ALBANY — Local gangs send juvenile members to burglarize homes and the stolen television is not the purpose of the robbery, a juvenile judge said.

“Juveniles are breaking into houses, getting guns and using guns,” said Dougherty County Juvenile Court Judge Richard Brooker. “Make no mistake about it. They are looking for guns.”

Brooker brought his about 30 years of experience to the monthly gang Task Force and Violence Prevention Meeting in the Government Center noon Thursday.

The meetings are hosted by Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard. They present speakers on various aspects of the fight against gangs in the city and Dougherty County.

Speaking from his perspective as a juvenile judge, Brooker took the audience of interested residents and law enforcement professionals through the causes and effects of a breakdown in respect for authority that he saw.

Juveniles have no structure, no role models and no connections, Brooker said. Many homes, especially it seems single-parent homes, do not offer what children need to grow up responsibly.

One job of juvenile court is to rehabilitate juveniles, Brooker said. The problem is that the home has failed to equip the juvenile to deal with society in a positive way in the first place.

“There is nothing to rehabilitate him back to,” Brooker said. “Guns, gangs and drugs are a serious problem.”

Schools for whatever the reason either cannot or do not offer the structure for all students that is necessary for children to grow along healthy law-abiding lines, Brooker said.

There have been many violations of probation by juveniles in schools that have gone unreported to authorities, Brooker added. He would like to see more cooperation between juvenile authorities and the school system.

He believes in a hard line for offenders.

“If a juvenile is involved with gangs, drugs and guns,” Brooker said, “I’m not putting you out in our community.”

Because people are “hard wired” to seek belonging, Brooker said citing a Dartmouth University study, juveniles will drift to where they can find acceptance.

“They feel unaccepted at home and at school,” Brooker said. “They will find the nearest group that will accept them - gangs.”

In the fight against gangs the government seems to have lost its will and with it funding for programs, Brooker said.

He lamented the phasing out of programs such as “boot camps” for juveniles. He did not seem to have much faith in the short term therapeutic programs that have taken their place.

“I’m flabbergasted,” Howard said in reaction to hearing Brooker speak of the demise of the boot camps.

Howard said he would begin calling state legislators to try and reinstitute the 90-day, boot-camp program.

The fight has to go beyond that, Brooker said. There has to be more grass-roots involvement at the community level.

The level of case numbers in court might seem to appear a significant minority, Brooker said. He sees only the worst cases, about 2,200 a year of a student population of about 22,000.

“It only takes a small number to influence the 90 percent,” Brooker said. “It only takes a few to destroy it for all.”

Hoping to pitch in and help, Amy Floresca, 69, an Albany resident who has taught in Europe and Asia, attended the meeting.

“Albany is my home and I care,” Floresca said. “I’m willing to help in any way I can.”

The Gang Task Force and Violence Prevention meetings will resume monthly after Jan. 1.