Gang Violence

Gang violence in metropolitan cities such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles have been a rising concern in the last few decades. Stemming from the 1920’s as groups began to form and to the present time, violence increased in cities, which made communities dangerous places to live, especially in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles reached the peak of its violence and crime in the early 1990’s throughout the United States when riots occurred during the time of the Rodney King incident. Although gang violence in Los Angeles continues to increase, authorities strive for ways to diminish gangs from expanding. This paper will discuss gang’s origins, types, and its effects on society.

Gangs were groups that were formed and dated back to the 1920’s. They started as associations, and unorganized groups consisting of families and neighborhoods, thus not involving themselves in criminal activity. Between 1955 and 1965, the young African American population grew and gangs began forming for protection against other ethnic or rival gangs. In the late 1960’s, the Bloods and the Crips were formed as they became the two most violent and criminal gangs in South Central Los Angeles and Compton. The Bloods and the Crips were rapidly becoming known to commit armed robberies and assaults. By the 1970’s, the two gangs began to form smaller groups that claimed different neighborhoods since Los Angeles is a widespread area. Approximately 15,000, gang member had joined Bloods and Crips by 1980, and the age range was from 14 to 24 years of age. Initiation into the gang required a substantial amount of beating that often resulted in a black eye, or broken ribs, and for the crime to be committed. Each gang identified themselves with colors, graffiti, and markings. The Crips identified themselves with the color blue and the Bloods with the color red (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009). Furthermore, riots and disorder began to get intense causing violence to increase.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica (2009), there are approximately 65,000 African American gang members, which ages that range from 12 to 35. Such crimes that are being committed are burglary, robberies, grand theft, assaults with a deadly weapon, drive by shootings, and murders. The gang members use weapons such as AK-47 rifles, large caliber handguns, and semi-automatic weapons. The worst civil disorder in American history were the riots that occurred in 1992. There were a total of sixty people that died, 2,500 injured, 750 fires, 14,000 arrested, and more than $700 million in damages. Despite the occurrences during the riots, Los Angeles continued to run itself as the metropolitan city it is with thousands