A Primer on Gangs Part One

By: Lgdx1 - [social]

if you've ever wondered if your community has a gang problem, just look at the writing on the wall. Graffiti is a clear sign of gang activity and is appearing in more and more U.S. cities. Police officers know, and people instinctively sense, that gangs are a direct threat to every citizen.

Law defines a "youth gang" as a group of individuals between the ages of eight and 24 who associate on a continuous basis for the purpose of criminal activity. For the most part, gangs are without formal leadership or organization. Street gangs have names, claim specific territory or neighborhoods as their own turf and direct their criminal activity toward rival gangs and the general population.

Motivation for joining a gang can be to achieve identity or recognition, protection, fellowship or "brotherhood" or intimidation (forced to join).

Youth gangs are designed to function in a world of violence where real or imagined wrong doings are avenged and competition for a particular criminal enterprise might be eliminated with guns. Weapons are a large part of the gang lifestyle and their weapons of choice have grown more and more deadly in recent years. (AK-47s, Uzi's, MAC- 10's and AR15's have been popular in recent years). Most are either stolen during gang-involved burglaries or purchased through a fence. Gang members are fiercely loyal to their neighborhoods and consider it their duty to protect it from outsiders. Intrusion by a rival gang must not be tolerated or the gang will lose face. Thus, such intrusions are enough to trigger a gang war.

The easiest endmost frequent type of violence is the drive-by shooting a practice which has taken many, many innocent lives in recent years. The shooter usually yells out the name of his gang just before firing so the victim(s) will know who shot at them.

If your city or neighborhood has a gang problem, what can you do about it? We'll look at some answers next time.

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Laura Quarantiello is the author of "On Guard How You Can Win the War Against the Bad Guys" filled with vital, even life-saving information about protecting your family and property from the creeps and crazies out there. More information on these essential books is available at: http://www.tiare.com/onguard.htm .

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