ISSUE -- A KNOWN GANG MEMBER GUNS DOWN A MAN AT A CROWDED MALL ON
CHRISTMAS EVE

Boynton Beach's out-of-control gang violence became a national
spectacle this weekend. That's what will happen when a known member
of a notorious gang pulls out a gun at a crowded shopping mall, on
Christmas Eve no less, and shoots a man dead in front of thousands of
holiday shoppers.

Not the way an up-and-coming city with grand downtown revival plans
wants to raise its profile.

No matter how great its revitalization turns out, Boynton Beach will
never be the shopping and entertainment destination it aspires to be
unless it clamps down on the gang activity it has yet to take
seriously enough. The Boynton Beach Mall shooting, reported on
national network news, should be the wake-up call the city's
leadership needs to get its act together.

The dead man, Berno Charlemond, was no angel. He had a criminal
record and was arrested last month for bringing a gun to the Boynton
Mall. So some may be tempted to view his slaying as just another
incident of "bad guys against bad guys," as Mayor Jerry Taylor once
described the city's 2004 spike in drug-related violence. But in a
city that saw dozens of gang-related drive-bys this year, innocents
also get caught in the gunfire -- like the landscaper killed in
August. In fact, it was a miracle no one else was hurt Sunday.

The two officers who chased known San Castle Boys gang member Jesse
Cesar through the mall after he allegedly shot Charlemond showed
restraint for not firing their own weapons and further endangering
cowering shoppers. But it was plain luck, not solid police work, that
a gunman who killed one man then shot at police before holing himself
up in a packed Dillard's store did not claim more victims.

Boynton dodged a bullet, but the shooting exposed the city's gang
problem for what it is: a crisis that deserves urgent and decisive
action. Officials have added officers in high-crime areas and the
mayor now recognizes that gang violence is a priority concern, but
that hasn't made a difference yet. The city has to find out what will
if it wants to safeguard its future.

BOTTOM LINE: Stop gang violence, now.