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AndyPerez
Mr.Conrad
ERWC,Period2
20October2015

Gangs:ARealThreat?
InAmerica,aregangsreallyconsideredanissueoraswellasathreat?Somepeoplemay
sayhowgangswouldntaffecttheirlifebutingeneralgangsareconsideredabigissueanda
threat.Gangsaregroupsofmostlyyoungmenthatstaytogetherasafamilyandprotecteach
otherandgetinvolvedincriminalactivityandothershenanigans.Gangsalsohavetheirown
colorstoidentifythemselvesasalsoawhistletonotifyothermembersinthegangforbackupor
something.Gangsalsohavetheirownterritorywhetheritsthewholeneighborhoodorjustan
alleyonthestreetoralsojusttheirfrontporch.Gangsarebelievedtohavestartedwayearlyin
Europeandalsomanypeoplefeargangsortheirmembersknownasgangstersorcholosand
theirpresenceintheirneighborhoodbecausetheyassociategangswithguns,violence,crime,
anddrugabuse.ThequestionstillisaregangsarealthreattoAmerica?Ibelievenot.
SomepeoplebelieveinhowgangsareonehugethreatinAmericaandhowtheyshould
bevanishedfromthefaceoftheearth.Eventhoughgangsaresuchabigthingnowadaysandits
acoolthingtodo,peoplesayhowtheircommunitiesarefullofgangviolenceandeverything
andyetstilleitherdontmoveoutordoanythingaboutit.Gangviolenceisincreasingshortly
yeah,butisiswherewearegoingtoallsuffer?Apparentlytosomeyesitdoes.InDenver,
Coloradogangviolenceisincreasing.FromJanuary1toApril22of2012therehadonlybeen47


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to107gangrelatedinjuriesorcrimes,butinthefirstfourmonthsof2012,therewere72gang
relatedcrimesagainstpeopleinthesameperiodthisyeartherehavebeen132(Gurman)and
thismaybeareasonwhypeoplebelievethatgangscouldbeabigandrealthreatwhichwas
showninhowtherehavebeenmultipleshootingsandwellviolencelikeabuseandofcourse
drugs.Eventhoughdrugsarearoundusintheworlditseemsthatgangsaremoretoblamefor
thedrugssincetheyhelptransportthemthroughMexicoorsomethingfromthecartels.Butits
notjustgangmembersbutregularpeoplewindupgettingindrugtroubleaswellandhelp
transportitorevenusethedrugslikemarijuanaandcocaine.Supposedlytostopthesegangs
thesuccessoftheapproachistheroleitplayswiththecitys23otherantigangstrategies
(Gurman)butnoneofthoseseemtohavecomeup.AlsoinDetroitthereisalotgoingonwith
gangviolenceandtheyareexperiencinganepidemicofgangviolence.Therehavebeenatleast
400homicidesin2012,DetroitranksasoneofAmericasmostviolentcities(Buccellano)
whichshowsgangviolencemoreinlikecommunitiesthaninAmericaitself.Thisreportthat
Buccellanowrotethatthereare33,000gangswithintheUnitedStates,a40%increasefrom
2009(Buccellano)whichisalotandmayshowhowthatgangsaremoreoflikeabigthingin
communitiesandmaybeshowsalittleabouthowitisalittlethreatinAmerica.InAmericathere
aremorethingsthatarebiggerthreatsthangangs.
ThenalsogangsarentthebiggestthreatwehaveinAmerica,therearemorebigger
thingslikedrugabuse,weapons,dumbdrivers,andsuicides.Althoughgangsassociatewithmost
ofthesetopicstheyjustkindofparttakeinthem.Somegangsshowoffandjustkindofthink
theyarecool.TheNortenosandSurenos,NorthsidersandSouthsidersaremorejusttalklike
smacktalkingoneachotherandhangingoutsidetheirhousesmokingmarijuana.Theytry


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lookingcoolanddisobeyingtheirparentsandsuch.LikethesegangsinLosAngeles,themore
wellknowngangsaretheBloodsandCripsandaccordingtoafilefromtheLAPD,Thanksto
MayorVillaraigosa,theLAPD,ganginterventionistandmanycommunitypartners,theCityof
LosAngeleshasseenadramaticdecreaseinviolence,butthereisstillmuchtodo(Berlatsky)
soshowshowtheyaretryingtoreduceallgangviolencelittlebylittleatatimesincetheyhave
moreontheirhandsinLAlikeinLAtheyarealwaysdoinghomelessfeeds.Alsowithlowering
thegangrates,homicideratehavegonedownaswellsince2007,thesenewstrategieshave
decreasedgangviolenceby15percentandin2010thehomicideratewasatitslowestsincethe
1960s(Berlatsky)whichisahugeimprovementsinceittookabout50yearstodoso.Gang
violencehasdecreasedverymuchcomparedtohowithasbeenin1996inbothcountiesand
cities,itsslightlygonedownbutitsthere.Sogangviolenceisgoingdownandhomicidesare
goingdownbutitsalsobecausethereareemotionalproblemsinbeingagangandbeingin
constantparanoia.Mostofthetypicalemotionalproblemsthataresufferedbygangmembers,
suchaslowselfesteem,insecurity,alienation,andhopelessness(Yablonsky)whichshowshow
gangmembersarelikestressedandhowtheiregogetsinthewayandhowthesegangsters
believethattheyaremacho.Intheendgangsarentabigdealespeciallysincegangsandtheir
violencearedecreasingslowly.
SointheendGangsareinvolvedwithdrugs,violence,weapons,andsuchbuttheyarent
ahugethreatinamericaoratallabigdeal.TheresmoretopicsinAmericathatshouldbeput
aheadthangangssuchassuicide,gettinghomelesspeopleoffthestreetsandgettingpricesfor
thingstogodown.SogangsnotatallathreatinAmericaandalthoughitmaybeincommunities


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eventhatthecommunitiesaredoingthingstoensurethatgangviolencegoesdownandstays
downforaverylongtime.