Ex-gang member shares his story at Warner Robins forum

WARNER ROBINS -- Former gang member Chris Brooks paid a heavy price for his gang involvement.

Brooks’ brother and 2-year-old daughter were shot to death by a gang member in 1993 in Atlanta. The shooting was in retribution for Brooks leaving the gang he’d joined at age 12 growing up in New Orleans.

“That’s what I got for being in a gang,” Brooks told a crowd of about 130 people assembled Tuesday for a gang violence awareness and prevention forum at the Wellston Center.

Brooks said he reaped what he’d sown into his life years earlier. He was involved in a drive-by shooting in which two lives were lost in 1985 when he joined the Disciples gang.

Brooks spent his teen years in juvenile custody and said he continued his life of crime as an adult. He was arrested 86 times during his life and convicted 14 of those times.

“What made me stop is I got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Brooks said.

Today, the 42-year-old Brooks is married, has two children, ages 10 and 18, a home and works for the city of Douglasville. He also works with the Douglasville Police Department’s “Youth Against Violence” campaign and shares his story wherever he’s invited to speak.

“I have overcome this,” said Brooks, who received a standing ovation at the forum Tuesday.

Former gang member Art Powell, whom The Telegraph previously incorrectly reported would speak at the forum, did not. Both Brooks and Powell work with the Douglasville police program that works with young people to deter them from joining gangs.

Douglasville Deputy Police Chief Gary Sparks, who met Brooks when he was incarcerated, and Douglasville Police Lt. Ken Winklepleck formed the program. Sparks talked about the program, and both he and Winklepleck fielded questions from the audience.

Warner Robins police Detective Justin Clark, the agency’s gang intelligence officer, said gangs no longer can be identified by colors. Some of today’s gangs don’t even have colors. He told those assembled to watch for changes in behavior in their children.

The forum was sponsored by the Houston County Gang Task Force. The task force, which is made up of church and community leaders, educators, prosecutors and law enforcement personnel, was formed in 1996 by Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Ex-gang member shares his story at Warner Robins forum ."