Gang Related Crime Research Paper

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?

       Gang violence affects many people, but it targets certain ethnic groups. The majority of gangs nationwide have a percentage of 47% Hispanics and 31% African Americans. Moreover since 2009 the majority of gangs consist of males, and 37% of them are under the age of 18. Also it has been estimated that in Boston 66% of youth homicides can be connected with gang violence. Since the 1980s through 1990s youth violence increased tremendously. Many homicides were happening throughout this time, which connects back with the gang

Gangs and Organized Crime in the United States is on the rise. With the increase in turf wars, position and the financial gains, gang wars and Organized Crime are linked together in many ways. Within this paper, I will show how they are all tied together in. The M-13’s are the largest reported gang controlling large areas of our states. However, the largest area to which the MS-13’s control is within our own capital, Washington D.C. Their leaders rule all the gangs from inside El Salvador. I will discuss other gangs, and their ties into Organized Crime.

Gangs pose a threat to the safety of United States prisons by performing illegal activities and the encouraging violence. It is important to develop strategies to reduce gang recruitment, limit their influence, and sanction their misconduct in order to create a safe environment for all prisoners. With this, inmates that are involved in gangs should be put under twenty four-hour lockdown. By isolating these members, prisons will be able to limit their influence.

Gangs are very dangerous to everyone in society. “Gangs are groups of people (mostly young males) who band together for protection and a sense of belonging. The U.S. Department of Justice officially defines a youth gang as a group of young people involved in criminal activity” (Gangs 1). There are about one million gang members in more than 20,00 criminally active gangs in the United States. Also, that group of about one million people, are accountable for up to eighty percent of our nation’s crimes. Since 2005, gangs have nationally added about 200,000 members (Targeting Gangs 1). This is why more action from the community needs to be taken to help with the growing gang-related crimes here in America.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 1300 people in the largest anti-gang operation ever undertaken in the US. This operation ran for around six weeks. Out of the 1300 people who were arrested, 933 were those with U.S. citizenship.

Gangs often get involved in drug deals that lead to violence and territory fights. These fights lead to shootings, murder, and further violence.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to determine which gang or narco-terrorist is the most notorious because they are all on totally different levels. For example, the street gangs such as the Bloods and Crips are terrorizing neighborhoods and they are mostly seen in low-income areas. These gangs tend to recruit at an early age such as teens who are looking for a family environment, have been bullied or a for income. The gangs are known for selling drugs, sex, and many crimes more so against each other. They are both very territorial which means that are certain areas of their neighborhoods that claim to own and they even mark their territory with colors such as red that is mostly known by Bloods and blue that are mostly worn by Crips. For any individual

Many American families share similar stories of their loved ones being murdered by violent street gang members. These victims often had nothing to do with the gangs or gang members that killed them. A street gang is a group of people who commonly involve themselves in heinous crimes such as murder, assault, drug dealing, robbery, and car theft. These gangs are present all over the nation and are starting to spread to other countries. It is imperative for the United States government to put a stop to gangs and gang violence.

Gangs are everywhere. “Depending on the definition, there are at least tens of millions of gang members in the world today” (Hagedorn, 2005). The most common United States gangs are in Los Angeles, California and Chicago, Illinois which include Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, Black Gangster Disciples, El Ruk’n (Klein, Weerman and Thornberry, 2006). Thee “United States is tied to an international network of drug suppliers, cartels, and

The number of gangs in the United States has grown to an estimated 30,000 in 2011 which is up from 20,000 which was the estimated number in 2003 and that number steadily increases today according to the National Gang Center. (Howell 2011) states that there has become a pervasive problem in the United States due to an estimated 782,500 gang members in these 30,000 gangs and their activities. These problem have increased significantly from 2002 through 2009 as studies have shown. Our country has shown a decline in violent crimes as a whole in recent years but gang violence has not changed with these numbers and in some of the larger cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles the percentage of homicides has increased. In this paper I will take a look at one agency, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention and look closely at the programs they have to combat against this gang violence and if these programs are indeed successful in their endeavor.

There was a decline in gang violence that began in the 1990s, however it was at its lowest point in 2001. Following that, throughout the years it has begun to increase from 2001 until 2005 and has remained constant since then” (Egley and Howell, 2011). Today, “youth gangs exist in nearly every state. One expert estimates that more than 3,875 youth gangs with a total of more than 200,000 gang members are established in the 79 largest U.S. cities” (Spergel, 1995). According to a study done by David Pyrooz, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University, “there are over one million juvenile gang members in the U.S., which is more than three times the number estimated by law enforcement” (Gately, 2015). Furthermore, the prevalence of youth under 18 in gangs is higher in smaller cities and rural communities where gang problems are less established, compared to larger cities and suburban communities” (National Gang

The Gang Task Force Officer was selected due to the first hand knowledge members of the task force have on gangs. Gang Task Force Officers are also highly trained to enhance enforcement efforts by collaborating with both federal and state law enforcement agencies in an attempt to stamp out gang activity. Primarily, gangs remain the primary focus of the Gang Task Force Officers and in that regard; members of the task force are charged with the investigation of the background as well as activity of gangs. Thus members of the task force in this case also possess firsthand knowledge regarding families of gang members. Thus a member of the task force can be viewed as an asset to this study.

Criminals are much able to exist among society unidentified and unrecognizable. However, attempts to identify their characteristics and behaviors may prove useful and successful to pinpoint individuals who are likely to commit particular crimes. For instance, researchers have developed and identified the following as symptoms or behaviors that sex offenders have in common that separate them from the rest most of society. Sexual offenders are known to be engaging in sexual ways with young children and adolescent (CSOM.org). Predators may have a lack of empathy and would most likely be on to inflict and humiliate others. Sexual offenders may have had experienced sexual contact with others against their will. They are also

Gangs are defined as an association of people, with at least 3 members, that “identify themselves by adopting a group identity which they use to create an atmosphere of fear or intimidation”. A gang’s purpose is to “engage in criminal activity and uses violence or intimidation to further its criminal objective” (Jaffe, 2015). These groups of people are more prevalent today than they ever have been in the past. Today, “there are approximately 1.4 million active street, prison, and OMG gang members comprising more than 33,000 gangs in the United States and Puerto Rico” (“2011 National Gang Threat Assessment”, 2011). In addition, throughout the US, gangs are present in every type of area, including large cities, suburbs, and rural counties and all regions of the country. Larger cities have the longest history with gang violence, dating back to before 1990, however smaller cities and rural areas did not begin to experience problems until the 1990s. The membership rates have only increased, due to the fact that gangs tend to appeal widely to the youth (“National Youth Gang Survey Analysis”, 2012).