FINDING SOLUTIONS GANG PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE TACKLED IN THE SCHOOLS, HOME.Byline: Beth Barrett and Phillip W. Browne Daily News The war against gangs in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, 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. As they sift through decades of failed attemps to eradicate street gangs, academic experts, law enforcement officials and community activists have formed a consensus view that the war against gangs essentially must be a cultural war. The minority of hard-core criminals must be taken off the streets and programs developed that offer the majority of mainly poor youths alternatives to gangs through educational, recreational and employment programs. ``As long as there are gangs in our communities, it is a viable option to our kids,'' said Malcolm W. Klein, a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission , who has studied gangs since 1962. ``Kids see it painted on the walls, in school, on the playgrounds, on the streets and in movies and clothing advertisements. Unless you can take that option away it's going to be there. And we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how to take it away.'' Leading the charge to bring together the resources in Southern California to fight gangs is Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Police Chief William J. Bratton William Joseph 'Bill' Bratton is currently the 54th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and was formerly Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, the only person to hold both positions. , who regards it as the region's No. 1 crime problem. Bratton said strong leadership, adequate resources and cooperation among a host of local, state and federal agencies are at the heart of rooting out the gang scourge that's taken nearly 3,100 lives and cost taxpayers about $5.2 billion since 1999 as the number of gangsters has soared at 10 times the rate of the population. He has targeted the top 10 percent or so of the gang leadership - ``the sociopaths'' that he says are committing most of the crimes - but acknowledges that is only the first step in a complex process. Bratton has urged residents to help police identify gang members and urged community leaders, school officials and church members to help provide kids with more educational, economic and other opportunities to help keep them away from gangs. ``Police work doesn't eliminate the problem, but it makes a signifigant impact on communities where gangs affect the quality of life. ``What prompts a kid to go spend hours after school blowing a bugle bugle, brass wind musical instrument consisting of a conical tube coiled once upon itself, capable of producing five or six harmonics. It is usually in G or B flat. , rather than out on a corner blowing somebody away? There are ways to entice kids out of the gang culture.'' West Covina West Covina, city (1990 pop. 96,086), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the San Gabriel valley; settled 1905, inc. 1923. Before World War II, West Covina was a small rural community where walnuts, wheat, and livestock were raised. police Chief Frank Wills's department already has introduced GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training Gang Resistance Education And Training provides a school-based, officer instructed program that includes classroom instruction and various learning activities, the use of law enforcement officers having several advantages. ) for all middle school students in the area as a key step in keeping kids out of gangs as they reach their teens. El Monte El Monte (ĕl mŏn`tē), city (1990 pop. 106,209), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1912. A residential, industrial, and commercial city in the San Gabriel Valley, El Monte manufactures furniture, electronic equipment, semiconductors, police report the city's aggressive anti-gang programs implemented in the 1970s have reduced the gangs from eight with about 2,000 members to only two with a couple hundred members. The police department has expanded job-placement efforts over the years to include tattoo removal, counseling and programs both for at-risk kids and their parents. ``We started getting gang members entry-level jobs,'' said Chief Ken Weldon. ``They start to get an income, a paycheck. Those that proved themselves moved on.'' In Ventura County, there is a growing recognition that a ``holistic'' approach is needed to fight gangs, combining enforcement and tough laws to keep violent offenders off the street with prevention and intervention programs to change the gang culture of the community. ``You always need a two-prong approach,'' said Undersheriff Un´der`sher`iff n. 1. A sheriff's deputy. Craig Husband. ``You need strong enforcement and to keep (offenders) in jail and off the streets, and early intervention ear·ly intervention n. Abbr. EI A process of assessment and therapy provided to children, especially those younger than age 6, to facilitate normal cognitive and emotional development and to prevent developmental disability or delay. ... to make gang participation something that's not acceptable.'' In the Inland Empire In·land Empire A region of the northwest United States between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, comprising eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Farming, lumbering, and mining are important to the area. , Pastor Eddie Banales of Pomona's Southern California's Dream Center Church of God has dedicated his life to reforming gang members and working with gang youth. A former member of Pomona's oldest and most notorius gang, 12th Street, Banales knows that reaching children early is the most effective measure in gang prevention, in concert with understanding the families and communities that spawn them. ``When will it ever get safer? Who knows? But I do know one thing: It is critical we reach our children and listen to them. It is critical that our community groups have dialogue and communicate with each other to save our city. And once we get past the self interest and see each other as human beings, maybe then we can finally make a difference.'' At the end of the day, the key to understanding and eliminating the gangs lies in three areas: Understanding why kids become gang members, understanding the truths about prevention and suppression efforts and building communities that can act on their own behalf. ``As long as we depend on the cops, courts and legislators, we're dead in the water,'' Klein said. ``As long as we have got gangs - as long as they have a point of control - we lose. I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. how many of them you put away, there's always someone coming up. And why are they coming up? Because it's the local community that spawns the gangs.'' Gang membership has its origins in personal, cultural, societal and sociological pressures that affect many Americans - tempered further today by television, film and popular culture. These same pressures apply to homelessness, poverty and other social problems, but gangs are different. ``There's nothing about a homeless person An individual who lacks housing, including one whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary living accommodations; an individual who is a resident in transitional housing; or an individual who has as a primary residence a that requires other homeless people join him. But there is something about gangs that requires that others join,'' Klein said. ``They perpetuate themselves because of this oppositional culture they have.'' Researchers have identified 120 delinquency predictors that revolve around Verb 1. revolve around - center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work" center, center on, concentrate on, focus on, revolve about a child's personal, family, peer, school and community life. Klein and Cheryl Maxson, associate professor in the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). , Irvine, Department of Criminology, Law and Society, have narrowed that number to these key predictors: --Prior delinquent involvement --Parents in trouble --Low parental supervision Parental supervision is a parenting technique that involves looking after, or monitoring a child's activities. Young children are generally incapable of looking after themselves, and incompetent in making informed decisions for their own well-being. and management --Higher number of antisocial antisocial /an·ti·so·cial/ (-so´sh'l) 1. denoting behavior that violates the rights of others, societal mores, or the law. 2. denoting the specific personality traits seen in antisocial personality disorder. peers --Lower commitment to school --Higher exposure to neighborhood trouble ``In the worst gang neighborhoods, the majority of the kids don't join gangs,'' Klein said. ``So you have to be able to identify a target. How do you do that? Up until recently we haven't been able to predict which kids are more likely to become gang members. We're still lousy at it, but we're better, and this research is a good start.'' Other researchers are focusing on changing the culture of violence that pervades many gang neighborhoods. Dr. Gary Slutkin, director and professor of epidemiology and international health at the University of Illinois at Chicago This article is about the University of Illinois at Chicago. For other uses, see University of Illinois at Chicago (disambiguation). UIC participates in NCAA Division I Horizon League competition as the UIC Flames in several sports, most notably Basketball. and executive director of The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, said violent behavior can be changed through massive educational programs combined with tough law enforcement strategies. Violence - much like smoking and drunk driving - can be changed through campaigns that make the behavior unacceptable. ``What we do in health is to make (it) more normal to exercise, to immunize im·mu·nize v. 1. To render immune. 2. To produce immunity in, as by inoculation. im your children; more normal to breast feed your children ... everything we do in health has to do with trying to change a norm - some through legal means, some through persuasion. ``It's the same with violence. It follows the same rules.'' A key is community buy-in to the campaign, including training ex-gang members and community leaders as gang interventionists. The ``No Shooting'' message has to become a real part of the community's dialogue, reinforced through ads on television, radio and billboards, and through more informal means such as slogans on T-shirts, leaflets, buttons and bumper stickers. Also needed are confidential call lines that can be used by a gang member contemplating a shooting, or by family and friends worried a shooting might be imminent. Slutkin said campaigns to change violent gang-related behavior need to be closely monitored and coordinated, and aligned with a network of community-based organizations. When shootings do occur, police need to respond vigorously to make it clear such behavior will not be tolerated, that there is ``absolutely no excuse.'' Klein and others have suggested the get-tough approach of ``Operation Hammer Operation Hammer may refer to:
``My best guess is that the majority of legislative and suppression programs are counterpreductive,'' Klein said. ``They have the effect of increasing the bonds between the gangs against a common enemy ... You're going to make the gang more exciting. You're gonna make it a place where kids have a greater common bond.'' Former gang members are playing an important role in trying to keep kids out of gangs, offering alternatives to gang membership and brokering truces between the gangs. They said the key is to deal with gang members as individuals who have specific problems and needs that need to be addressed. ``The whole title gang is a societal scapegoat,'' said Aqeela Sherrills Aqeela Sherrills is a campaigner against gang violence who lives in Watts, Los Angeles, United States. In 1992 he brokered a peace agreement between the Bloods and the Crips (two rival gangs). , executive director of the Watts-based Community Self-Determination Institute which is a safe haven 1. Designated area(s) to which noncombatants of the United States Government's responsibility and commercial vehicles and materiel may be evacuated during a domestic or other valid emergency. 2. for young people to hang out and get counseling. ``The war on gangs is a war on humanity...This is a major mental health epidemic. If Watts were outside the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , it would have humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. .'' Sherrills' 18-year-old son, Terrell Darius Sherrills, was shot and killed at a party Jan. 10 by a suspected gangmember while home from Humbolt State University. ``The only way to get beyond it is to understand,'' said Sherrills, who left the Jordan Downs project-based Grape Street gang after seeing a ninth grade school chum shot in the head. ``You take a life out of fear or a calloused heart. Somewhere that person was not authentically loved.'' His brother, Daude Sherrills, an institute board member who helped broker gang truces after the 1992 riots, said grassroots organizations It may never be fully completed or, depending on its its nature, it may be that it can never be completed. However, new and revised entries in the list are always welcome. run by people from the community, who understand the gangs, can have the biggest impact. ``We have so much influence ... they run to us.'' A unique program was developed at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center is a rehabilitation hospital located in Downey, California, United States. History Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, or Rancho in Downey where gang members and victims of gang violence recuperate re·cu·per·ate v. To return to health or strength; recover. from crippling injuries and get to know one another. Founded in 1987 by pediatricion Dr. Iren Gilgoff, the Los Amigos AMIGOS Advanced Mobile Integration in General Operating Systems Los Floristas Wheelchair Sports Program includes basketball, hockey, tennis and football for handicapped participants. Teenagers like Ramon Cervantes who was left paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. by a gang shooting paralyzed found an important outlet playing basketball and other sports competitively. Players who must stay in school and steer clear of gangs become ambassadors for keeping kids out of gangs. ``A good percentage of our sports program kids - about 50 percent are ex-gang members and victims of gang violence,'' Gilgoff said. ``Our sports program is one of our biggest solutions. It gives them reason to live. No one can believe they're so fast and athletic. It is truly stunning.'' Law enforcement officers and prosecutors widely believe gang injunctions are one of the best ways to help residents take back their communities by keeping gangsters from congregating on the streets. But others question their effectiveness, noting crime is up in three of the four gang injunction areas in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Tough gang crackdowns without other measures also are seen as breeding distrust. In the Ventura County community of Oxnard, police and prosecutors in early June won a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. against members of La Colonia Chiques - the city's oldest, largest and most violent gang. The court order prevents them from congregating in public, making gang signs, wearing their trademark Dallas Cowboy insignia, drinking alcohol in public, trespassing and being out in public from 10 p.m. to sunrise. Violators face a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. While most gang injunctions encompass only a few blocks, the Oxnard order extends across 6.6 square miles, or about one fourth of the city. Critics like the League of United Latin American Citizens The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest organization of Hispanic Americans in the United States. With a membership of approximately 115,000, the organization uses education and advocacy to improve living conditions and seek advances for all Hispanic nationality said the injunction infringes on law-abiding residents' rights and won't cure the gang problem. ``The police have enjoined hundreds of unnamed Chiques members in Oxnard and it was submitted to the judge in this manner: 'We dont know who they are, but when we find them we're gonna know who they are,''' Klein said. ``The community is responding by saying, 'That's attacking our whole community,' which, of course, is correct.'' No community is immune - a fact that often is blamed on Hollywood's glamorizing gang culture and gangsta rap gang·sta rap also gangster rap n. A style of rap music associated with urban street gangs and characterized by violent, tough-talking, often misogynistic lyrics. music. Not even Thousand Oaks in Ventura County - long the safest city in America with a population of more than 100,000. ``How did Thousand Oaks get to be a gang city? In the early '90s the white kids went to see ``American Me'' and ``Menace 2 Society,'' then they were all going around with the gang walk after that, and they adopted the culture and they turned into gangs,'' Klein said. ``They they got into conflicts with Hispanic gangs in the Valley and Oxnard and guess what? BOOM! There is a gang problem in Thousand Oaks.'' Today Thousand Oaks is home to 183 identified gang members. Although that number is down from 300 in the early 1990s, when the Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. established a gang unit in the city, it is evidence that the problem is pervasive, even in our safest communities. ``The option is now all over the country,'' Klein said. ``Most of America's youth didn't know much about gangs before ``Colors'' and ``Boyz N the Hood'' and all the clothing manufacturers started marketing gang clothing and styles. ``It used to be gang culture. Now it's youth culture being perpetuated by pop culture ... These are our own kids. They aren't aliens. They aren't invaders. These are our own kids.'' Phillip W. Browne, (818) 713-3707 phillip.browne(at)dailynews.com CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SERIES: REPORTERS Beth Barrett, Phillip W. Browne , Jason Kandel, Dana Bartholomew Staff Writers PHOTOGRAPHER Hans Gutknecht Staff Photographer PROJECT EDITOR Ron Kaye Managing Editor PHOTO EDITORS Dean Musgrove Director of Photography GRAPHICS Warren Huskey Staff Artist LAYOUT & DESIGN Brian Harr Sunday News Editor ONLINE Cynthia Corpuz Online Developer PHOTO EDITORS Dean Musgrove Director of Photography Tom Gapen Design Editor CAPTION(S): 4 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Aqeela Sherrills holds a picture of his murdered son. Sherrills is the executive director of the Watts-based Community Self- Determination Institute, a safe haven where young people can hang out and get counseling. Sherrills left the gangs after a ninth-grade school friend was shot in the head. (2 -- color) Daude Sherrills, who helped broker gang truces after the 1992 riots, said grass-roots organizations run by people from the community, who understand the gangs, can have the biggest impact. ``We have so much influence ... they run to us.'' (3 -- color) Los Angeles Police officers stand ready after breaking up a party where gang memebers were fighting. ``Police work doesn't eliminate the problem, but it makes a significant impact on communities where gangs affect the quality of life,'' says LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Chief William Bratton. (4 -- color) Teenagers like Ramon Cervantes, left, who was left paralyzed by a gang shooting, find an important outlet playing basketball and other sports competitively. The Los Amigos Los Floristas Wheelchair Sports Program includes basketball, hockey, tennis and football for handicapped participants. Photos by Hans Gutknecht/Daily News Box: RESOURCES FOR COPING WITH LOSS Source: Parents of Murdered Children Warren Huskey/Staff Artist |
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