But people battling the root problems behind the proliferation of street gangs are encouraged that lawmakers included money for prevention, intervention and community assessments in their stick-and-carrot approach.

No one, though, expects the new laws or programs to send street gangs skedaddling from North Carolina any time soon.

"It's one of those bills that, of course, sounds wonderful, but it probably doesn't have the teeth it should have," said Jim Woodall, district attorney of Orange and Chatham counties.

"It's no silver bullet," added Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby.

Lawmakers have talked about getting tough on gangs for years. A recent report by the Governor's Crime Commission estimated that 550 gangs exist in the state with nearly 15,000 members.

The legislation adopted this week has been through many renditions since Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat, introduced his proposal.

State Attorney General Roy Cooper waited several days to comment on the new law. In a statement Friday, Cooper said the law provided police more tools to fight gangs. It will now be a felony to participate in gang activity, solicit anyone to join a gang or threaten anyone for quitting a gang. Cooper also recommended more money for prevention programs.

"We are in a war with gangs for the hearts and minds of our children, and we must win," Cooper said in a statement.

Tom Keith, the Forsyth County district attorney, was more blunt in his characterization of the law.

"This is so whittled down, it's not going to empower us," Keith said. "This is an election year. This is a 'run-on' bill so they can tell their constituents they did something."

The new law defines a gang as an "ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal" that may have a common name, identifying sign or symbol and primarily commits felonies or delinquent acts.

Durham District Attorney David Saacks said it could be several years before prosecutors know the legislation's effects.

Part of the law requires prosecutors to show a pattern of gang activity that includes at least two convictions for crimes with similar accomplices or victims within three years. But the law does not take effect until Dec. 1, and it takes time for criminal cases to make their way through the courts, so it may be 2010 before prosecutors are able to prove a pattern of gang behavior.

"Just being a member of the gang per se is not enough," Saacks said. "When they start adding this extra element, we have to prove the specific crime was for the purpose of the gang, that makes it just about useless."

Saacks said it is often easy to prove to a jury that someone is associated with a gang, but added, "What we always have difficulty proving is that a particular crime was done for a particular purpose in the gang."

Saacks said he understood the lawmakers' resistance to restrict anyone's First Amendment right to association, but he said the law might need tweaking to deter gang activity.

"We're going to have to give it several years," he said. "I clearly think it's something we'll eventually be coming back and saying, 'We need to do more.' "

Fighting the source

Like many people trying to fight gangs at the root-problem level, Marcia Owen, outreach coordinator for the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, said tougher laws will do little to curb criminal activity unless they are coupled with efforts to address issues such as poverty that drive young people to gangs.

"We can't incarcerate our way out of this," Owen said. "I don't think that adding prison terms is really a big deterrent. I think what would deter them would be a good education, great support, people who affirm their dignity and worth, a job, a way out of this lifestyle. I think a lot of these young men would be more than happy to change their lifestyle."

Mixed reviews

Deborah Lamm Weisel, a gang expert at the N.C. State University School of Public and International Affairs, said it was common for lawmakers to want to be more punitive, but there's no evidence that tougher laws are effective.

Weisel said it can take years to build cases against well-organized gangs such as the Mafia. The process is more difficult, she said, when dealing with the kinds of gangs more common in the Triangle: young people with no rigid hierarchy.

Buddy Howell, a senior research associate at the National Youth Gang Center, praised the legislature's action, particularly a separate bill that called for a statewide assessment of gangs.

"It's impressive in its scope and in its balance," Howell said. "In North Carolina and I'm sure virtually every other state, there's a lot of confusion about gang problems. It's very common for the problem to be exaggerated. That's why the assessment is so critical."