 |
LA
Daily News
Special Report . . . on Gangs
LA's Homegrown Terrorists (see below)
LA Community Policing is delighted to present the LA Daily News
Special Report on Gangs. Links to their many current articles are
found below.
Our efforts, initiated partly as a response to 9/11 and the devestating
homicide rate in 2002, have always centered around finding real
solutions for problematic issues, including gangs.
Here's a portion of an early article that appeared on this website:
Homeland
Security vs. Homegrown Terrorists
by Bill Murray
August 8, 2002
It's my belief
that the emphasis for crime suppression needs to include an
aggressive and committed shift from being RE-active (deploying
platoons of "extra" officers to put out fires after they've
spring up) to being PRO-active (creating inter-departmental
professional law enforcement and social service teams capable
of predicting and preventing hot spots before they erupt).
We must engage all available resources available from both inside
and outside the LAPD.
Ideally, this cooperative effort should involve every government
agency, at the Federal, State, County and City levels ... and
every resident of Los Angeles.
Indeed, that's at the heart of our LA Community Policing advocacy.
As always, the focus of this article is not be on complaining
about the problem but on seeking the solution. I discuss the
homicide rate out of a necessity to understand where we are
now, but I wish to engage ALL the stakeholders of the community
in the discussion about how we can encourage meaningful partnerships
that will reduce violent crime and improve the quality of life.
The title, "Homeland Security vs. Homegrown Terrorists," springs
from the observation that we've been expending our limited resources
... our recent efforts, energy, programs and funding ... concentrating
on securing us from outside militant groups. Billions of dollars
originally earmarked by the Federal Government for community
policing and public safety programs has been diverted to "Homeland
Security," and the perception is that we've taken our eye
off the ball locally.
The gangs know this, too.
I feel we need a far more significant commitment of proactive
resources to pay attention to our own "local terrorists" and
the terrible suffering they cause.
Los Angeles Community Policing recognizes there is no quick
fix, and that this will require a concerted and committed effort,
and an ongoing dialogue involving all interested parties. As
I've heard it expressed, "We need to work smarter ..." |
Here's
the LA Daily News report:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daily
News - Special Report on Gangs
http://lang.dailynews.com/gangs/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part
1 - Terror in our streets
Homegrown terror
Fueled by drug money and revenge, street gangs have flourished and
spread across Southern California and beyond in the face of sporadic
and ineffective law enforcement efforts and inadequate intervention
strategies. [MORE]
L.A. gang history runs deep
For decades, most of the gangland murders in Los Angeles have grown
out of the endless war between the Crips and the Bloods. And that's
still true today, even though Latino gangs outnumber black gangs
209 to 152. [MORE]
Gang homicide cases pending
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley's hard-core gang
division has about 250 gang-related homicide cases pending. Among
43 of the high-profile cases, 75 gangsters killed 55 people, including
a pregnant woman, and 17 teenagers and young children, none of whom
were gang members. [MORE]
Part
2 - Losing the war
Recipe for failure
Inadequate resources keep LAPD handcuffed
For three decades, police across Southern California have fought
a losing war against street gangs, handcuffed by inadequate resources
even as the number of gangsters exploded along with the violence,
drug dealing and other crimes they bring with them. [MORE]
Catching up and combating gangs
Gangs have operated in Southern California in one form or another
since the turn of the century. But
most law enforcement agencies, including the Long Beach Police Department,
didn't dedicate specially trained investigators until gang crimes
exploded in the middle 1980s. [MORE]
Interview
with a gang member
From his own words
"I was 13 when I got jumped in," says James, a former
Crip who would not disclose his last name. "I was tired of
never having nothing, and the gang seemed like the best way, the
only way, to get ahead." [MORE]
Regrettable mistakes
A lot of gang members are good at talking and looking tough. But
almost all of them, once pushed to talk about the gang life, will
admit that the choices they made were mistakes they've grown to
regret. The image of gangbangers glorified in popular music videos
and movies bears little resemblance to reality. [MORE]
As
funding decreases, crime increases
Funding of the tools needed to fight gangs has steadily eroded throughout
Southern California in recent years, even as authorities have come
to recognize it as the region's No. 1 crime problem. [MORE]
Part
3 - The fear
Living in fear
Terror reigns in the many neighborhoods of Los Angeles overrun by
gangs. From the "shooting gallery" in parts of North Hills to the
killing fields of South Los Angeles, law-abiding residents live
in fear behind steel gates and bars, their children afraid to play
outside. [MORE]
Gangs still thriving in neighborhoods
The police statistics say things are getting better: Violent crimes
such as murders, assaults, robberies and drug sales declined 55
percent in Long Beach from 1981 to 2001. [MORE]
Part
4 - Agony of victims
Behind each tragedy lie grief and heartache of friends, family
Sixteen-year-old Martha Puebla testified against a man in a double-murder
case and a week later was killed across the street from her home
in Sun Valley in what police said was an attempt to intimidate witnesses
in the case. [MORE]
Targets of gang violence
Ex-cop Richard Elizondo and his son had no sooner arrived home with
a truck full of groceries than a volley of gunfire erupted outside
their garage. Bam. The automatic garage door closed with a thud.
[MORE]
Part
5 - Gangster culture
Revenge is primary motive for endless cycle of gang violence
Revenge mixed with the high-stakes battle for control of drug trafficking
drives most gang violence. An insult, a confrontation, one incident
leading to another, which creates a seemingly endless cycle of drive-by
shootings and street violence that claims the lives of the innocent
as well as the gangster. [MORE]
Cop still loves working with gangs
Like a lot of cops Lt. Roger Murphy found his calling fighting gangs,
making Los Angeles' meanest streets safer for law-abiding citizens.
"It was the idea of catching the bad guys," Murphy said as he patrolled
the 10-square-mile 77th Division, the city's most violent. [MORE]
Glimpse into gangster lifestyle
The Rollin 60 Neighborhood Crips is the largest black criminal street
gang in the City of Los Angeles with over 1,600 active members -
the size of an Army brigade. A dissection of its operations by the
LAPD, which was obtained by the Daily News, provides a unique window
into the city's gang culture as compiled through oral histories,
gang statistics and other intelligence. [MORE]
Part
6 - Greiving mothers
None wounded more deeply by gang violence
Luz Maria Gomez joined the peace movement in North Hills in May,
four months after her 17-year-old son, Luis Rodriguez, joined the
list of victims of gang violence. [MORE]
Part
7 - Bratton's challenge
LAPD's new chief believes gang problem can be solved
Los Angeles Police Department Chief William J. Bratton believes
the region's long entrenched gang problem can be solved - with more
cops and more and better prevention and intervention programs. In
a series of interviews in recent weeks, Bratton said his two years
as head of the LAPD have convinced him that gangs - which account
for at least half of the region's homicides - are where the greatest
inroads on violent crime can be made. [MORE]
Rampart scandal still haunts
The scandal that erupted in 1999 around Rampart Division gang cop
Rafael Perez still haunts the Los Angeles Police Department today
and likely will for years to come. Then-Chief Bernard Parks responded
to the crisis by disbanding the LAPD's Community Resources Against
Street Hoodlums, or CRASH, units, which was its main weapon against
gangs, because of concerns about how widespread the abuses were,
and because of questions about the management and training of the
units. [MORE]
Part
8 - Finding
solutions
Gang problem needs to be tackled in the schools, home
The war against gangs in Southern California can be won if the political
will can be found to attack the problem as aggressively in the schools
and homes as on the streets. More cops. More probation officers
and intervention workers. More youth programs. More jobs. They're
all needed and they all cost a lot of money. [MORE]
Priest devoted to working with gangs
The Rev. Gregory Boyle in August buried his 129th young victim of
more than two decades of gang violence in Los Angeles. The memorial
for Arturo Casas, 25, was particularly painful - he was the second
graffiti-removal worker employed by Boyle's Homeboy Industries to
be killed this summer. [MORE]
Chicago innovative in battling gang life
Officials in Chicago have taken innovative law enforcement, intervention,
and prevention steps against gangs - including using a variety of
behavioral strategies to change the violent "norms" of
gang life - to cut shootings in half in targeted areas. [MORE]
|
|
