Gang Control: Major Gang Problem In The United States

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Taylor Nordmeyer Prof. L Gertsma ENGL 1101 27 November 2012 Gang Control It’s no question that we have a major gang problem in the United States. More needs to be done to eliminate gangs, because they increase the drug flow, the crime rate, and intimidate citizens of their communities. Not all gangs are dangerous, but the ones that are, need to be contained because of their cruel behavior and their harsh crimes. Gangs become more powerful through these factors. Eliminating or controlling the drugs being distributed by gangs then their power will diminish. When the drugs are controlled then the crimes they commit and the drug money they have will also decline. People don’t realize that gangs are a major problem and are a big part of our…show more content…
People join gangs for many various reasons. The biggest reason is that one feels like they need to be part of a family and feel accepted. For some people it could be their only family or for others it could be because the family they have in their life doesn’t show them enough attention. People also join gangs because of the money, sex, and power. Gangs are very materialistic and always have nice things (Recruit Their Members). It’s no surprise that we see more and more people joining or wanting to be in a gang because of this reason. It’s very sad to see greed get the best of a person. By far the saddest reason is peer pressure. Young teens have a large target on their back because most gangs look for them to be new recruits. They feel the younger generation is a great age to start teaching them what they need to know so that one day they can be the leaders. Teens get pressured and threatened to get them to join (Recruit Their Members). In many cases there’s no way of getting away from it. Gang members also bribe young teens with alcohol and drugs. When they use this method, most teens feel cool and get hooked from this point. This is why they need to be controlled better because they affect our youth in a drastic…show more content…
As anyone can imagine, gangs intimidate a lot of innocent people other than rival gang members. There are a number of interviews, on youtube.com and the show Gangland, where people are too scared to walk down certain streets because of their local gang problem. Even in Minnesota, this problem is relevant. If one has ever heard of Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis then one would know about it and the problems that arise there. It’s not that the gangs are there, it’s the simple fact that they hurt how the city looks. The street gets a bad reputation because of the stuff that happens on that street. This is the same in almost every part of the United States. It’s not that all gangs are a threat but at least the dangerous ones need to be stopped for the safety of the citizens. Citizens can also get caught in the line of fire. Three gang members and three innocent people were killed because of such violence. One of the innocent victims involved in the shooting was Kanisha Jackson, who was shot to death at her house right after she got off the phone with her mother. A little bit later her boyfriend was shot to death. They believed that Kanisha’s boyfriend was involved with a gang dating back to 2008. Police suspect it was a “revenge” shooting because of something Kanisha’s boyfriend did while in the gang (Alford). This just shows that gangs hold vengeances on people that have crossed them and will stop at nothing to
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