(RALEIGH) -- A state House subcommittee has advanced a bill that would strike at the resources that street gangs use to terrorize communities using a legal tactic known as "nuisance abatement"   Fred Baggett with the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police said it would be a necessary step in fighting gangs.

"This would allow a court, upon request from a law enforcement agency, to take action against a location which is the site of criminal gang activities," said Baggett.

Crime Control and Public Safety statistics show there are more than 500 gangs operating across North Carolina.