Inside the Feds' War on Gang Violence
Law enforcement agencies are trying to get the most dangerous hit men and enforcers off the streets
There are still major gangs operating in the city—the Latin Kings, the Vice Lords, and the Insane Deuces—along with many smaller gang factions. They don't control territory like inner-city gangs. Instead, they usually run drugs out of ordinary-looking homes and businesses. Unlike inner-city gangs who frequently dabble in protection rackets, the gangs here generally leave local businesses alone. Part of the reason for that, law enforcement officers say, is that Aurora's retail scene consists mostly of big-box stores and national franchises rather than mom and pop establishments, which are more susceptible to extortion.
Nationwide, gauging the true scope of the gang problem is difficult, chiefly because law enforcement lacks a common definition of a gangster or what makes a particular crime gang-related. The FBI estimates that there are about 785,000 gang members in the country belonging to some 26,500 different gangs in 3,400 communities. That estimate excludes outlaw motorcycle and prison gangs. Even more troubling, a third of all communities say they have no gang problem when they actually do. It's a denial bred from either fear or stigma, according to the FBI.
The thousands of active gangs around the country each have their own signs, lingo, and culture. Drug dealing and gun violence are common denominators, but each behaves differently depending on its location. In the Northeast, for instance, there's been a rise in the number of neighborhood and hybrid gangs composed of members of several different organizations. Around Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, meanwhile, the Latin American gang MS-13, best known for attacking its rivals with machetes, has become a particularly tough problem. There, cocaine and marijuana are the main drugs moved through gang networks.
In the Midwest, the amount of gang activity around college campuses and schools is on the rise. Hispanic gangs are using Native American surrogates to move drugs onto Indian reservations, where gang activity is also on the rise. And out West, street gangs are diversifying their criminal portfolios to include identity theft while continuing to supply narcotics, mostly methamphetamines and marijuana. Gangs in the West are also most likely to partner with organized crime, particularly the Mexican drug cartels and the Asian mafia.
Wherever they operate, gangs are increasingly turning to computers and the Internet. Often behind password-protected sites, they post photo-graphs of their own gang signs, colors, and tattoos. Police even report that some gangs are using their websites to take positions on local political issues. In fact, sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube have become quite useful to police gathering intelligence or investigating specific crimes. "Some gang members in Maryland are not too bright, and they will often post pictures of themselves and their gangs online or shoot videos of themselves defacing property or committing other crimes," says Charles Rapp, director of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which helps scour open-source information for law enforcement agencies. For their part, the gangs sometimes post misleading information to fool police or rival gangs about potential meetings or activities.
Yet despite all their bravado, at their essence the gangs remain fraternities of lawlessness, replenished with scores of young men from troubled neighborhoods in the name of belonging, enterprise, or necessity. "The pervasiveness of gangs throughout society is undeniable," the Justice Department concluded in its latest National Gang Threat Assessment in 2005. "As they migrate across the country, they bring with them drugs, weapons, and criminal activity."
Gangs are, however, also vulnerable because of their insatiable demand for guns, a weakness that federal officers are learning to exploit. Put simply, they are always looking for more guns to protect themselves and their illicit merchandise. Ammunition is also often in low supply for street gangs. Most gangsters use guns only once. They know that after a crime, the ATF enters the bullets or shell casings into databases to trace them. "Gangsters watch shows like CSI as homework and watch History Channel documentaries about gangs as research," says one veteran gang investigator. Guns are also lost, seized by the police, or broken during normal use. "Gangs will try to have enough guns for each full member to have access to one, though they also share between themselves," says Jared Lewis, a retired cop from the Modesto, Calif., antigang task force who now researches street gangs. Fortunately, that makes them easier targets for undercover operations. Add to that stricter laws under which those caught with guns and drugs face harsh sentences, and the effects are starting to be felt.
Reader Comments
WE MUST BE THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE, WE WISH TO SEE IN CREATOR'S WORLD
WE MUST BE THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE IN CREATOR'S WORLD!
By Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
A Native man should always be clean and sober, for he knows there is still more work to do !
Rise with the Sun to pray. Pray alone and pray often. The Great Creator will listen, if you only speak.
From all generations of the past, here now in the present and the unborn generations of the future, the Creator from Sacred Time, Creation Time, First Man and First Woman Time, made all Native People a Holy People.
It is important that we as Native People maintain good self-esteem, self-worth and self-value.
We cannot attack ourselves, beat ourselves up and pound ourselves for crimes we have never committed.
Our Prayer to the Creator represents a different kind a power, a different kind of strength, a different kind of energy.
Stand up with pride when you pray to Creator. Stand with Honor before Creator. Be Proud to be Spiritually alive on the Earth Mother, and thankful and honored to stand before Creator, rather than bowing down like a slave.
All prophecy can be changed. There are things that may happen under the present conditions of our world, but these conditions do not have to stay the way they are, or deteriorate to a more desperate situation.
Native People offer a spiritual solution to the world's problems.
Many people are interested in the message of Native Spirituality because they are aware of the despairing circumstances of our world and the fact that we must all make changes in order to survive globally.
We offer people hope for a peaceful world by sharing our Spiritual paths with them. We are not selling our ceremonies, or our traditions; we are sharing wisdom.
With Creator's World Renewal Medicine cycle soon approaching, it is predicted that all First Nation People shall return to our traditional Native ways. Native people will spiritually transform North America back into harmony and balance.
Native and non Native People who walk in the Spiritual ways of the Ancestors will be in control of the Americas.
Native people see the Sun as our Father. The highest of the Earth Mother's energies are in the morning when Father Sun is rising in the East.
Native people know that morning is the best time to pray for as Father Sun rises, we can place all problems and issues into the past. Native people give spiritual thanks daily for the energy and power of Father Sun.
The purest Spiritual medicine in the World of humankind is of course, the Great Creator of All Things, and the blessing of Father Sun when it rises each morning in the East.
When we as Native people pray, it permits us to have the Creator's Blessings of healing and understanding, in turn creates peace and love, and brings the full effect of Creator's harmony and balance to the Earth Mother.
Wado and A-ho, Brothers and Sisters
Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
Posted by Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
TEACHING THE VALUES OF PEACE: A NATIVE PERSPECTIVE
TEACHING THE VALUES OF PEACE
By: Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
As a Cherokee Native American Activist and a former member of the Richmond California Violence Prevention Movement, I have seen close to 515 homicides in the City of Richmond from 2001 to the present.
The declaration of a 'war on violence' by the Richmond city government was not the panacea, instead it failed miserably.
I have often stated in town hall meetings and on television, the best way to win the 'war on violence' in Richmond is to 'TEACH THE VALUES OF PEACE'.
In the killing fields of Richmond, most of the victims of homicides are youth or young adults. Teaching the values of peace begins with our youth and young adults. From a Native perspective, winning the war on violence begins in the home with a strong, spiritual belief and value system.
We believe that Creator made all generations, past, present and those of the future, holy people. This is what our Elders teach us from the time we are born.
Our families and Elders teach our young people that they must tear away the images and stereotypes that mainstream society has placed upon them as Native peoples.
Violence and killing is not traditional in Native culture, it is a learned behavior from mainstream society.
We teach our youths not to attack, punish or beat themselves up for crimes that they have never committed in regards to racism. Our Elders and families teach our young people to have good self-esteem, self-worth and self-value, for as the original holy people this was Creators plan.
Native people know that it is both family and community responsibility to teach the values of peace to our young people.
We teach our young people honesty and accountability concerning violence. It begins with accepting responsibility for self and acknowledging any past use of violence.
Admitting any wrongdoing, communicating openly and truthfully to renounce the use of violence in the future places our youth on the right path. We place a heavy emphasis that all life is sacred.
The final lesson in teaching the values of peace is quite simple. It is helping young people understand their relationship to others and all things in Creation.
Be responsible for your role, act with compassion and respect, and remember ALL LIFE IS SACRED. Native culture is prevention!
Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
Close to home
First of all, people are getting shot on my street. I can't leave my apartment due to police barricades. I'm a student.
Second of all, people might join gangs because it's 'cool' but they ultimately stay because of a lack of other options. People with better means of being accepted and becoming something quit the gang life very quickly. Trust me it's a scary scene.
It's all about hope, and as long as our economy turns for the worse there's more of the same to be expected. The most that's done about it is awareness organizations like 99problems that try to reach out using celebrities. The problem is, they have to reach the actual gangs. They're raising awareness among the general public but the important messages need to be directed at the gangs.
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