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ATTLEBORO - An outside observer will be assessing the potential threat of gang activity in Attleboro and providing school staff members information about how to recognize and report problems, officials told the school committee
Tuesday.

The expert, who was not named, works with the Probation Department and the state Attorney General's office, according to high school principal Don Frederick, and has already begun visiting various locations in the city.

The official will also provide his findings to the school committee, members were told.

The announcement came on the heels of a school confrontation between students that included a teenager identified by police as a gang member in which three teachers trying to break up the fight were roughed up. None suffered serious injuries.

In addition, some high school students have voiced concern over behavior they believe to be connected with gangs, and at least one student told a reporter that some of her classmates are candid about their gang ties. Other students, however, say teens who appear to be emulating gangs are merely "wannabe gangsters" caught up in the popular mythology of gang life and are not criminals in waiting.

Teachers and staff members are vigilant against gang symbolism and prohibit students from wearing obvious gang-related colors or paraphernalia at school, the principal said.

Frederick said the upcoming assessment will focus on the community as a whole, not primarily the schools. The consultant plans to return to the school to meet with staff on Feb. 14.

Although neighboring cities like Providence, Brockton and New Bedford have a history of youth violence, Attleboro has remained largely insulated from gangs.

Coria Holland, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Probation Department, said chief probation officers at the Attleboro District Court say they do not see a developing pattern of gang-related crimes based on local criminal cases.

However, Attleboro Police Chief Richard Pierce said an apparent increase in youth violence in neighboring communities and the emergence of gang-related symbols painted on local stores and public structures in Attleboro are worrisome.

Some local teens and adults openly pay homage to the Crips, the nationwide street gang, on Myspace pages studded with gang symbols and slogans and pictures of themselves with friends displaying gang signs.

Recently, a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the downtown area, reportedly while trying to act as peacemaker between other men who were arguing about gang allegiances. Defense attorneys have challenged that account in court, however.

In 2006, a trio of machete-wielding men who later cited their affiliation with the "Exotic Little Bloods" were arrested after holding up a North Main Street convenience store.

Superintendent Pia Durkin, who was exposed to gangs as a school administrator in Providence and Boston, said she is not content to take the potential threat of gangs lightly. She said that while gangs are probably not a pervasive influence in the city, they appear to be present "on the fringes." "We can't say this doesn't happen in the city of Attleboro," she said.