I thought that I would share some information with you, very generic in
nature. You can usually tell when a gang has come to the neighborhood or a
gang is about to claim a neighborhood as their turf. Activity escalates, and
it usually takes several weeks for them to get a good start.
You may see one or more teens standing around for no apparent reason at all.
As they are gaining their confidence, they will probably not show their
colors. You may sometimes see groups of 5 or more teens doing the same thing,
just standing there for no apparent reason. You may see an occasional car
stop, and that could be one or more things happening: 1) it could just be one
of their homeboys (friends - gang associate) stopping by to say hello and be
cool; 2) it could be a narcotics transaction; 3) it could be an exchange of
stolen property. Things are usually getting pretty serious when you start
seeing the display of colors. The primary object is a neatly pressed bandana
either worn on the head or hung out of a pocket. This is a part of the
identification with a known gang (blue or red most common). Claiming the
neighborhood as their turf first must mean convincing the people in the
neighborhood that it is going to happen, and there is nothing they can do to
stop it.
Those in the neighborhood who voice any objection will be threatened. The
real heros in the neighborhood who claim to have guns and offer to use them
will become the object of almost constant harrassment. Verbal threats become
common, and the hero may begin to believe that there is no way to win. They
may talk in a vulgar manner to the hero's wife every time she comes outside.
They may make it a point to tell you they know where your kids go to school.
There may be an occasional bullet go through your house, and there may be
many other forms of harrassment. If they are to claim the neighborhood as
their turf, the people living in the neighborhood must first submit. Many are
probably thinking about all of the things they would do, but you might change
your mind if you were actually standing in those shoes. Ok, you have a gun,
maybe they have 20 guns and some of them are full autos. Ok, you are tough,
but you are one person, and there might be 40 people in the gang. You might
get 3 or 4 of them arrested, but there would be 36 left to deal you misery.
Many of the offenses would be your word against their's.
The elderly people in the neighborhood usually become the first victims as
the turf is claimed. Maybe they break in on grandma while she is there, take
her money, and tell her she will be killed if she calls the police. Maybe
they take money from her every month when her check comes in, but they let
her keep part of it if she is good and doesn't call the police.
Then the parties start. There is horn honking in the middle of the night, use
of drugs in the wide open, sex in the front yard, hooping and hollering,
doorbell ringing, etc. Ask them to stop, call the police, or file charges and
you are labelled. The least to expect is maybe graffiti on your car and
maybe your house. You know who did it, but prove it. Everyone in the
neighborhood knows who did it, but don't count on a lot of support or many
people stepping forward to be witnesses, especially if the gang has claimed
the turf by the numbers and correctly. If the gang has done their work right,
most of the people in the neighborhood are scared. The threats involve their
wives, children, and maybe even their parents.
The game changes slightly after most of the people living in the area are
subdued and do what they are told to do. They have claimed the turf and must
hold it. Rival gangs are interested in the same real estate. As a result,
there are drive-by shootings and other struggles for the neighborhood.
In the meantime, the gang makes money in the traditional ways: 1) sale of
drugs; 2) dealing in stolen property; 3) teenage prostitution; 4) burglary;
5) and more violent crimes like armed robbery if business is bad.
It's not all gloom and doom, there are ways of dealing with this problem, but
they are complex and require heavily organized citizens willing to assist the
police. I posted this message to give you some idea what a gang infested
neighborhood might be like. It could be slightly better, or it could be much
worse. I really wanted you to think about what it would be like to deal with
something like this day in and day out. I thought it might be an interesting
discussion.
Tom Rightmer - A Victims' Rights Advocate
... ....I tried an internal modem, but it hurt when I walked.
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30
---------------