Gangs In LA - Daniel Alba
Intro
Ever since I can remember, I've always lived in and around gang driven communities. As a child I always saw gangs as a normal part of the community and looked past it. Now as an adult I can't help but feel fear walking down the street or driving around a frighting neighborhood. Someone being part of a gang does not only impact the gang members life but it also impacts their community and family around them.
Research
For my civic engagement project, I want to discuss about the effects of Gangs and their effects upon our communities. Gangs have been around for what seems like forever, according to Marcus Hoover in his article Where all the Madness Began, gangs surfaced in America around the 1920's, Mexican gangs formed small communities called "Barrios" committing crimes such as burglary and vandalism. African American gangs committed small crimes such as petty theft. Today there are an estimated 28,100 gangs and 731,000 gang members throughout 3,500 jurisdictions nationwide. A majority of those gang members are organized in major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago. Los Angels is considered the Gang Capital of America, home to more than 120,00 gang members. Crimes here in Los Angeles consist of theft, assault, rape, and of course homicide to name a few. According to the LAPD "During the last three years, there were over 16,398 verified violent gang crimes in the City of Los Angeles. These include 491 homicides and nearly 7,047 felony assaults." These gangs intimidate and spread fear throughout our communities using tactics such as graffiti to glorify their name. One of the main reasons for gang violence is gang territory and drugs. J.C Barnes states in an online article that approximately 43 percent of drug sales are done by gangs. These drugs fill our streets and sometimes land upon the hands of teenagers that get their life destroyed by drugs. Gang activity has flooded the city of LA and unless we do something to stop it, the effects of gangs will reach our communities and neighborhoods and hinder our progress as a city and as a nation.
Personal
As I stated in the intro. I have always been around gang activity my entire life. Whether its witnessing crime out in the street or being a victim of it in my own home. My older brother, was in high school when he joined a local gang in East Los Angeles. He would be gone for sometimes days and leave at odds hours of the day and night to be with his "friends" but my mom new what he was doing. My brother was out committing acts of violence and theft upon other people and in turn got what he deserved when he went to jail for some time. My brothers gang activity led him to drop out of high school and move out and becoming homeless for a short time. My best friend, had also previously fallen into the grasp of gang activity. Several years ago he would go around the city and "tag" with his friends, flaunting out their gang name. My best friend had fallen into hard drugs and began to sell them in the streets, until one day he was caught and thrown into prison for a year. My brother and my best friend never thought of the choices they made and how they impacted themselves and their family. Both my mother and my best friends mother felt so heart broken that their sons had stooped so low. I myself have been victim to theft in my own home. Money, birds, and personal possessions have been taken from my family home in the past, leaving us to live in fear in our own neighborhood. To top it off they gratified on a tree in front of our house with "CMG" whatever that means. The main reason I chose this subject is because of the hardship that I have been through due to gangs and the hardship of my loved ones. I know family members friends who have fallen victim to gang homicide and has torn the family apart. Hopefully in the distant future, gang culture will diminish so that our offspring do not have to suffer the same hardships that many of us have had due to gang activity.
References
Barnes, J. C., & Beaver, K. M. (2010, November/December). Estimating the Effect of Gang Membership on Nonviolent and Violent Delinquency: A Counterfactual Analysis. Retrieved November, 2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3151646/
Taylor, S. S. (2013, August). Why American boys join street gangs. Retrieved November, 2016, from http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJSA/article-full-text-pdf/837FD2641401
Hoover, M. (1999, May). Where All the Madness Began: A Look at Gang History. Retrieved November, 2016, from http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/gangcolor/madness.htm
Supporters Against Gangs
Elsa Palacios
Kenneth Saavadrea 
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