Crime-prevention leaders in Loudoun County are hoping a new schedule might lure more parents to tonight’s forum on teen gang activity in Northern Virginia.

Hoping the start to the weekend is a better opportunity to reach working parents, the Gang Response Intervention Team is hosting its forum at 6:30 p.m. today at Douglass School in Leesburg, instead of on a typical school night.

The meeting also will feature Spanish and English presentations in a bid to reach more Spanish-speaking families.

Getting parents to learn about the gang problem in Northern Virginia can be a “crapshoot,” GRIT coordinator Ed Ryan said.

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Sometimes, five parents show up. Other events draw 50 or more.

The five-year-old organization has been trying to help parents recognize warning signs for gang behavior.

There is a general need to publicize the issue and make families aware “what to look for, what the risk factors are and what to do,” Ryan said.

The briefings urge parents to be on the lookout for graffiti, drawings on notebooks, online groups, clothing preferences and referring to friends as “family.”