Comprehensive Gang Model: Solving Our Gang Problem

Chapter Four is entitled, “[The] Scope and Nature of the Current Gang Problem.” It focuses on recent trends in number of gangs, gang members and gang-related crimes in each city. In Inglewood, almost all the neighborhoods were claimed by at least one gang, with gang-unit officers agreeing that the city was facing a major gang problem. In Albuquerque, gangs were involved in drug trafficking and property offenses, with 7 out of 8 gang-unit officers believing the city had a major gang problem. In Las Vegas, migration from other cities was thought to be the primary cause of an increase in gang members. 50% of crime in Las Vegas is attributed to gangs, with most officers believing they had a moderate to major gang problem. In Phoenix, the gang problem is described as wave-like, with 70% of gang-unit officers thinking the city had a major gang problem. These statistics were backed up through interviews with officers and city records.

In recent times, public officials, community groups and activists have expressed their concern over the growth of violence perpetrated by youth gangs. On their own, local governments are often restricted not only by budgetary constraints, but operating knowledge. There is evidence that when public officials and community groups are engaged, empowered and enlightened in a collaborative effort, change happens. When both the public and private sectors willingly cooperate together, deterrence of gang violence can be achieved. This paper delves into specific government programs that studies and provides information on gang violence. This information brings forward specific limitations and recommendations that a continued collaborative effort can deter youth gang violence.

A two-pronged prevention approach has proven effective, with primary prevention strategies aimed at the community 's general population and secondary prevention strategies targeting youth between the ages of 7 and 14 who are at high risk of joining gangs. Prevention efforts undertaken by law enforcement departments around the country include: “Participating in community awareness campaigns (e.g. developing public service announcements and poster campaigns). Contacting the parents of peripheral gang members (through the mail or during personal visits) to alert them that their children are involved with a gang. Sponsoring gang hotlines to gather information and facilitate a quick response to gang-related issues. Organizing athletic events with teams of law enforcement officers and gang members. Establishing working relationships with local social service agencies. Making presentations about gangs to schools and community groups as a combined effort at prevention and information gathering. Sponsoring school-based gang and drug prevention programs (e.g. DARE and GREAT)” (Hess, 2013 p.230).

Samantha Wallace English101 Will Gangs Ever End Throughout the world, dangerous street gangs have emerged as a major threat to community safety and now represent one of the most challenging criminal justice issues we face today. The United States government is much to blame for the popularity and escalating numbers of gangs in the United States. Gangs influence youth negatively and lead them into lives of crime. The government helps people in many situations but why not people who are associated with gangs in our neighborhood? If the government would help young youth with not affiliating with gang memberships crime and death rates would decrees tremendously in neighborhoods where people are forced to live with fear every time they walk outside their doors

The streets of Philadelphia are rapidly becoming a home to violent acts and random homicides. Innocent lives are taken every day due to the strong presence of gangs, and the streets are run by unruly groups of fearless young adults. Gang violence in Philadelphia is a major issue, and the citizens will never be safe until gang prevention occurs. Gang prevention is not a simple task, but with the right resources available, it is possible. Gang violence is a problem that will contribute to the collapse of Philadelphia, and it has yet to be solved throughout many generations. With gang violence on the rise, the best solution to gang violence is to educate the youth and parents about gangs and use family support to prevent the creation of gang

Chicago has the biggest gang problem in the country (Thomas & Bass, 2009). “There are more gang members per citizen in Chicago than anywhere else in the country” (Thomas, 2009, para 4). The average Chicago gang leader is 43, convicted of murder and lives in the suburbs. That leader on many occasions directs his gang from jail (Main, 2006) and 95 percent of inmates in the Cook County Jail are gang members (Thomas, 2009). Gangs are everywhere today just like they use to be. The high number of gangs causes violence and deaths to rise in Chicago.

After many mixtapes and nearing the edge of household name status, Maryland rapper Logic drops his first album. In this album is a song titled Gang Related. This song tells the story of what environment and household he grew up in. His brother is in a gang and sells cocaine to his father in front of him. Logic's mother is in an out of mental institutions, all the while logic is growing up and trying not to get shot when he walks outside. With drugs and gangs all around him, it is quite amazing that he got out and become a famous rapper. Gang Related also has a core message of stopping the violence, which leads to a question, is this song about his story or a message about ending the violence?

With the leading number of gangs in the country, Los Angeles is thought of as the gang capital of the world. Employing gang suppression strategies that take distinct forms, from anti-gang injunctions to high rate of incarcerations, the City of Angels has failed to live up to its angelic name. Known instead for its demonic gang activity and police suppression efforts, Los Angeles has taken over media headlines as one of the most dangerous places to subsist. Representing a worrisome issue for residents, visitors, city government officials, as well as urban planners, gang violence has rapidly become a threat to public safety. Although current-day gang culture has eased off on the violence, it continues to be one of the greatest planning challenges

Community crime prevention programs incorporate practices that target changes in a community’s culture, physical environment, or infrastructure to reduce crime such as gang involvement and violence (Citation Needed). This paper will examine the following three different strategies used in crime prevention programs: focused deterrence strategy, problem-solving policing, and situational crime prevention. Deterrence strategy or theory states that crimes can be prevented when the costs of committing the crime are perceived by the offender to outweigh the benefits of committing the crime (Braga et al., 2001). Programs that use the theory of situational crime prevention believe that crime can be reduced by identifying and then eliminating the forces that facilitate would-be offenders’ criminal acts (Clarke, 1992). Problem-oriented policing is an analytic method used by police to develop strategies that prevent and reduce crime. Under this method, a law enforcement agency will systematically analyze the problems of a community, search for effective solutions to the problems, and evaluate the impact of their efforts (Weisburd et al., 2004).

“The model rests on three principles: (1) adaptability to a variety of gang-related problems and a variety of jurisdictions; (2) flexibility; and (3) the use of a multifaceted approach by government, private agencies, and community participation. Central features of the model are its focus on harmful behaviors, continuous diagnosis of problems, coordination of responses, performance monitoring, impact evaluation, and adaptation to change.” (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.). This focuses on the youth gangs and bringing the gang to their attention. Getting to know the gang, their tactics, and approaches would help with understanding their ways of violence, how they use it, where, and why. Many of the violence in gangs are for honor, revenge, courage, and prestige. This model uses a four-stage problem solving technique that focuses on why problems are persisting within the

The correlation between gangs and drugs has always been an issue for the United States government. Major cities often overlooked the problem of youth gang violence, thinking it was only a 1960’s trend. Sixty years later, gangs and drugs continue to be a problem, but in an increasing number within urban, suburban and rural areas in the United States. People may characterize this problem with words such as violence, increase drug activity, and delinquencies, but not many seem to see the bigger picture. Lack of interaction, collaboration, and strategies from law enforcement, youth centers, businesses, churches, and political icons are increasing gang violence and drug related offenses in major cities. In such cities as Chicago, minority groups are the most vulnerable to joining a gang, which then leads to an involvement with drugs; they are faced with barriers – lack of family support, poverty, segregation, unemployment, etc. An incident that happened in Chicago history is the closing of the Cabrini-Green Project, where people involved with gangs had to find a new home, scattering gang-members throughout the city, and eventually leading to their spread and growth.

Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging.

In society today, there is a major problem We live in a society where gangs are taking over our neighborhoods in numbers. It is the responsibility of the individuals to part take in getting their neighborhoods back under control. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives or for acceptance. When youths join gangs, they drop all their social activities with school, family, and friends. However, individuals ruin their lives, and the chances of them having a decent education, and a successful life by getting involved in gang activity.

In order to come to a solution, an understanding of different aspects of the problem is required. Gangs are not a recent trend. “While they have existed in some verifiable form in the United States since the 19th century, the 1950’s showed the worst juvenile delinquency statistics the world had seen (Siegel and Welsh, 2011).” Major cities such as New York enacted curfews to help curb this issue, however at the time not many studies had been performed to realize the widespread activity and cause of such delinquency rates.

As a commander of the Gang Unit, I would first look at the neighborhood, see what changes can be made first that would be easy. When we think of gangs, most often, we think of the mafia-style gangs. These gangs moved a little more discreetly than the gangs that we have today that are pretty much in your face. The gangs of earlier times moved money and drugs in different ways like through gambling, liquor, and prostitution (Hoover, 2014). There was violence back then, but not like it is today. these youths of today will kill you over senseless things like sneakers, rims, boyfriends, girlfriends, and disrespect. The gangs of today contribute to higher violent crime rates, they tear down the communities with behaviors that result in vandalism, graffiti, drug dealing, and increased public fear of being victimized (Langton, 2010). These young gang members join these