Local law enforcement is seeing a decrease in gang crime, according to Luis Cardona, Montgomery County’s youth violence prevention coordinator.

The trend was a topic of discussion at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ gang prevention conference last week in Silver Spring, which was attended by area leaders and experts throughout the region.

“We’re going in the right direction in terms of how we are addressing gang issues,” Cardona said, adding the conference focused on prevention and intervention. “Some of the best practices are the same practices that we have in place. The most important thing is that [the jurisdictions] are connected.”

The conference attendees met at the Silver Spring Civil Building for a week to receive training and discuss trends.

krose@gazette.net