Violent criminal street gangs have ambushed communities throughout the United States.
Their primary measure used to co-exist with law abiding citizens is the implimitation of fear. Criminality is their means of survival. Still some communities blatantly overrun by these �homegrown terrorist� continue to vigorously deny any gang presence in their midst. Maybe they are afraid a drop in property value will follow.
Whatever the reason the denial of gang activity in your community is a major mistake that will eventually lead to the loss of innocent lives. Others have become complacent with gang activity, especially those in the inner cities, who accept it as �life in the hood�. The wise, not without cost have chose to combat this deadly attack on the innocent from every front with full force.
Gangs are operating in every major metropolitan area in the United States and have begun to lay claim to America�s heartland. At one point in time, violent criminal street gangs took years to enter various states of growth. The hunger for more has lead to a beast like mentality by violent and up and coming gang members. In their �game� they refuse to loose or break under mounting pressure from the law enforcement community.
As one gang member told me recently, �everyone is destined to one day die, so I will lay my life on the line in order to rise to the top.�
The war on gangs has started in this country, everybody on both sides are aware of the consequences and rewards. To maintain as a viable force within the criminal underworld gangs have regrouped, restructured, revised and have organized in order to withstand every attack by law enforcement officials. In the overall war, there will be no winners and no losers, because this war will never end.
For decades these homegrown terrorists have been allowed to exist and operate their criminal enterprises with almost absolute impunity. Based on a U.S. Justice Department report there are currently over 25,000 gangs and over 750,000 gang members representing their �sets� in more than 3,000 jurisdictions across our nation.
These numbers are staggering and should have everyone on both sides of the political aisles and all levels of government screaming for answers. The enormity of those statistics alone should be setting off alarms nationwide.
Let me note, in it�s respected context the U.S. Justice Department numbers are indeed factual, but only general. The gang epidemic is impossible to precisely identify and detect.
Upon recruitment into a violent criminal street gang, one is taught never to identify himself in the company of law enforcement officials. Also, most gang related crime go unreported by the victims for fear of retaliation or because of a common distrust for law enforcement officials. Yes, in this day and age of modern �gangster ism� it seems every gang member openly advertises his gang affiliation through colors, tattoos, handshakes, clothing, etc. Some go as far as promoting their gang ties through music, even movies. Always take into account gang banging has become a thinking man�s game.
Just as law enforcement, officials have adopted and modified their measures in order to combat and understand the ever changing gang culture. Know that violent criminal street gangs have applied the same strategies as a counter-defense. Dodging detection has become the primary method of approach for seasoned gang members who have come to know gang banging as a matter of life and death.
Migration to suburban and rural America has also created a refuge to violent criminal street gang members beyond the high intensity gang areas. What is known within the gang circles as the �traveling gangster� has become the spark that lights the deathblow to vibrant peaceful low crime communities.
Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA); his co-sponsors and support coalition have recognized the national threat imposed on the U.S. citizenry by these homegrown terrorists and have set forth new legislation, The Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005. This vital tool is needed and should have been in place years ago. Cities and towns across this country are bleeding at the seams because of senseless gang violence. Even in remote places like Caldwell, Idaho where in 2004, 100 shootings were reported, most are thought to be gang related.
No community in the United States is immune from the deadly aspects of the violent and unpredictable gang culture. Confirmation to that statement can be drawn based on the other statistics. The National Youth Gang Survey reported 100% of cities with populations larger than or equivalent to 250,000 reported gang activity.
Also according to this particular survey 59% of all homicides committed in Los Angeles and 53% that took place in the city of Chicago during the year of 2001 were gang-related. This means an astonishing 698 gang related murders just between these two cities alone, domestic terrorism right before our very eyes. Violent criminal street gangs have become rooted, more sophisticated and violent.
Boston buried 23 individuals below the age of 24 who died on their streets because of gang activity in 2004. They are not alone in their pain and questions, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Miami, Virginia, Denver, Utah, New York, Seattle, Washington DC ... The list is endless.
Alliances forged between Mexican drug cartels and violent criminal gangs in the State of Texas are indeed a match made in Hell. Looking for the �hook up� is part of gang members main objectives, so naturally other alliances from different groups will be formed in the future.
Operation Community Shield and other recent �sweeps� by federal, state and local law enforcement are extremely vital to minimizing gang activity. Tactics such as these are not a silver bullet when it comes to solving the gang epidemic in our nation. Since, once gang members are arrested and taken off the streets, they are sent to jail or prison. There in the confinements of the �concrete jungle� gang members network, study, grow stronger, and begin to put all the pieces together to their puzzle.
There is a new hardcore gang member on the rise behind the steel and concrete, �The Radicalized Gangster�. His hate filled words constantly address the need for nationalism, anti-Semitism, or total destruction of the �powers that be� with the use of deadly force if necessary.
A large number of gang members have become attentive to this homegrown terrorist plea to �rise up!�. Especially the young and disenfranchised, who in the gang circles are always seeking �knowledge� and acceptance, this may seem as though history is repeating itself. Once again, the revolutionary rhetoric preached in the �60�s� has been somewhat rebirth and refined. What was once a message commonly preached within the African American and White Supremacist criminal organizations has now spilled over into other ethnic groups. As the messenger usually states, �this message is for everyone�.
Correctional facilities are breeding grounds and sanctuaries for a large portion of gang-related terrorists in the making. There, like-minded soldiers plot for future criminal activity, everything that the criminal minds can scheme up is discussed. What is fueling the ever growing threat? One, the enactment of get tough on crime policies. Secondly, the �invasion� of a gang�s territory by law enforcement. Thirdly, the less that prosperous economical situation most gang members grow up in and which they must continue to endure while in prison. Following suit is the placement of gang members in administrative segregation for lengthy periods of time this usually creates hatred towards the system that can rarely be quenched.
This is a small list of grievances that incite these so called �activist�. No, this is not an Islamic fundamentalist movement I�m addressing even though that too is alive and flourishing in our prisons. This is a movement linked by common opposition to U.S., foreign, and domestic policies.
As a country with the largest prison population in the world, this movement which has gained momentum in recent years is one of great concern. It is a fact most prisoners will one day be released from prison. The aspirations by modern gangsters never stop, so to allow this threat to go onto the next level, would be another mistake made by the law enforcement community. There are several other types of gang members that make up the entire gang culture. At present, my concern is focused on the �Radicalized Gangster�. In future compositions I will deal in detail with the delinquent, violent, territorial, financial gain, wanna-be, intellectual, and political gangsters.
Gang membership is stable in some geographical locations, in other regions it is declining; overall, the number of individuals recruited into violent criminal gangs is steadily increasing nationwide. The Texas Youth Commission fiscal report for 2005 reported 34% of youth offenders entering their facilities acknowledged being active gang members.
The gang culture is driving current pop culture into the hearts and minds of this generation. In many cases, gang members have become our children�s role models. These young men and women active in gangs will one day have a stake in the future of our country for better or worse. Any existing gang activity must be aggressively combated, closely monitored, and wisely managed. Recruitment is a must for any gang to exist.
A tragic example of how violent criminal street gangs have grown is easily portrayed by looking at the generational gang ties, grandfather, father, son, and in some cases, mothers, daughters, cousins, uncles, nephews, nieces, aunts and even grandmothers all belong to the same �set�, what a sad picture.
Gang banging is real, these urban guerilla soldiers have grown more determined to obtain financial stability, and they yearn for a national and international reach. As the evolutionary cycle of the gang culture continues to spin out of control, so will the gangs, murders, drug distribution, rapes, assaults, kidnappings, car jacking, home invasions, and all other criminality associated with gang activity.
Do you think we as a whole are doing enough when it comes to gang prevention and gang intervention? If your answer is yes then we have reached a point of no return with the gang epidemic in this country.
Samuel Jurado
SAMUEL JURADO #725642
ALFRED D. HUGHES UNIT
RT. 2, BOX 4400
GATESVILLE, TEXAS USA
76597-0001
