A monthslong investigation led to the arrests of more than 30 gang members in Macon-Bibb last week. During the "Operation Blueprint" press conference, Sheriff David Davis mentioned that investigators locked up a powerful gang leader and that gang activity across town has decreased.
With that, '13 Investigates' took a closer look at gang culture in Macon-Bibb.
Reporter Chelsea Beimfohr spoke to investigators about what changes they've seen in gang activity around town and what they're doing to dismantle some of these violent groups.
In 2016, WMAZ reported that Macon-Bibb had roughly 30 active gangs and 600 active gang members. Now, Lt. Cedrick Penson says those numbers have gone down.
"We are relentless at what we do," said Penson. "Based on our numbers, and what we see in other cities, we are more aggressive in dealing with the gang problem."
Penson says since the Macon Police Department and Bibb County Sheriff's Office merged four years ago, they've increased the number of gang investigators on the squad and built stronger relationships with the FBI, District Attorney's Office, and Pardons and Parole.
Since then, Penson says they've cut the number of active gang members on the street from around 600 in 2016 to around 500 in 2018.
Penson says dismantling a gang doesn't happen overnight, but there's one thing that keeps him motivated.
"It only takes seeing a child being buried. It only takes a mother crying," he said.
A mother like Nikki Johnson.
"Children should bury parents. Parents shouldn't bury children," said Johnson.
Johnson admits that she and her son Corey Hollingshed were both active gang members in 2014 -- the same year he was killed in a gang shootout at Wings Cafe.
"I don't want anymore mothers to join my 'shoe gang' and have to walk in my shoes as a parent, as a mother of a murdered son," said Johnson.
Like the Gang Unit, she's advocating for peace and education.
"I advise that a child don't ever join a gang. You can't go to a job interview, or fill out a job application, and when they ask you for your history, you say 'I was a Westside Gangster' or 'I'm in the Mafia.' You can't do that," she said.
"When it starts costing them money, jobs, opportunities... they tend to stop doing it," said Penson.
Penson also says he's noticed more people "denouncing" gangs and fewer people "glorifying" gangs on social media. It's a trend he's hoping continues.
"It definitely takes momentum. I believe with all the violence we're seeing, everybody's motivated," said Penson.
After 32 homicides in Macon-Bibb this year, many people have asked if a lot of them could be gang-related.
Lt. Penson says "not necessarily." At this point, Penson says only one of two of them are being classified as gang-related, though many of them are still under investigation.
At Tuesday's news conference, Davis echoed what Penson said by saying that while some of the teens involved in recent crime may be in gangs, it didn't appear that the crimes they were involved in were gang-related.