Not having read the article it's hard to comment, but on the face of
the argument I agree with you that they should use RICO, and any
other tool at their disposal, to go after the gangs before, during
and after they commit crimes.
That said, certainly this is not the only solution...
I believe that a key element of stopping gangs in the long-term is
to make it much harder to recruit new members - those who often
believe (true or not) that there is little real opportunity to excel
through traditional means yet see those who run with gangs and deal
drugs as the only examples of "success" - money, nice cars, etc...
We've got to provide a realistic sense of opportunity for these kids
to believe that the gangs aren't the only way out.
I also believe we have to give kids something to occupy their time.
When did you get into the most trouble as a kid? When you were in
little league? When you were with your parents or in some sort of
organized activity? Or when you were bored and unsupervised...
When you've got kids raising kids and lots of single-parent
households, you've got lots of kids hanging around with nothing to
do. While it's easy to say the parents should be responsible - they
aren't taking that challenge and many won't. So we as a city have
two choices. Provide things and places to keep the kids busy, or
recognize we'll always have youth-crime problems and just keep
throwing kids in jail... By the way, jail is also more expensive...
And enforcement. Use RICO - apply it hard. Enforce a zero-
tolerence policy. Get overtime officers from other towns while we
staff up our own police force. And get cops and uniformed security
out of the cars and walking the streets...
I've expressed much of this before and typically get a couple of
notes that essentially agree before moving right back to bashing the
hell out of each other. If my ideas suck, ok. But there are alot
of smart people with differing perspectives on this board. And lots
of people who are excellent at tearing each others ideas apart.
Tear away at mine, but please bring some of your own.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "justifiedright"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> The answer, as more fully articulated in TCN this week, lies in
the
> RICO statute. It gets them before the crime, not afterward.
>
> You want solutions, in that column I give the solution. Cross me
off
> the list of people not doing anything.
>
>
> --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "asburycouple" <asburycouple@>
> wrote:
> >
> > I agree that it is always important to size up the obstacle or
> enemy
> > before taking it on. And we should do an honest assessement.
But
> to
> > think that there is this much activity and attention on gangs in
> AP,
> > at the state and county and local level, 15 gang members is
> fantasy
> > land. And conversely those who claim numbers indicating that
half
> > the high school is in gangs that is also unlikely to be true -
but
> > recognize there are gang bangers and there are gang hangers, and
> if
> > you count the latter you'd get to a pretty large number...
> >
> > The part I really take issue with - I see both of those
estimates
> > (and particularly the 200 number) used by either side not to
make
> a
> > realistic argument but to make fun of the other. And that is
> neither
> > productive or helpful. It's just nasty. And after nearly two
> > months, it's old.
> >
> > We have a gang problem here. For the size of the city it's a
big
> > one, and it's only going to get worse without doing something
> > different than is being done today. We can pretend it's a small
> > problem and hope that redevelopment will force them out, only to
> be
> > wishing we did more when redevelopment is limited by people's
> fears
> > of investing in AP.
> >
> > I had a long talk last night with a relative of the girl who was
> shot
> > in the head. There really is a strong sense of desire by many
to
> do
> > something about this, along with both a sense of helplessness
and
> a
> > feeling there is has been a lack of leadership on this issue. I
> > haven't seen much beyond some efforts by Jim Keady and a few
words
> > from others - where are the other council members??? It's
> > dissapointing. Here on this board I hear lots of abuse and
harsh
> > words for each other, but a lack of any real ideas beyond more
> cops,
> > which is an important part of the solution but will fail without
> > something that also addresses the root causes not just the
> symptoms.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "justifiedright"
> > <justifiedright@> wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "asburycouple"
> <asburycouple@>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > And Tom, you aren't trying to make the argument that there
> > > > is no gang problem in AP, are you??? I don't think so, but
am
> > not
> > > > totally sure...
> > >
> > > If you challenged me to climb to the top of a mountain, it
would
> be
> > > smart of me to inquire about the size of the mountain before I
> go.
> > > Each mountain is a mountain, but its size will determine what
> tools
> > > I need to bring and how much effort the climb will take.
> > >
> > > 15 gang members is a problem, but 200 is a whole different
> > problem.
> > > Different tools, different effort to win.
> > >
> > > I don't think it is unreasonable to ponder the size of the
> problem
> > > we face. In fact, it would be downright negligent to fail to
> > > consider the size.
> > >
> > > If I concede there is a "problem" will you allow us your
> thoughts
> > on
> > > the size of the problem?
> > >
> > > Understand this: Regardless of the size of the gangs, the
worst
> > > possible thing is happening - young people are being
murdered.
> In
> > > that sense, the "size" of the problem is staggeringly high;
the
> > > worst imaginable problem.
> > >
> > > Still though, the number of gang members I say is relevant,
and
> I
> > > maintain there is not enough to make us afraid. To not ponder
> the
> > > size of these gangs is to give a half-hearted attempt at
> fighting
> > > them, and that wouldn't be respectful to the families of the
> dead.
> > >
> >
>
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