It has been my ongoing impression that the people who create gang laws think that gangs recruit exclusively from the lower-class, uneducated, unambitious parts of our society. Though some of the followers may be found in these populations, a good amount of gang leaders would make good non-gang (read: not criminal) leaders had they made different decisions. There's a term called 3G2 (Third Generation Gangs) that may explain why focusing on the low-hanging fruit (more on that another time) is not a good idea.
With that said, our lawmakers have a habit of offering us feel-good anti-gang laws that either have no teeth or no application. I think the placement of the law in the "Laws On Children, Youth And Families section is an indicator of this.
If the laws lack teeth, police officers cannot use them for what they were (maybe) intended. An example of the no-teeth part might be seen in Tennessee Code Annoted (TCA) 40-35-121, which I have been told is fairly useless as an enhancement guideline for sentencing.
The Code allows for serious gang-related crime to be charged/enhanced one (1) classification higher than the crime committed. The requirements to be met, however, are much steeper than simply showing the suspect is a gang-member. Moving the hurdle higher is like taking the teeth out of it, the law won't be used.
If the laws have no application, then they don't apply to the real world -- indicating the creation of the law was neither well-thought-out nor well-coordinated. An example of this no application part would be the federal legislation "intended" to prohibit active gang members from serving in the military. That's another topic for another day.
Lately, at least in Tennessee, there appears to be a shift. Not only are gang cops consistently busting their butts to identify and arrest criminal gang activity, but now the legislators are showing signs they are listening.
The new law, introduced by Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, who introduced the bill along with Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, would place criminal gang offenses within the state’s existing Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, where convictions would be class B felonies with sentences ranging from at least 12 to 20 years. You should note, though, that cases big enough for RICO-like charges are likely to get the attention of the Federal Prosecutors, as noted by Sgt. Todd Royval. It was the federal RICO laws that were successfully used against the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) a few years back.
The measure expands RICO, previously restricted to child pornography and drug trafficking.
It redefines "racketeering activity" to include committing, attempting to commit, conspiring to commit or soliciting or coercing someone else to commit a criminal gang offense, including threatening or knowingly causing injury or death; receiving money or anything of value from the commission of an aggravated burglary; or from the illegal sale, delivery or manufacture of a controlled substance or firearm.
Note that it's the RICO laws that are being expanded, but the original law is being incorporated into it. It will take some time to see if the prosecutors can/will do something with this. I know they could not before this.
What do you think?
Public disclaimer: I am a founding board member of the Tennessee Gang Investigator's Association, headquartered in Hixson, so I might have a propensity to think gang cops don't get enough support.
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updated 6/13/12 -- removed dead link to news article (Anti-Gang Law Rarely Used: FoxMEMPHIS.com).
Showing posts with label gang activity in college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gang activity in college. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Gang member undergrads: What are gang members doing in our colleges and universities?
Submitted
to Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences conference proceedings (March 2012)
Abstract: With the growing
presence of criminal street gang members in the United States, communities
everywhere are experiencing the damaging impact of their criminal behavior. A
2011 report by the National Gang Intelligence Center reported the number of
gang members in the United States was conservatively estimated at 1.4 million. As these gang members evolve, are they
using our nation’s colleges and universities to educate themselves? How will
that affect our communities? This paper reports results of a survey of college students
and campus police regarding their perception of the presence of gang members on
their campus. Less than one in four students agreed there was a gang problem in
the community around their campus, while two of three of the police respondents
agreed with the statement. Students and
police agreed in similar percentages that there was a gang problem within the
campus community. At least half of both
students and police thought gang members were responsible for less than 10% of
crime on campus. About two of three students and police reported less than 10% of
the students were active gang members. The Bloods, Crips, and Gangster
Disciples were the top three gangs in the campus community for both groups.
Drugs crimes, Assaults, assorted Weapons crimes, Robberies and Sexual Assaults
were reported as gang-related crimes.
A 2011 report by the
National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) reported an overall increase in gang
membership, and the expansion of criminal street gangs’ control of street-level
drug sales and collaboration with rival gangs and other criminal organizations.
The NGIC (2011) reported the number of gang members in the United States was
estimated at 1.4 million. That figure
represented an increase of 400,000 over the conservatively estimated 1,000,000
as of September 2008. The 2009 NGIC estimate represented 212,000 more
gang members (26% higher) than the 2007 report. The estimate was 215,000
(28%) higher than the number of gang members reported by the National Youth
Gang Center in 2006 (Egley & O’Donnell, 2008). The estimate was also
200,000 (25%) higher than the 800,000 gang members reported by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation’s Deputy Director Pistole (2008) in March of 2008.
A
connection between gang membership and college education has been identified in
a variety of disciplines. It was deemed
noteworthy that three of the organizations responding to the 2011 NGIC survey
were University Police Departments. Economist
Levitt and Sociologist Venkatesh (2000) examined the profits of a Chicago-based
drug gang relative to legitimate labor market activities.
Cadwaller (2010)
examined potential correlations and relationships between membership in
fraternities and gangs. The study posed questions regarding club and fraternity
participation, tattoos, musical preference, academic standing, demographics,
and acquaintance with gang members from before college (Cadwaller, 2010).
Cureton and
Bellamy (2007) interviewed a college junior, known as Sweet T, a member of the Rigsby Court Gangster Bloods street gang
from San Antonio, TX. Sweet T joined the gang at age 14 and
was well known as a fighter. He was
raised in a two-parent home, and his father was a minister.
Community
members perceive gang presence differently, apparently depending on their role
in the community. Less than one in four student respondents (22%) agreed or
strongly agreed that there was a gang problem in the community around their
campus. A much larger percentage (66%)
of the police respondents agreed with the statement. Students and police agreed in similar
percentages (20% and 28%, respectively) there was a gang problem within the
campus community. Most (88%) police
thought gang members were responsible for less than 10% of crime on campus,
while only half (50%) of the student respondents thought gang members were
responsible for over 10% of crime on campus.
References
Cadwallader, T. W. (2010). Gangs go to college:
A preliminary report. Journal of Gang Research, 17(4), 13-20.
Cureton, S. and Bellamy, R. (2007). Gangster 'Blood' Over College Aspirations: The
Implications of Gang Membership for One Black Male College Student. Journal of Gang Research, 14(2) 31-49.
Egley, A. Jr. & O’Donnell, C. E. (2008). Highlights of the 2006 National Youth Gang
Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Programs.
Etter, G. W. & Swymeler, W. G. (2008).
Examining the demographics of street gangs in Wichita, Kansas. Journal of
Gang Research, 16(1), 1-12.
Florida Department of Law
Enforcement. (2007). 2007 Statewide gang
survey results. Retrieved from
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-789KGG/$file/2007
GangSurvey.pdf
Katz C. M. & Webb, V. J. (2006). Policing
gangs in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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gang: Its nature, prevalence, and control. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Klein, M. W. (2005). The value of comparisons in
street gang research. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(2),
135-152. doi:10.1177/1043986204272911
Klein, M. W. & Maxson, C. L.
(2006). Street gang patterns and policies.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Levitt, S. D. & Dubner, S. J. (2006). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the
hidden side of everything. New York, NY: Harper Collins
Levitt, S. D. & Venkatesh, S. A. (2000). An
economic analysis of a drug-selling gang’s finances. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 755-789. doi:
10.1162/003355300554908
National Gang Intelligence Center [NGIC].
(2009). National gang threat assessment - 2009. Washington, DC: National
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National Youth
Gang Center (2009). National youth gang
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http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis
New Jersey State
Police (2007) Gangs in New Jersey:
Municipal law enforcement response to the 2007 NJSP gang survey. New Jersey
Department of Law & Public Safety Division of the New Jersey State Police
Intelligence Section. Retrieved from
http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/info/pdf/njgangsurvey-2007.pdf
Pistole, J. S.
(2008, March 3). Speech for 2nd Los
Angeles IACP summit on transnational gangs, Los Angeles, California.
Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/speeches/pistole 030308.htm
Seals, A. (2009). Are gangs a substitute for
legitimate employment? Investigating the impact of labor market effects on gang
affiliation. KYKLOS, 62(3), 407-425 doi:10.1111/j.1467-6435.2009.00443.x
Sullivan, J. P., and Bunker, R. J. (2007). Third
generation gang studies: An introduction. Journal of Gang Research, 14(4),
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Wilson, G.I.
& Sullivan, J.P. (2007). On gangs, crime and terrorism. Special to Defense
and the National Interest. Retrieved from http://d-n-i.net/fcs/pdf/
wilson_sullivan_gangs_terrorism.pdf
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