How can a high school graduation party turn into a deadly gunfight? What worries law enforcement officials about illegal immigration? Why have malls and shopping centers adopted stringent policies for unaccompanied minors after curfew. Gangs. They threaten the safety, security, and future of inner cities, suburban communities, and rural areas. While stories about gangsters like Al Capone, Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello are a distant past, the new criminal element is now a contemporary reality and getting worse. The Young Gang Survey indicates that more than 772,500 American teens are members of gangs and more than 24,500 different gangs exist in the United States. These staggering numbers provide concrete evidence for the need to tackle this issue without delay.
The increase in gang activity has countless negative repercussions for Americans. First - and probably the most obvious - gang activity contributes to a substantial amount of the violence in areas where gangs are active. Murders are up; assaults are up; vandalism is up; theft is up; drug related crime is up. While no one needs proof of the connection between gangs and crime, a survey conducted in Denver, Colorado discovered that 89 percent of the crimes committed were committed by gang members. Anyone with doubt should just ask their local District Attorney or Sheriff.
Not surprisingly, the violence against people and property has led to intimidation and fear in neighborhoods, communities, churches, and schools throughout America. There is an unspoken angst growing among law-abiding Americans. The fact is that anyone can become injured or killed by a drive-by shooting, a random robbery, or an inadvertent encounter with a drug deal gone bad. Gangs are a direct threat to adults and children alike.
Increasingly, the number of gangs and gang members have overwhelmed in many areas the thin blue line that stood between innocent Americans and violent criminals. The affluent hide behind privately guarded gates while the rest of America is left to endure the continual threats from thugs oblivious to any meaningful boundary between right and wrong. Even when the criminal justice system responds, the juvenile justice system fails. While Youth Violence Prevention points out that the average age of a gang member is seventeen to eighteen, gangs recruit their members from much younger people. They capitalize on teenagers depriving them of any real opportunity for a promising future. Approximately 95 percent of gang members do not even graduate from high school. Criminal behavior becomes the norm, and the norm translates into a lifetime of antisocial behavior.
Contrary to the view of some, gang activity is not a cultural necessity that should be tolerated for the sake of political correctness. The increased use of technology and the greater allocation of law enforcement resources has become unavoidable in treating the symptoms of gang activity by creating safe zones in the midst of gang dominated areas. But this is not enough. Forcing gang activity from the malls to the streets does not solve the problem. Instead, like cancer, gangs have to be dealt with in a multi-tiered approach.
To effectively address gangs, Americans must adopt programs aimed at prevention, detection, treatment, and cure. These steps require more than a "catch and release" program that recycles criminals. Each time, they come back more violent than before. If they are illegal in this country, they should be removed. An illegal immigrant gang member released after criminal behavior has no reason to respect, honor or obey the law - at least not in the real world.
As the threat of gang activity grows, Americans really have only two choices - ignore it or deal with it. If ignored, it will only continue to spread. The time has come for the other option - aggressively deal with it like the threat that it is.