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Gangland: Culure of Violence (Part I of III)
The Whittier Daily News ^ | 9-26-04 | Beth Barrett, Staff Writer

Posted on 09/26/2004 10:10:05 AM PDT by truthkeeper

Fueled by drug money and revenge, street gangs have flourished and spread across Southern California and beyond, thanks to sporadic and ineffective law enforcement efforts and inadequate intervention strategies.

In the face of those tepid efforts, gang membership has exploded across Southern California since the 1960s. At the same time, gangs have grown more brutal _ engaging in a level of violence that holds many poor and minority communities in near constant terror.

There are about 100,000 gangsters in more than 1,300 gangs in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. They make up less than 1 percent of the population but commit at least half the region's homicides _ taking the lives of nearly 3,100 people in Southern California since 1999, more than three times the number of U.S. casualties in the war in Iraq.

In interviews over the last three months, law enforcement officials, community activists and gang experts agree the "celebration of the culture of violence" among gang members is the region's top crime problem and becoming a national problem as transplanted Los Angeles gangs and their imitators take hold in inner cities across the country...

An estimated 4 percent to 10 percent of gang members are responsible for most of the violence _ a fact that causes gang intervention specialists, community activists and others to press for a distinction that lessens the stigma on and humanizes the many poor, uneducated, mostly minority young people who join gangs to be part of "surrogate families" in the absence of other services or support....

(Excerpt) Read more at lang.whittierdailynews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: aliens; crime; gangs; gangstas; immigrantlist; southerncaliforia
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Nothing to see here, move along folks.
1 posted on 09/26/2004 10:10:06 AM PDT by truthkeeper
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To: truthkeeper


Don't forget liberal judges that makes the gang members unafraid of law enforcement. They know that they will just get a slap on the wrist and they are back on the street ready to break their next law.

Born and raised in SoCal, I uprooted the family a couple years ago to escape the gang mentality and the failing school system.

High taxes, high crime rate, ineffective education, overrun by illegal immigration. A liberal mecca.


2 posted on 09/26/2004 10:30:52 AM PDT by golfboy (character is doing what is right, when no one is looking)
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To: truthkeeper; shaggy eel; Indie; longtermmemmory

...fatherlessness. The social programs and no-fault divorce laws have made it worse.


3 posted on 09/26/2004 12:21:53 PM PDT by familyop (Essayons)
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To: janetgreen; StoneColdGOP

As bad as it gets.


4 posted on 09/26/2004 3:28:44 PM PDT by truthkeeper (Yeah, I have a 1998 signup date. So?)
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To: truthkeeper

The urban gangs seem to have been around since at least the 1820s New York City days. Even criminals know there's safety in numbers and that you need at least a backup, lookout, and getaway driver.


5 posted on 09/26/2004 3:33:03 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: truthkeeper
There are about 100,000 gangsters in more than 1,300 gangs in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties

Welcome to California, gang headquarters. These little gangbangers can be seen everywhere at any time of the day with their pointy shaved heads, baggy clothes, and many tattoos. They don't work, they just gangbang, they're probably on welfare and other entitlements. I've read that many of their wives and girlfriends are also in the gang, and they raise their kids to be members to carry on the wonderful tradition. They are a plague on our society.

6 posted on 09/26/2004 3:36:40 PM PDT by janetgreen (ATTENTION PRESIDENT BUSH: MEXICO IS INVADING US!!)
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To: truthkeeper

Ya know, we had this problem in the 20s and 30s, only
then we had a press that wasn't afraid to go after the stories OR show the bloody results.


7 posted on 09/26/2004 3:39:04 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: janetgreen
They are a plague on our society

OOh no, they are just misunderstood. We must look to ourselves and ask what we have done to create such a culture.

8 posted on 09/26/2004 3:40:56 PM PDT by riri
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To: riri

Of course, it CAN'T be their fault, must be ours, we're SO bad! :^)


9 posted on 09/26/2004 4:20:45 PM PDT by janetgreen (ATTENTION PRESIDENT BUSH: MEXICO IS INVADING US!!)
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To: familyop

,,, the urban tribes will prevail. It won't get any better.


10 posted on 09/26/2004 4:49:39 PM PDT by shaggy eel
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To: truthkeeper

If the RICO act can be used against the Mob, the Hell's Angels, why won't they use it for these gangs?


11 posted on 09/26/2004 7:52:36 PM PDT by sheik yerbouty
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To: janetgreen
They're not "gangs," jg ... they're "crews." Crews get together and host parties. Sometimes gang members come to crew parties though.

This enlightened tale (as told to a reporter) came from a local 16-year-old "crew-member" witness to a driveby with fatality while bouncing her baby on her hip.

Of course, we have a gang ordinance that says if involved in gang violence, they and their families can be evicted. Guess we need a crew ordinance.

12 posted on 09/26/2004 8:14:37 PM PDT by LNewman
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To: LNewman
Didn't know there were "crews", LN. Maybe they think "crews" sound better than "gangs"! (whatever they call themselves, they're still vermin that need to be eradicated)

One thing is for sure, none of them believe in working for a living, and I sure resent being forced to support their lazy butts.

13 posted on 09/26/2004 11:02:46 PM PDT by janetgreen (ATTENTION PRESIDENT BUSH: MEXICO IS INVADING US!!)
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To: 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 4.1O dana super trac pak; 4Freedom; 4ourprogeny; ...

ping


14 posted on 09/28/2004 9:07:22 AM PDT by gubamyster
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To: janetgreen
(ATTENTION PRESIDENT BUSH: MEXICO IS INVADING US!!)

That will only make his smile wider, Janet.

15 posted on 09/28/2004 9:23:40 AM PDT by swampfox98 (We are at war! We have been at war since 9/11. How smart do you have to be to understand this?)
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To: riri; janetgreen
We must look to ourselves and ask what we have done to create such a culture.

We left the damn southern border open. That's what we did to create such a culture!!

_

16 posted on 09/28/2004 9:25:29 AM PDT by Brownie74
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To: truthkeeper
"An estimated 4 percent to 10 percent of gang members are responsible for most of the violence ..."

Yeah, it's that 4-10% that makes the other 90-96% look bad.

17 posted on 09/28/2004 9:55:11 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: janetgreen
They are a plague on our society.

Yep...and this crap should not have to be tolerated here. We have them in Nashville as well ....the lower classes have found a common denominator here that crosses racial lines and infects every group....and is celebrated by our media culture.

18 posted on 09/28/2004 1:34:19 PM PDT by wardaddy
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To: truthkeeper; All

Random bit of related information that I have come across.

Did you know that The City of Garden Grove offers a $500.00 reward for the citizen assistance in the detention, arrest, and conviction of "taggers"?

Got the info from the PD today.

Altho' after reading this article, I'm not sure why I'm bothering to fight these animals....other than to have it clean enough to sell.
Bye Bye Ca. As soon as I possibly can.


19 posted on 09/28/2004 6:26:49 PM PDT by 1_Inch_Group
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To: riri
OOh no, they are just misunderstood. We must look to ourselves and ask what we have done to create such a culture.

In a way though --- what can you expect from them --- they're the throw-away illegitimate anchor babies who never learned much English or much of anything in schools, they were often conceived for the purpose of obtaining welfare handouts for their mother. No one wants to hire them because they can bring in more illegals who'll work for far less money. They are the victims of political correctness and the need for some for cheap labor or votes.

20 posted on 09/28/2004 6:59:49 PM PDT by FITZ
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