the new bill was dropped, weakening the legislation.Under the original bill, law enforcement officials were required to report persons participating in criminal gang activity to the attorney general’s office in order to create a statewide database.The bill also originally required law enforcement agencies to notify school officials of juveniles involved in gang activities. This is an important provision because there is a great deal of denial in schools about kids involved in gangs, Matko said.The provisions were dropped under a constitutional challenge of right to privacy, Garcia said.Both Matko and DeVillers said although they are generally not in favor of all of the provisions of House Bill 2, they are not opposed to legislation aimed at criminal gangs.House Bill 2, which is modeled after a California law, needs Senate approval. If passed, Ohio will become the 21st state to enact legislation specifically designed to fight criminal gangs.