RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Youth gang activity is on the rise in North Carolina, according to a report from the governor's Crime Commission.

The Crime Commission met Thursday to discuss the report and possible solutions.

A big push is prevention, but officials said it has to start even earlier than elementary school.

According to a social worker with the NC Gang Investigative Association, the youngest gang member she worked with was six years old.

"This is not new news. And it shouldn't surprise us that we've got children involved in gangs," Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said.

It may not be a new problem, but young people in gangs is a growing one.

A report from the governor's Crime Commission found juvenile gang activity has gone up almost 50% in the last five years. Blackwood

See Full Page