Family impacts

All members have different reasons as to why they join a gang. What doesn't differentiate is the impact they cause on their families, especially if they come from a non traditional gang family background. For they may be able to find comfort and a since of belonging with their "hoomies" (other gang members) and even protection but they don't realize how this impacts their family. For their simple involvement in the gang increases their exposure to drugs and violence for once they become part of the gang they immediately gain enemies, which won't only harm them but can also harm their family. Rivals won't take into account that their targets family has nothing to do with their gang alliance, they won't stop unless they complete there task. 

It also impacts the family relationship that such person has with there family, in general because most likely the family will disproof of there actions and clothing. This causes a lot of tension in particular between the parents and the teen. As a person who has lived through such experience I would have to say that it is very hard on the family and especially on the parents who work hard to give their kids the best opportunities in life. Though most parents don't realize that by working so much they are lacking to give their children the attention and focus they need, which is why some teens go out to the streets to find comfort. Once again this ties to our text book because of the reference that it makes about teens that come from a poor or working family class background tend to be more lenient to commit crimes and become part of a gang. 

Native Mob

http://www.justice.gov/usao/mn/downloads/eagle.fall.08.pdf

Like many of the gangs in the twin cities the Native Mob is "traditionally structured” (they have gang leaders, maintain illegal enterprises, etc.). The mob is composed of Native Americans who actively transport illegal drugs and guns from rural Native reservations to those located in the twin cities. This activity has increased the amount of violence in the reservations.

 As we can see just like the other gangs the Native mob isn't much different from others for it causes violence to its community and it makes, its money by one of the traditional ways (selling drugs, pimping, or stealing). They are mainly known by police due to the traffic of drugs which is one the reasons that gangs fight among each other causing violence. Though as quoted from an ex. gang member that I interviewed "Minnesota gangs aren't as violent as those in Chicago or other cities, for there is a bigger market in the twin cities." This means that the violence that is caused isn't entirely the gangs fault but in part it is also our society. For there is a demand of drugs across our society which draws gangs attention, this leads to violence for they fight over their territory and the supply they have. As stated in this article we can see that the "U.S. Department of Justice, found a strong correlation between an increase in illegal drug operations and the recent spike in national violent crime statistics".

Not only has it increased violence nationwide but also here in Minnesota, especially because it is easy money this includes ex gang members. “It is hard to draw away from it” as the ex gang member I interviewed stated "you go from being able to earn 1,000 to struggling to make it by." This "business" is being managed by gang members who are middle school aged for they are the ones targeted by the leaders. They’re like they’re guinea pigs who commit the crimes and make the “easy money” in order to not expose the leaders.

This is a smart tactic in their behalf for it makes it harder to dismantle the gang in a whole, for most of the traditional gangs are well structured due to their head leaders. Even though it protects the higher ranked it’s unfair for the teenage boys to have to proof their loyalty by committing crimes, especially when half of the time they won’t be seeing the profits in whole.  As I have stated in my first blog most kids, join a gang in order to feel important or protected which is not the case. Especially if you view it from an outside perspective, for the leaders aren’t actually caring for them, they’re just using them for their own profits. On the other hand the youngsters belief that they are just proving their loyalty to the gang. What they don’t realize, is that if they get caught in the process of the crime they will be spending anywhere from months, to years or even life depending on the seriousness of the crime.  

Somali Outlaws

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/somali-gangs-evolution-feb-7-2011
The twin cities is not just home to the largest population of Hmong people but also Somali along with the home base to the Somali mafia. A gang which began in the early 1990's when Somali teens lacked the sense of belonging, like most racial gangs they began to protect each other but slowly became violent. The Somali mafia is different from other gangs because it isn't as organized as other gangs for ex.: there isn't a leader so if one gets captured, the gang doesn't fall apart. There also isn't any evidence of being jumped into the gang but rather invited by a friend but what really sets them apart is that they don't tag places, members don't get tattoos, and they don fight for territory. Instead the Somali mafia terrorizes their own community particularly the Cedar- Riverside area, they are mostly known for burglary's and robberies.Though the gang tends to lessen its crime activity after a major crimes (like killing someone) but recently have been accused of sex-trafficking with a 12yr old girl.
Gangs today don't care about anybody but their self's and it is shown in this article that members will do anything to achieve what they want beginning with being able to be part of something. At least in other gangs they confront each other for territory and commit crimes against each other but in the Somali mafia they don't care who it is, they will hurt them as if they had no boundary or cared for their people. Instead of protecting their territory from others they are harming their own community and they don't even seem to care as long as they get what they want. I find this so conflicting because they aren't a traditional (no jumping into the gang, gang rivalry or leader)gang but instead of protecting their own, they just care for their needs of drugs and alcohol. They even rely on trafficking little girls with no remorse in order to obtain some type of profit. This is the part that most struck me because sex-trafficking is a social problem that I have always been interested and have followed for many years. I couldn't belief that it's being originated in the twin cities and that they are beginning to spread throughout the country.
 

The twin cities is not left alone to fight the gangs

   In this video we see how ICE and the police of the twin cities along with Bloomington and Richfield work as one under Operation Community Shield. The operation began with one goal: to protect the community from the violence that gangs have raised across the country. A few years ago ICE and the police field had a successful raid of gangs arresting 18 gang members (15 from Vatos Locos and 3 from Sur 13).

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The action that has been taken by ICE and the police force are great ways to lessen the amount of violence that we have been having across the twin cities. Just in this raid 18 gang members have been caught but since 2005 more than 17,000 gang’s members have been arrested, charged and deported. This initiative under Operation Community shield is a great way to arrest gang members and slowly get them out of the streets, making it safer for other residents. Through this video I am able to see that police and Ice are both taking these matters into account but I don't see why the gang members who don't have previous charges on them just get deported without paying any time. In my opinion they should pay time and then get deported for they are going to immigrate back anyway. If they don't immigrate their self they will just recruit back in there home country and create more violence and eventually manage to get back to the U.S. like many immigrants who come back after being deported.

Therefore we don't only have to target those gang members that are here but should also create a system in which we can keep track of there attempts to immigrate back because if they manage to come back they might just be kept hidden by other fellow gang members. This will keep them hidden and they might just become the master minds of the gang.

MOD the biggest gang of the twin cities

The following video links are about the Menace of destruction a predominantly Hmong gang whose headquarters reside in the twin cities. Since 2008 they have been pretty "calm" for their leaders were captured but the police is on a lookout for they belief that they could be plotting a revenge that can be as equally as destructive or more. This gang is known for maintaining low profile before anyone that includes the police, for they don't tag places nor do they just go out and commit a crime without planning ahead of time.They began in California around the 1980's but have migrated to the Midwest. In the early 2000's they became well known in the twin cities through the major acts of violence they created by killing 6 Tibetans who they thought to be gang affiliated. Due to the killing of the Tibetans the police were able to track them down and capture there leaders after a long police chase.

When I first found this video I was surprised about how violent MOD (menace of destruction) were in the twin cities especially when I found out that they were one of the most violent gangs. For I have mostly heard of Sur 13, Vatos Locos, Bloods and other Hispanic gangs across the twin cities but not of MOD. I commented to some friends and family about MOD looking for their opinion about it and what they knew or if they have heard of the gang. What I came to conclude is that not many people outside of the Hmong culture now about them unless of course they are gang affiliated. Due to there responses and my previous knowing of gangs I feel like the violence that they committed was covered/ kept quite by the police force. 

Gang History across the U.S.

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/History-of-Street-Gangs.pdf

Gangs begin to appear in the U.S. right around the end of the American Revolution. In the east region New York was the dominant state of gang development and was highly represented by white gangs which included:  the Irish, Italian, Jewish, Dutch and German immigrants who fueled by the immigration and poverty in the area, joined each other to form a support system in the economic struggle. The youth in the other hand, became a gang member seeking to develop a social life among other teens, they didn't become violent until territorial disputes began. Decisions of gang members were also based on public housing projects which were very scattered. Today the East coast has significant gang activity from: Crips, Latin Kings, Bloods, MS-13, Neta, United Blood Nation, and Trinitarios.

Chicago gangs have the strongest presence in the Midwest region, even though there are many other cities who reports serious gang problems like Minneapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, etc. This may be due to the fact that the first gangs were developed in Chicago by the same immigrant group that populated the street gangs in New York City. Even though this gangs disappeared around the 1920's due to the economic stability there families established along with moving out of downtown Chicago to the suburbs , there wasn't much time before black gangs appeared, followed by Latino gangs who brought ties from the Mexican mafia prison gang. Today the most represented gangs among the Midwest region are: Gangster Disciple Nation, Vice Lords, Four corner Hustlers, Black Gangsters Disciple Nation, New Breeds, Latin Kings, Black P. Stone Nation, and Maniac Latin Disciples.

Western gangs appeared due to the annexation that resulted from the Mexican, U.S war, in which Mexicans were alienated from their own homeland by becoming neutralized U.S. citizens but that wasn't enough for the "U.S. citizens" for they constantly told them to go back to their homeland. Not acknowledging that they were in their homeland, this led the Neutralized U.S Mexicans to feel marginalized by their society of origin and the dominant American culture. Due to this reason the youth created Barrios (neighborhood), which were cliques among different neighborhoods to establish friendships. This Barrios became cultural institutions in East L.A. streets and didn't become violent until the appearance of Crips and Bloods who didn't respect their marked territory. On the other hand Crips and Bloods developed because of the violence that they were put through by white students. Today the dominant gangs in the Western region are: East side 40th street gangster crips, Marasalvatrucha 13, Nuestra familia, La Eme, 18th street, Hacienda Village Bloods, and 42nd Street Piru Bloods.

Today the reasons as to why teens join gangs are slightly different but are still very similar for many gang members are immigrants, come from low-income families and aspire a since of community. This is resembled in the book Social Problems p. 290 and also in p. 32 which talks about the displacement of poor people, people of color and the "white flight". These connections make perfect since as to why today gang members are predominantly African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians, in other words immigrants, low-income youth, and feeling alienated.

Why kids join gangs

This article summarizes the reasons as to why kids join gangs. The biggest reason being a search for a sense of belonging to a community, for many gang members end up being immigrants or from a poor family. These statements are strongly re-enforced through the textbook Social Problems (p.294) in which it is stated that, teens join gangs due to the few resources available to them just because they grow up in a poor neighborhood. This doesn't mean that gangs wouldn't exist if there weren't any immigrants or poor people for some may just join to find themselves, peer pressure or because they are simply bored. A couple of this reasons are also brought up in the article, followed by support system not just among the community, church but also family for they also play a big role in the teens decision.

Project Focus

Throughout this period I will be looking at the impacts that gangs have caused in the U.S but mainly in the twin cities through news articles, videos and interviews.