Chicago police chief criticized for 'gang summit'

I can just imagine and try to understand how it would be for, the people that live in these neighborhoods that the police dont even like driving through.

They must feel powerless, and yes they dont want to talk to athorities, I probably wouldnt want to either. They are trapped and need help.

Sad thing is I use to live just a couple hour outside of chicago and no a little bit of the gang history one of there more nitorious gangs the Vice Lords, was started as a way for the community to take back there neighborhoods. "power corrupts" and now it is a violent, drug dealing gang.

Sad thing about Chicago Although I love the city I visit often, is that Chicago has had a gang culture since its beginnings

You cant go in many resturants or bars in chi and not see a photo of Al Capone.

Not to mention the likes of Blago and bama were created in this great city.

You know the leaders are present.........just knowing they front or lead a criminal organization is grounds to arrest them under RICO statutes.....do so.....then watch the other maggots kill each other trying to fill the vaccum left by the leaders being gone......done enough times, it'd help whittle the problem down. Funny, RICO only seems to be used primarily against "white" gangsters......race issue perhaps?

[edit on 3-9-2010 by adifferentbreed]

Originally posted by adifferentbreed
You know the leaders are present.........just knowing they front or lead a criminal rganization is grounds to arrest them under RICO statutes.....do so.....then watch the other maggots kill each other trying to fill the vaccum left by the leaders being gone......done enough times, it'd help whittle the problem down. Funny, RICO only seems to be used primarily against "white" gangsters......race issue perhaps?

The problem with that is not only gangbangers get killed but also innocent bystanders more often then not. And the power vacuum doesnt last that long. Either the convicted gang leaders run it from jail or its filled rather quickly by somebody else.

reply to post by humbleseeker


Hello humbleseeker. I just read your posts and I can see your genuine concern for the innocent bystanders who live amongst the bullies. I can see your inner need to want to protect them, to give them a voice. You understand there are many who, in fact, do live in fear on a daily basis from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed.
It's good that you're thinking of the different ways to possibly help solve the overwhelming problems and tragedies these gangs create and cause.

I was curious about how many gangs there are in Chicago. When Googling the question, I found wikipedia to be the most current in statistics.
en.wikipedia.org...

Los Angeles County is considered the Gang capital of America, with an estimated 120,000 (41,000 in the City) gang members[24] although Chicago actually has a higher rate of gang membership per capita than Los Angeles. Also, the state of Illinois has a higher rate of gang membership (8-11 gang members per 1,000 population) than California (5-7 gang members per 1,000 population)[25]. There were at least 30,000 gangs and 800,000 gang members active across the USA in 2007.[26][27] About 900,000 gang members lived "within local communities across the country," and about 147,000 were in U.S. prisons or jails in 2009.[28] By 1999, Hispanics accounted for 47% of all gang members, Blacks 31%, Whites 13%, and Asians 6%.[29]

*note to self.... caution JeanPaulZodeaux that he might be in danger due to these statistics!


I found this to be a very interesting read. These gang leaders seem very creative to say the least.
People Nation and Folk Nation
Background - The Seeds of the Alliances
www.dc.state.fl.us...

This article lead me to more articles and graphs. It seems there is more than enough information on gangs then there is time in a day. Such a massive amount of interesting information.
A Brief Outline of Chicago's Gang History
www.uic.edu...

Thanks
sl





[edit on 3-9-2010 by sweetliberty]

reply to post by sweetliberty


Ya I am unfortunatly more than aware of the gang prblem in IL, I grew up in IL and as crazy youth I was associated with a street gang. I am a former scum bag.

It is a huge problem, I would say 70% of my friends from my youth are incarcerated. The ones that arnet eithe straitned up like I did and took on a productive life. I joined the military and became a Military policeman of all things. Some I have ran into just seem to have no soul, just dark and chilling, and a few guys I use to run around with are dead due to violence.

reply to post by dizzie56



Hello dizzie56, I certainly agree Chicago needs to loosen their gun laws. It seems if we the people comply with all the laws the government thinks is best for us, we will surely be killed in one way or another, imo.

I remember hearing this story a few months ago.
It seems an 80 year old Korean War Veteran, who lives in Chicago, must have felt he had no other choice but to purchase a gun in order to feel safe in his home after living through a robbery, luckily it was only money he lost that time.

Relatives say the homeowner bought a gun just a few months after an even more brazen robbery last November, where the crooks stole $100.

abclocal.go.com.../local&id=7462699

The story goes on to say the intruder not only had a gun but he shot first.
Had the elderly Rambo not taken the safety of his family and himself into serious consideration, the story would most definitely have ended different

Of course I don't think loosening up the gun laws would solve the problem but at least the odds for the citizens to fight back would be greater.

The number of law enforcement officers in the Chicago area, in the link attached, seems to be in agreement with other articles as to how many officers the City of Chicago has at their disposal which is over 13,400.

The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of the City of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the city mayor. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the United States with over 13,400 sworn officers and over 1,850 other employees.[1] Dating back to 1837, the Chicago Police Department is one of the oldest modern police forces in the world.

en.wikipedia.org...

The population in Chicago, IL in 2009 was 2,896,016
www.city-data.com...
Figure that with the 13,400 plus sworn LEO, it comes out to approx 217 citizens per LEO.

I don't know if that is the normal LEO per citizen ratio but there doesn't seem to be enough LEO's to curb the gang activity.
If the ratio is the norm, then maybe someone isn't doing their job!

Thanks
sl


edit to add how I love politicans!




[edit on 3-9-2010 by sweetliberty]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
I dont get it.

Ya, it's called the Constitution. Unfortunately, it often makes it difficult to put these guys away. Without hard evidence and people who are willing to testify in court, police can do little more than be vigilant and continue to build a case against these criminals.

And when you consider the amount of crime going on, and the limited number of resources that are allocated to fight that crime, it seems to begin to make sense.

And even when the police are able to arrest a gang leader, many times they will continue to run the organization from behind bars. And when they aren't able to do this, another gang member will usually rise to the occasion and take over the gang.

So there is always room for negotiations. But you would think there would be a better way to fight violent criminals without stepping on their Constitutional rights. Sometimes I don't get it either.

[edit on 3-9-2010 by MY2Commoncentsworth]

Originally posted by MY2Commoncentsworth
reply to post by sweetliberty

 

This reminds me of Hill Street Blues. The opening sequence of the series was filmed in Chicago...... Season 1 Episode 2 contained a gang summit that was convened by Captain Furillo in order to secure the peace before the President of the United States came to town to visit the area.....Below is the link to Hulu. Check it out at out 35:08 into the show.

"How ya doin Frankie? What a party ya got here Frankie!"....lol.

www.hulu.com...

[edit on 3-9-2010 by MY2Commoncentsworth]

"Ok Frankie, you can talk now"...

"On Diablos turf, we are da government"
...Btw, "you left ya cooties on da shair!"...

Hey Frankie, I mean MY2, I read enough on this and on gangs in general to see where police Superintendent Jody Weis is coming from. He is using their own code against them

Here are some basic traits these alliances have in common.

Mentality and Philosophy

The "All for One, One for All" philosophy poses a significant threat; members demand participation in assaultive behavior by all members who are present.
The one-on-one fight of the past now becomes a full disturbance.

"Code of Conduct" terminologies include:
"Folk before family."
"I will not let my brother fall to a knee."
"All is All" and "All is Well" (People)
"All is One." (Folk)

www.dc.state.fl.us...

Thanks for your post Frankie.
sl
_____________________________________________________________

additional links
Cop brass sit down with gang leaders, deliver warning
www.chicagobreakingnews.com...



Gang members grumble over police, anger parents of slaying victims
West Side group complains of unfair treatment; parents ask: 'How dare they?'

"I'm tired of people making excuses for their negative actions. They made all kinds of excuses, talking about they don't have jobs, but does that give you an excuse to kill, steal and destroy?" she said.

www.chicagotribune.com...



Weis' thin reed

That verb, "negotiate," smacks of appeasement. Weis says that's not what occurred: At a Saturday news conference, he described a scene in which gang leaders were warned that investigators will "come down with every bit of firepower we have, every prosecutive trick we know." In his telling, the feds promised to use racketeering and other statutes to go after houses and other assets owned by gang leaders or members of their families.

www.chicagotribune.com...
Im now cheering for you Weis!





[edit on 4-9-2010 by sweetliberty]

reply to post by sweetliberty


Attackers go after people that are perceived as being weak individuals. All of the citizens in chicago and effectively be perceived as being weak since they are not allowed to properly defend themselves. Having a cop presence on the streets doesnt detur criminal activity to be honest. They catch criminals AFTER they commit a crime, which is what they should be doing. Their job is not to harrass every individual that wears a certain color that is walking down the street but it is to catch them after they do something. The only way to stop something from happening is to not allow yourself to be perceived as being weak.

My good friend lives in the twin cities up north. I went up to visit him one year and as I was walking around with him in the city I saw signs on certain businesses that said you cant carry a firearm into that building. I asked him what all that meant cause being from Florida I never seen a sign that said you couldnt carry a firearm into a businesses. He said that Jesse Ventura opened up the gun laws in the state that allowed everybody to carry openly and without having to even get a permit. This blew my mind at the time and my first thought was "Jesus I'm gonna get shot while im here" lol. I told him how I didnt think it was safe and yada yada yada. But then he told me how much the violent crimes have gone down because of it. Believe me, this cat lives in the hood. All of his cousins and what not aint no slouches when it comes to doing things.

What happened in that city is that a couple of people that tried car jacking or robbing people ended up getting shot in self defence and suddenly everything became more quite. Its wasnt the end all be all but it definately worked as a deterent more then having the amount of cops that they had out on the streets. The thing is, as he said and i later agreed with him after thinking about it, if you dont know that person has a gun or not then would you rob them? Alot of people began to carry. Alot of people. So, the chances of a person being able to defend themselves in a scuffle went up and up which means that the likely hood of somebody wanting to rob you went down as they didnt want to take the chance of being hurt themselves.

Nobody that is out to rob somebody is going to rob them if they know they are carrying unless that person is out of their mind or plain dumb to be honest. Robbing somebody is about getting money so you can later go and do what you want with it. Its not about taking a giant risk of maybe Ill die and maybe I wont for a c-note. Its about getting the easy money then haulin but outa there.

Just look at the major cities that have high levels of violent crime. NY, LA, Chi-town, DC, etc. The citizens arent allowed to have guns yet the criminals somehow get them? Ask any criminal if they would rather go and try and jack somebody who might have a gun vs somebody that they know definately wont have a gun and see which one they choose 100% of the time.

Nothing is going to be an end all be all to be honest. You cant change somebody's mind set overnight. There will always be jelousy and somebody will always wont what they cant have and sometimes that person will snap and try to take it violently if they feel they have too. But a deterent is know thing that person will be able to defend themselves rather easily.