Gun Violence

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.

The mission of the SDWCC Task Force, in partnership with key stakeholders, is to eradicate crime and violence caused by the West Coast Crips gang by creating a renewed community confidence and enhanced quality of life through a three pronged prevention, intervention, and suppression strategy. We will educate community members on the negative impacts of gang participation and attractive alternatives for families, and in particular the youth, in a robust prevention effort. We will utilize law enforcement and other emerging resources, to engineer intervention solutions for those at risk of gang membership and those already in gangs who are in need of, and desire legitimate lifestyle alternatives. The suppression element will attack illicit gang businesses creating disruption in their money making ventures and will aggressively target those most violent gang members to remove them from the neighborhoods and remove their influence.

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.

Gang involvement is on the rise in most communities affecting socioeconomic status, racial relationships, and inhabitants (Esbensen et. al., 2012, p. 128). Despite a continuous increase with youth gang affiliations in underserved communities, there is still a scarcity of promising or effectual gang prevention and intervention programs offered by schools. Facing time and resource constraints school administrators need to consider the “cost and benefits” of each possible intervention plan (Esbensen et. al., 2012, p. 142). Consequential to low intervention programs, risk factors such as communal disorganization, poverty, low educational success, acquaintance

The Los Angeles intervention approach produces positive and negative attributes to combating gang related criminality. Gangs in society today, are problematic in many aspects. There are many different avenues city officials can take to combat or reduce gang related crime. Various methodologies have been used to take on this problem and have had successful results (Spergel,1986). “The general idea is that if gang members will not respond to ordinary social agency programs, then the programs must move out to the streets in order to achieve change (Klein,1965, p3. 183).”

There is a real gang epidemic in this country; even the nicest, most wealth off cities in America have been infiltrated by gangs. Gangs have been around for centuries, and they will continue to grow and pervade our country. The only way to address the gang problem in the city is to tackle it head on. The probability of effectively averting gang activity is larger if community initiatives are concentrated on risk factors and are data driven and research centered (Howell, 2012). To eliminate gangs and gang activity, you will need a Comprehensive Gang Model (Howell, 2012). There are many steps that must be followed and implemented to ensure the gang reform program will work correctly. These steps are community mobilization, opportunities provision, social intervention, suppression, and organizational change and development.

The development of gangs in the course of the last two decades has been accompanied by the development and progression of specialized law enforcement responses to gangs. The nature, features and scope of police gang control shows the formation of police gang units and theoretical and policy rationales for police gang units. Police gang units are imaginably the clearest embodiment of the gang suppression approach (Klein, 1995a: 161). Under the suppression approach, Klein (1995a) argues, enforcement officials see their primary responsibility as responding to gang street crimes. Suppression strategy is based on deterrence theory. The purpose of the deterrence is keep a possible offender from repeating in crime nature and deter others from preventing

Gangs have a negative impact on non-gang community residents, gang members, and the social institutions which make community life possible and enjoyable. They represent a significant threat to the well-being of everyone in the communities in which they are found and should be of concern to everyone. Gang violence is an epidemic that is currently plaguing St. Kitts as shown in the constant rise of gang-related murders over the last decade. As a result, this should be a major concern for all stakeholders including the people living in the neighborhoods, the families, and security agencies that are in place. Every effort should be made to try and prevent young adults from becoming gang

In conclusion, the gathered data and research on the efficacy of existing anti-gang laws and programs is dependent on the circumstances surrounding the local government in the target area. The success of gang prevention and intervention is highly dependent on government, local and state funding, immigration enforcement, schooling, community involvement and other similar factors. Initiatives such as G.R.E.A.T. and A Better LA. provide measurable benefits but do not solidify success to the majority. Programs that are successful at teaching the consequences of gang involvement and assist with improving police and community relations are worth the investment. While the programs and initiatives may not be a saving grace for those at risk for gang activity, they have proven to reduce delinquent behavior.

The stereotypical child pulled into a gang might fit this picture: lives in the projects, either African-American or Hispanic-American, no father or any type of positive male role model, and has a large family who is on welfare. Although a few may fit some of these characteristics, if not all, the gangster world is changing day by day. Gangs are no longer limited to African and Hispanic minorities only, but include Asians and Caucasians as well. Gangs have slowly progressed from inner city to suburbia, they have overtaken high schools, and in some cases, even middle and elementary schools.

A majority of criminal activities in the U.S are related to gang violence. A common reason for these crimes is due to poverty, low employment, and no education. On another note, a gang is defined as being an age-graded peer group exhibiting some permanence and establishing a sense of boundaries through the gang-identified territory, style, and such oppositional practices as fighting and criminal activity (source.). A lot of big cities like Chicago or Philadelphia are considered as one of the most dangerous cities in America due to a lot of gang violence. In order to prevent these offenses and to make cities in the U.S safer again, a solution has to be found in order to reduce the gang-related crime rate and more importantly the prevention of

familial, cultural and community ties, gangs are often formulated upon strong common interests. In fact, many gangs have a unity strong enough to expand beyond any physical frontier, representing an issue not just for cities like Los Angeles but also for states like California. For the purpose of my research, I will narrow in on the city of Los Angeles which houses more than 400 gangs and about 39,000 gang members (Villaraigosa 2017). That being said, the City of Los Angeles lies at the center of gang violence and health discourses simultaneously. Inclusive, more than 1,500 people were victims of gang violence in 2016 alone (Villaraigosa 2017). Preoccupying indeed, the Urban center is facing an issue that must be addressed sooner than later.

According to the Merced Sun Star, the main individuals that join gangs are often people who are at a social disadvantage or have inequality compared to others. These people are more likely to have lower income and live in neighbourhoods that are surrounded by people who live in these conditions.In order to put up with these cases, it is important to start at the root of the cause in order to make changes happen for a better future. Since one of the main similarities among the gang-related issues revolves lower income families, we should create programs that can help rebuild their neighbourhoods. For example holding fundraisers and raising money to create a park or play place near the neighborhood that way when these individuals are young thye will have

Gang crimes, such as graffiti, burglaries, murder and extortion, are devastating to a community’s well-being and sense of security. “The vast majority of violent incidents involving gang members continue to result from fights over

Gang and gang violence has always been an ongoing problem within the country. Street gangs have evolved into some of the most notorious group associated with murders and killings that law enforcement agencies have encountered. Gang violence has become one of the most serious crime problem happening in the country that involves physical assaults, drive-by shootings, homicides, robberies, prostitutions, and home-invasion along with a long list of criminal activities. It had occurred and multiplied so fast in which it reach an all-time high epidemic of young gang people killed on the streets or entering into the juvenile and prison system throughout the country. Such death occurs on a daily basis especially in the inner cities that are