Question

What type of things have you learn about gang violence that you didn't know before?

Movies

What movies have you seen about gang violence?

West Side Story

West Side Story is a musical play about gangs. The Sharks and the  Jets, which one gang is white and the other one puerto ricans. The play is based on Romeo and Juliet. The gangs are fighting singing to each other. Maria, a puerto rican sister, get  in love with Tony, a white boy. Both gangs are fighting because of this love. At the end, Tony dies and Maria decide to kill herself. 

Gang Violence or Not?

Police are conducting a murder investigation after finding a man shot dead in a South Side alley early Thursday.

At 3:20 a.m., police responded to a man who was unresponsive in an alley at 147 W. 74th St., according to police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro. The man had a gunshot wound to his chest.

The man is believed to be in his 30s but remained unidentified as of 5:20 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

No one was in custody as of 4 a.m., Alfaro said.

The police think that this crime has something to do with gangs.

Different type of gang movies are American History X (1998), American Me (1992), Blood In, Blood Out (1993),Menace II Society (1993), Boulevard Nights (1979),Colors (1988), Boyz 'N the Hood (1991), South Central (1992), First Time Felon (1997), Training Day (2001), Gangs of New York (2002),and Gridiron Gang (2006).

Percentages of Gangs

Gangs have different race/ethnicity. The total percentage are:
Hispanic 44%
African-American 35%
Caucasian 14%
Asian 5%
Other 2%
I think mostly there are hispanic on gangs because most of their family don't care about them or like they are not on their born place is hard for them to get use to the culture here.

Is there a way to get out of gang without getting killed?

What do you think can stop kids from joining gangs?

Gang Violence Has Salinas On The Edge

SALINAS, California -- It is another tense night for law enforcement and the people of Salinas -- a 16-year old boy has just been shot to death in, what police call, a gang related killing. On one night, a special monterey county gang task force says revenge is in the air. Gang task force Sgt Sheldon Bryan has received word that a group of individuals are looking for retaliation from a shooting that happen the night before. It might surprise some that Salinas, with a population of only 150,000, needs an intelligence network to battle gangs. But in just the past year Salinas homicide rate has almost doubled and now far exceeds San Francisco's, San Jose's, even the homicide rate in Los Angeles. In the last year, 30 or the last 31 homicides were gang-related. The central coast farming town famous as the salad bowl of America is now infamous for gang wars that are deeply-rooted, violent, and technologically sophisticated. Brian Contreras, executive director of Second Chance, grew up in Salinas and can vouch for his hometown being a battleground for gang activity. Contreras says they are experiencing a jump in gang-related violence that rivals bigger cities like San Jose and San Francisco. Contreras believes gangs are vying to control the illicit drug trade and prostitution. The size and threat of gangs in Salinas has almost tripled over the last few years. And the internet has created a new breed of gangs. It's call cyber-banging. Gangs now use social networking sites to recruit, communicate, and post threats. For Salinas officials, the trend brought to mind how terrorist organizations developed and triggered the idea of bringing in terrorism experts from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue was fascinated with how the military methodically figured where Sadam Hussein was by using statistical analysis. He wondered if the same approach in terms of predictability could be used on gangs. Salinas police Commander Kelly McMillan agrees and said a lot of insurgent groups the military deals with in Iraq and Afghanistan are very much structured like a street gang in Salinas. The gang task force welcomes the analysis and recommendations from the Naval Postgraduate school. Especially now when the gang task force fears it may lose its funding in July.

http://current.com/items/89876369_gang-violence-has-salinas-on-the-edge.htm

South Africa-Kewtown

The gang war in Kewtown is a "serious, dangerous" issue according to residents and police, but a complete lockdown in the area in the next two weeks will see the start of a strategic war against crime.The area has been marred by gang violence in the past two months with residents, including young children, experiencing shootings daily. For the past few years gang activity has increased in the months before the festive season and Kewtown is one of four crime hotspots known for drug and gang activity. Yesterday the MEC for Community Safety, Lennit Max, police, metro police and community leaders visited the area to discuss the problems with residents, and declared war on drug dealers and gangsters.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_News&set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=vn20091107111006288C937758

The leader of a violent gang that terrorised the streets of Manchester was today jailed for a minimum of 39 years.Joyce led the Gooch Gang in dealing drugs, torturing street dealers who crossed them and targeting rivals, culminating in the murders of rival gang members Ucal Chin and Tyrone Gilbert. The government actually did a good job by arresting this gang member.

Bill-If you were the mayor of Chicago, what steps would you take to eliminate or at least significantly reduce gang violence?

Well Mr. Mac, if I could be the Mayor of Chicago, I'll work with the community to try to reduce gang violence. For example, I could create more activities for teenagers to do after school, but activities that are fun, not those boring ones they have. I could also talk to those teenagers in gangs to try to help them if they need it. Have more security around the neighborhood. Not only were there shooting but we most gang members hang around. A lot more things that I could do, but to lazy to write them down.

Gang Violence has killed another innocent person. The two person were walking together when a car came and started shooting. Gang Violence is just killing people. The government should stop it, and soon.

Why so many innocent people have to suffer because of gang violence? Give your opinion. 

Gang Violence has killed a innocent girl. She was waiting for the bus at 8 p.m.- going home from work- and some guy was in the same bus stop waiting for the bus, when a car passed by a started shooting. They shot the girl and she passed away. She left two kids behind, one of age 2 and the other one of a couple of months. Gang Violence is just killing innocent people that is trying their best to live happy but violence always has to get on the way and destroy their happiness.

There is a new law that is giving the government $20 million dollars to stop gang violence. I don't think the government is going to do anything about it.

Do you think the community should do something about gang violence?
Have you ever been affected by gang violence?

The goverment hasn't done nothing to stop gang violence. Gang violence is increasing every day. Some people don't know why gang members kill each other, but some know a lot about it that are scared of going out. Every gang just want to have power, show to the other gangs how brave they are.

Gang Violence has affected a lot of people. Blair Holt was a innocent teenager that died because of gang violence. He was in a bus and a stranger shot and the bullet hit him. Everyone is scared because you don't know when gang violence is going to affect you. 

Gang Violence is a serious issue. Many innocent people get killed every year because of gang violence. Many gang members killed to prove to the other gangs how strong or powerful they are. Many just point on any direction and that's when innocent people get shot. I think the government should do something about it, because many young people are joining it, even 12 years old join gangs now. I don't think is good because they become worthless. Many of them drop out from school, start using drugs, and even some get killed. We should do something about gang violence.

What do you think about gang violence?.