How to deal with the scourge? Experts say first acknowledge the existence of gangs in your community, then recognize that police enforcement efforts are but one part of the answer.
All types of communities across the nation, youth gangs disrupt public life and deplete law enforcement resources.
A number of law enforcement sources report a dramatic increase the past two years in the number of Ukrainian and Russian immigrant women recruited into slavery and sexually exploited in the New Jersey and New York area.
They may not come from Wall Street but business is booming for street gangs trafficking in drugs
Street gangs in America are nothing new. Some of the earliest identified groups with gang-like behaviors formed after the Revolutionary War in 1793.
In the mid-1950s 13 California Youth Authority (CYA) wards were sent to the Duel Vocational Institute located in Tracy, California. Since the wards were juveniles they were housed in a special section of the adult corrections facility.
Hispanic gangs are among the fastest growing gangs in the country today. Many of the Hispanic gangs that form today across the country claim Sureno or "Sureiio13" allegiance. Why the proliferation? Where did the Sureno gangs originate?
By the mid 1980s Cambodian street youths started to band together for protection from the street gangs. These young kids realized that as a group, they could be stronger, they could become the aggressors, not the victims, and they could make more money.
Approximately 55 officially titled "Security Risk Groups" (SRG) are being tracked at Rikers, including major national gangs such as the Latin Kings, the Bloods, the Crips, and the Neatas. The GIU is also tracking groups that are affiliated with organized crime and narcotics.
Recently, an outbreak of racist-related violence surged through the suburbs of Denver, Colo. This included the shooting of a police officer before the gunman, a reported white supremacist skinhead. Because of their beliefs and actions, the skinheads should be recognized as the "new Nazis."