National-History

Billy the kid, a true American Gangster of the Wild West

A cool documentary that gives a look into the blood and crip war and gangster lifestyle.

This is a classic picture of Al Capone, the man that arguably ignited the "gangster image" in America

The Movie "Gangs of New York" gives us a great clip of the famous American Gangs the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys

The history of gangs in America first evolved from the days of the Wild West and legendary outlaws such as The James Gang, Billy the Kid and other wanted criminal groups. The Wild West in those days was corrupt, lawless, and kill-or-be-killed for many of people trying to survive and settle there. Men had to learn to kill and join in groups for protection, and their fearless and ruthless images seemed to stick in the American culture and carry on into later years.

Then came the the huge immigration boom in the late 1800's. Immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Israel, Germany, and other European nations flowed into American ports such as New York and suddenly were forced to live together. Most of the time they divided by race and formed gangs for support and protection from the other immigrants. Many of the first gangs were created because they needed economic stability and a way to make in in the new world. With their new gangs, it became possible to run buisnesses such as gambling, drug trafficking, and prostitution operations to make quick money. Through this racial and ethnic melting pot, Irish gangs, Jewish gangs, Italian gangs, and Polish gangs formed and the true "gangs of New York" were born. Some of the better known gangs and their nationalities were:
-Whyos (Irish)
-Forty Thieves (Irish/Italian)
-Dead Rabbits (Irish)
-Plug Uglies (Irish)
-Monk Eastmen gang (jewish)
-James street gang (Italian)
-Bowery Boys (Anti-Immigrant gang)

Probably the most famous gang of all in NY was the 5 Points Gang. Born from one of the poorest ghettos in NY, "a steady stream of Irish thugs, Jewish racketeers, and Italian hit men who would make organized crime a permanent part of the American scene." The trouble really started when soon after, crooked politicians realized they could control the elections and voters if they paid off or bribed the gangs with protection, money, police support, etc. In 1863, the famous "Draft Riots" began when ghetto inhabitants and gang members like the 5 points members felt that there was an unfair percentage of them being drafted for in union in the Civil War. These gangsters revolted, destroyed property, and burned down buildings for 5 days in the middle of NY. More and more immigrant youth began joining the 5 Points or one of its many junior gangs, and the violence escalated. The 5 Points Gang was started by an Itallian Immigrant named Paul Kelly aka Paolo Antonio Vacarelli. Through his recruiting, famous gangsters such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel get their start.

From here, Al Capone and the American gangster image took off. From 1920-1930 more and more street gangs were popping up in the low income areas of the united states. Big urban cities with large ghettos like New York and Chicago began to see Asians, African Americans, and Latinos forming street gangs like their Irish, and European gang ancestors had before them. In 1969, the Crips and Bloods of Los Angeles, CA first started organizing.In response to other gangs around and the Black Panther movement, a man named Raymond Washington organized what would later become the Crips. As they grew, many smaller gangs joined in the poor city streets of LA. The crips became so large that they outnumbered other gangs 3:1. With an imbalance of Crip influence, many angry gangsters decided they needed to create a new alliance to combat the Crips powerful influence. Crips were famous for wearing blue bandanas so this new group decided to wear the opposite, red, and the bloods of LA began.

Other gangs that have sprung up in the last 50 years are the Latin Kings, Surenos, Ms 13, Black gangster disciples, Black Guerillas, La Familia, Nuestra Familia, Vatos Locos. Most of them can now be found in any city in America with a large population of low income housing (large ghetto areas)

National-Current Situation

The gang situation nationwide is even worse than what is happening in Hawaii. According to The National Gang Crime Research Center, (NGCRC) it is getting so bad that even some school colors and symbols are being mistaken for gang colors and symbols. This shows just how wide spread the gang problem is, when completely innocent things such as a color, or combination of colors, can lead to violence. The National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) has data showing that the gang problem may be more concentrated int the larger cities and more suburban areas.

Below is a video of a fight between two of America's most well know gangs, the Bloods and the Crips.
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Annual Maximum Number of Gangs, 2002–2005 Number of Gangs
Larger Cities Suburban Counties Smaller Cities Rural Counties


No Data Reported 2.7% 9.6% 9.2% 5.9%
3 or Fewer 13.0 26.0 48.3 56.3
4–6 20.5 19.2 26.7 23.5
7–15 30.8 21.4 12.9 10.9
16–30 15.4 8.9 2.9 3.4
More Than 30 17.6 14.9 0.0 0.0


The Violence Prevention Institute also has staggering facts about gangs:
Gang Statistics

Facts at a Glance:
· 100% of cities with population greater than or equal to 250,000 reported gang activity in 2001
· 85% of cities with population between 100,000 and 229,999 reported gang activity in 2001
· 65% of cities with population between 50,000 and 99,999 reported gang activity in 2001
· 44% of cities with population between 25,000 and 49,999 reported gang activity in 2001
· 20% of cities with population between 2,500 and 24,999 reported gang activity in 2001
59% of all homicides in 2001 in Los Angeles and 53% in Chicago were gang related, there was a total of 698 gang related homicides in there two cities combined where as 130 other cities with population of at least 100,000 with gang problems reported having a total of 637 homicides between them.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, National Youth Gang Survey Trends from 1996 to 2000, by Arlen Egley, Jr. and Aline K. Major.

The History Channel also runs a series about gangs, to view a few clips from different episodes click here.

The gang problem is growing at an almost uncontrollable rate, read on to see what can be done by the government, and what you can do to help.

National-What Should Be Done

Gangs and gang violence in the United States has increased drastically in the past decades, especially in the late 1980's and the early 1990's and even into the new millennium. The substantial increase in both these categories can be attributed to the influx of immigrants during this time. Not only is the increase in immigration leading to the increase, but more importantly illegal immigration is leading to more gang violence. Between 1999 and 2002 gang violence had risen 50%. So, what should the government do to turn this trend around? The government needs to continue its commitment to after-school programs around the country so that it keeps kids off the streets. Kids often join gangs because they come from broken homes and don't have a sense of family or belonging. They do not have any connection to school, and so they join gangs so that they can feel like a part of something.


Gangs realize that children need a sense of belonging so they target them specifically as young as nine years old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKaPTns5dqE


The extent of this problem can be seen in the fact that in just Los Angeles it is estimated that there are between 800 and 1000 gangs with between 120,000 and 220,000 members. About 20% of gangs are dedicated solely to the sale of drugs, thus the government needs to step up the fight against drugs. The few resources dedicated to the DEA are not enough to eradicate the drug problem. Additionally, only 20%-30% of money dedicated to the war on drugs goes into the education, treatment, and prevention of drug use.Although the general public is largely unaware, Gangs are having a huge affect on our economy right now, and have been for over a century most notably during prohibition when Al Capone and other gangsters took control of the alcohol trade and made millions. Gangs may not have a direct effect on our economy but the amount of money that goes into cleaning up after them is extremely high; Gangs participate in robbery, importation of drugs, murder and many other activities that are detrimental to our economy. It is estimated that Americans spend about $655 billion annually on fighting crime alone in the United States. That number does not include the cost of treating people affected by gang violence or by the drugs dealt by gangs. A large percentage of a gangs income comes from theft specifically automobile theft; El Salvador, a country with a huge gang culture imports up to 80% of its cars from the United States illegally via gang trafficking.
The government has taken a number of steps to stop both the influence and the spread of gangs; The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. It is essentially a law making certain crimes that pertain to gangs more serious, thus gang members can be kept off the street for a longer period of time. unfortunately gangs exist in prison as well though.

Even communities can help stop the growth of Gangs simply by being vigilant. Instead of being intimidated by gangs, people need to make an effort to stand up to them. If gang activity is occurring in a neighborhood, than the residents have an obligation to call the police. Even within the home parents can take action by monitoring what their kids are doing and who they are doing it with. Getting kids involved in sports or hobbies can be a huge deterrent from getting involved in gangs.
If neither the government nor large cooperation’s take action the problem will only get worse. Gangs will control more and more “territory” and have a much larger impact on the way we live life and the way our kids and grandkids will live their lives. Kids will become even more afraid to go to school and our economy will spiral downward, while gangs continue to make increasingly large sums of money at our expense. Gangs will grow so large and powerful that we could end up seeing another civil war one day.

National-What Can Be Done

These pictures are of an arrest made by the National Gang Task Force. The National Gang Task Force thrives off of individuals who help fighting gangs by reporting gang-like activity to the Tast Force.

At the national level there are many ways to help your community and nation in making a difference in the fight against gangs. The MS-13 has grabbed national attention in many areas and in many different cases. The FBI has a site that compels individuals to help them fight the MS-13.Encouraging people to become educated about gangs, this relatively new task force dedicated to fighting the MS-13.
"In December 2004, we launched a multi-agency MS-13 National Gang Task Force—the first of its kind—focused specifically on dismantling MS-13 by increasing and speeding the flow of information and intelligence, coordinating investigations, and helping local and state law enforcement more easily identify the gang in their areas."
The National Gang Task Force asks individuals to contact them to inform them about any gang "hang-outs" or any other information about the MS-13. To help people get educated about gangs, The National Gang Task Force has a 74 page PDF file that helps individuals work with their community to stop the MS-13.
Also, there are many small organizations which make a difference in gang fighting that can prevent violence in our youth. MAWG is small growing organization that parents can join to help on a national level. G.R.E.A.T. is similar to DARE, but it is focused on fighting gangs. It encourages groups like MAWG to get involved with incentives of up to 150,000 dollars to make a difference. These organizations are just a few ways that you can help on a national level.

Local-History

Hawaii has had a long history of gang activity caused by the diverse cultures that sometimes clash in the islands. Some gangs in Hawaii are branches of larger mainland or national gangs, others are unique to certain islands or areas.
List of some of the known gangs and affiliates in Hawaii:

-MS-13
-Vietnamese black crew
-Mexican surenos
-Honolulu CIRCO boys gang
-Sons of Samoa
-Bloods (loyal to certain areas ie. "kalihi bloods")
-Crips (loyal to certain areas)
-Hawaiian Mafia
-Filipino's

A majority of these gangs are located in areas such as Kalihi, Palolo and Waipahu, where heavy populations of filipino, samoan, and hawaiian cultures are found. 40% of filipino youth are suspected of gang membership, While 22% of samoan youth and 12.5% of hawaiian youth are suspected of gang membership. Studies have shown that these figures are direct results of economic struggles of these cultures. Samoans for example, constitute only 1.8% of the juvenile population of Hawaii, yet are responsible for nearly a quarter of gang related activity.
Experts say: Samoans in Hawaii experience extreme poverty that puts severe pressure on the communal values in traditional Samoan culture. In addition to the stresses of poverty, immigration to a country that places little value on sharing and care for the whole community and a great premium on individualism, consumerism, and competition produces a landscape that is difficult for Samoan youth to negotiate.

Back in the 1960's-1970's gangs of Hawaiians and other locals formed to regulate the disrespectful "Haole's" or other tourists who overstepped what they felt were boundaries. Many locals on the north shore of Oahu regulated the surf spots to make sure that the Haole surfers who didn't earn their respect were not allowed to surf. This group of men called themselves: Hui o He'e Nalu aka Da Hui. It is arguable whether Da Hui was a typical gang or merely a group devoted to protection of local rights, but there was violence and threatening involved.

Some other causes for Local youth to join gangs:
● Impulsiveness
● Low school achievement/alienation from school
● Poor parental supervision
● Child physical abuse
● Punitive or erratic parental discipline
● Parental conflict and disrupted families
● Substance abuse by a parent
● Poverty
● Susceptibility to peer pressure
● Substance use
● High-delinquency-rate schools
● High crime neighborhoods


Despite a definite gang population, Hawaii as a whole has seen juvenile arrest trends decline since 1992. The number of arrest trends has declined 36.3%, due to a huge decline(50.6%) in arrests of youth for property crimes in recent years. Youth arrests for violent crimes has decreased 5.5% from the last decade, and arrests for curfew and runaway have decreased 19.2 %

Local-Current Situation

In recent history, gangs in Hawaii have been fading. There are a few factors that have contributed to this decrease. One of these factors is a law passed by the Hawaii Legislature in 1991. The act freed up $3.2 million to coordinate the battle against gangs, law enforcement, public awareness, and school based intervention are all categories which have received some of the funding. However, gangs are making a resurgence in Hawaii, and in no small fashion. A recent article in the Hawaii Star Bulletin illustrates just how bad it is getting. The graphs below also show how it is not just the number of gang related incidents that is growing, but also the number of people involved in the altercations. Gangs are also returning to Hawaii schools. Below is a chart of recent gang related activities in schools.

BY THE NUMBERS
2.7% Percentage of students who have carried a handgun
4.75% Percentage of students who have been arrested
5.68% Percentage of students who have sold illegal drugs
11.3% Percentage of students involved in gangs
47% Percentage of students with family conflict
Source: 2002 Hawaii Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use Survey
Hawaii DOH website: http://www.hawaii.gov/health/substance-abuse/prevention-treatment/survey/report2002/index.html

Another factor which is leading to more gang activity is the fact that fewer and fewer kids are even enrolling in school. in the 1995-'96 school year there were 186,805 students enrolled, in the 2005-'06 school year total enrollment was 181,406. That is a decrease of 5,399 in a 10 year period. Almost ten years ago, when enrollment was nearing 189,000 students, there were 3,086 reported incidents of violence involving 1,720 students. In the 2005-06 year, despite a drop of nearly 8,000 schoolchildren, violence rose to 3,350 cases in which 2,762 students took part, according to the state Department of Education. That is nearly a 9 percent increase in violent incidents. The rise in gang activity isn't isolated to just a few neighborhoods, recent surveys show that more and more neighborhoods have gangs, or are beginning to see them arrive from other parts of the island. The chart below from an article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin shows this spread.



Something must be done to end this trend of growing violence and gang related activity in Hawaii, especially in Hawaii's schools.

Local-What Should Be Done

Across the nation the government has been cutting down on after school programs, which are a big deterrent to kids who often come from broken homes or whose parents work late. What the government needs to do though is re-invest in after school programs as well as in school programs such as D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). Although public school do have a D.A.R.E officer that comes in once during a child's education (usually in the fifth grade) consistent prevention and awareness needs to occur as drugs are often the gateway to gangs. The decline in gangs that this would lead to would also produce greater productivity in the classroom; in a recent survey 20% of Hawaii middle school students said that gangs at school frighten them. which also means that many of those kid would be afraid to come to school. That is why gang deterrents from an early age are so important, especially in Hawaii where communities are very closely knit and everyone has such a big influence on everyone else; if the government can eliminate gangs than children's success rates would go up substantially. And although the Hawaii Police Department has made it increasingly hard to acquire weapons including handguns, they are still relatively easy to come by on the black market. If guns can be taken out of the picture than a huge intimidating device for gangs would be lost.
Gangs are becoming more and more prevalent in Hawaii because of its location. Located between Asia and the United States Hawaii is an ideal location for drug trafficking because it is about halfway in between the two continents. Recently gang members have even been emigrating from the mainland (particularly the west coast) because of the lucrative drug trade in Hawaii. Drugs such as I.C.E and coke are easy to get hold of as is marijuana. So much so that in a survey of drug use taken in Hawaii in 1999 6.7% of those surveyed admitted to having used drugs in the last month. Additionally, the number of people being admitted to the drug rehabilitation centers in Hawaii had risen 50% between 1994 and 1999. Gangs are having a huge affect on the population of Hawaii through their drug trafficking.
The Hawaii government has taken a number of steps to minimize the affect of gangs. Arrest for the commission of substantive criminal offenses, defined by Federal or State statute, is the main mechanism used by law enforcement to prosecute youth and adult gangs. Hawaii has also made it illegal to carry concealed fire arms.
People may claim that gangs don’t affect their lives too much in Hawaii because they live in parts of the island where they claim there “are no gangs”. But, gangs have infiltrated all parts of our small island; of the approximately 1.2 million people living in Hawaii, 1,500 of them are gang members belonging to some 140 gangs. Still not convinced that gangs have affected all the people living in Hawaii? Than consider that gangs have indirectly affected every tax paying person living in Hawaii. The state government spends about $400 million dollars (of tax payer’s money) each year on drug related problems. That $400 million is only on drug related problems induced by gangs, and does not include money spent on police units dedicated to gangs, or medical costs because of gang violence. Half of all arrests made last year were due to drugs that gangs have smuggled into Hawaii. That money could be spent on infrastructure (filling in the billions of potholes on Oahu) or a number of other problems plaguing Hawaii.
Should the local and National show little interest in the gang activities in Hawaii than the problem will continue to grow and will affect the mainland more and more over time. Thankfully though, juvenile crimes have been going down steadily in Hawaii over the past five years, which could be an indication that gangs are having less of an influence of kids in Hawaii today than they were in previous decades. Should this trend continue than it is likely that the number of gangs will decrease. Unfortunately, overall crime has risen in the past three years. Having such a small community gangs and drugs can tear us apart and have a huge impact on how we live, thus the government needs to step up its enforcement of ports and immigration. People can have an affect on gangs too, simply by emailing the state government and letting them know that gangs are a serious problem and need taking care of. People can also help out individuals who have drug problems by contacting drug agencies that specialize in rehabilitation.
People can also contact the Governor by emailing her questions or concerns.

Local-What Can individuals Do About Gangs?

Individuals in society are a huge factor in preventing gangs. The family can do an assortment of things to help prevent a child to turning to gangs. After school programs are a great way to prevent such matters, but that might not be the only thing that can be done. The Juvenile Justice Bulletin (http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/182210.pdf) stated that "Clearly, there is no one “magic bullet” program or “best practice” for preventing gang affiliation and gang-associated violence." This doesnt mean that we should slow down our efforts in creating after school programs for children. These impresionable years are when parents have a large influence on their children and can keep them in after school activities. After school activities also prevent drug use and gang related violence. Programs like The institute of Self Esteem and Evaluation is a program that parents can get involved with to help prevent Gang violence. Some commmuntitys get involved with parents by creating material for parents to help recognize when their children may be turning to gangs. (http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/POLICE/gangfaqs.html)
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU SUSPECT YOUR CHILD IS INVOLVED IN A GANG?

1. Don't ignore your suspicions, talk to your child.

2. Watch for some of the signs mentioned previously.

3. Listen to conversations your child has with friends or new acquaintances.

4. Check your child's room periodically for signs and symbols.

5. Talk to your child's teachers about your suspicions.

6. Divert your child's attention away from friends unknown to you and into other activities.

7. Ask for help from the many community agencies.

8. Call the police. We will respond to your questions and if desired talk with you and child about gangs.