Cause Of Gang Violence In The United States

Documented reports of gang activity in Western civilization (primarily in England) can be traced back to the seventeenth century, though, it is speculated that they might well have existed as early as the fourteenth or even the twelfth century. Although similar in character these earlier street gangs did not have the same organized structure that we see in much of the later gangs (Howell and Moore, 2010). It wasn’t until the late eighteenth century (as the American Revolution was ending) that gangs began to emerge in America along the east coast and not until the late nineteenth century did they appear along the west coast (Howell and Moore, 2010). While the gangs of today are much more organized and better equipped, their threat to public

In 2010, the National Gang Center reported that gang violence is still a growing problem with approximately 7,184 gang-related arrests made in that year alone followed by approximately 3,176 convictions (National Gang Center, 2014). As a result, throughout the media gang activity is seen every night across the country and there is a growing concern amidst American’s and especially law enforcement. As an active part of the “comprehensive anti-gang initiative”, Federal and State legislature have responded with punitive criminal and juvenile justice policies such as aggressive gang suppression programs by the police, and sentence enhancements by the courts for crimes committed by alleged gang members (Petersen, 2000). However, there is still a lot of room for improvement particularly in the continuity amongst federal, state and local law enforcement policy. Accordingly, this paper will discuss the current issues in this area and the effects it has on information

Code characterizes “criminal street gangs” as an ongoing group, club, organization, or association of five or more persons which has: as one of its primary purposes the commission of one or more of the criminal offenses; the members of which engage, or have engaged within the past five years, in a continuing series of offenses; and the activities of which affect interstate or foreign commerce. Despite a clear federal definition there is still significant disparity between the various state’s legislation on what constitutes a gang, gang member, or gang crime (O’Deane, 2010). All 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC) have enacted some form of legislation relating to gangs or gang-related activity; however, only 43 states and DC have legislation that defines “gang” and only 14 states have legislation that defines “gang member” (National Gang Center, 2014). This lack of continuity between states creates several legal issues when prosecuting or tracking the movement or criminal actions of gang members. Adoption of a uniform definition would service the entire law enforcement community through better communication in standardized training, legal proceedings, and cross-agency information sharing, and uniformity throughout police reports and databases. However, a unified definition doesn’t bring closure to the issue. Once federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies have agreed on a suitable definition policy