Gang Problems – Federal Efforts To Help Combat The Gang Problem

Gang Problems – Federal Efforts to Combat the Gang Problem Your name Your Institution of Affiliation March 11, 2018 Introduction Gang-related problems have always been a serious issue for the United States government. In most cases, gangs and their illegal activities are almost always correlated with a multitude of violent crimes, making this issue one of the government’s top priorities. Nevertheless, despite the intensive efforts and resources dedicated by the government to mitigate the increase in their numbers, recent estimates show that there are about 1,150,000 total gang members in the country, with the number of these groups amounting to 24,250 (StatisticBrain.com, 2017). This represents a significant increase in parallel with the 2011 trend that showed a 40% increase that led to the many critiques questioning the billions of dollars being allocated each year to these efforts. In the defense of these efforts, it must be noted that one of the reasons for the difficulty in mitigating the rise of these numbers is the complexity of the whole situation. On one hand, scholars state that gang-memberships are due to domestic socio-political issues such as poverty, adolescent delinquency, education, and insufficient and ineffective gun-laws (which also leads to violence), among others. On the other hand, external factors (e.g. drug trafficking, smuggling, and cartel formation) which are rooted in international issues further complicate the whole scenario. In line with the issues discussed above, this article would focus on the analysis of the current efforts being done by the government for the past 20 years. This includes litigation efforts, policy making, task forces, and educational/rehabilitation mechanisms that aims to reduce the number of gang activities both inside and outside the country. In the succeeding sections, the author of this study would also try to discuss possible alternatives and/or complementary efforts done by other countries, which might be applicable to the United States. All in all, he believes that the reason as to why the number of gang-related violence continues to increase, is the “static policymaking” that fails to shift in time with the very dynamic characteristic of the issue. National and International Efforts of Mitigation As of the year 2008, the United States Government has given the Department of Justice a budget of $2 dollars to mitigate gun-related crime. This does not yet include the respective budgets of the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, which is its “sister institutions” that help each other in each and every sector of the cause (United States - Department of Justice, 2008). As for the Department of Justice, their recent referendum pointed out two important aspects of their “multi-faceted approach”, which includes (1) prioritizing “prevention programs to provide America's youth, as well as offenders returning to the community, with opportunities that help them resist gang involvement” and (2) the development and enforcement of “robust enforcement policies when gang-related violence does occur” (DOJ, 2008). Particularly speaking, these budgets were allocated for different programs, however, it is the “Project Safe Neighborhood” (PSN) implemented by the late president George W. Bush, back in 2001 who received the majority of this allotment. This posited a new era of the cause as this provided one of the seeds to help reduce crime rates, by focusing on different elements tied to the issue such as drug trafficking and cartel development (The Heritage Foundation, 2007). In order to do this, however, the government itself must cast a wider net. Thus, by the year 2006, the Department of the Justice allocated more resources to deter gun crimes in different levels of the government, including the Federal, State, and even the Community (a grassroots effort). Ever since, the severity and the violence of the crimes perpetrated has lessened, although preventing to mitigate its increase in numbers. Litigation Efforts In order to deter gangs from committing violence, a more robust and “constitutional” method has to be emphasized rather than shooting them. Knowing full well about the importance of this fact, the Department of Justice hired more than 200 Federal prosecutors, while also allotting $63 to hire 550 local and state prosecutors back in 2006. Just a year after, this allocation spearheaded by the PSN initiative has resulted in 12,087 defendants filings, with 92% rate of conviction making the neighborhoods of the States much safer (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015). Back then, this number shows an increase of 62% as compared to the days before PSN. These days, however, the rate of prosecutions and filings have been said to have decreased relatively, perhaps due to the fewer restrictions imposed on the possession of guns. Enforcement Just as said earlier the year of 2006 is very notable for it was also the year when the DOJ has reshuffled the previous mechanisms of the PSN and added more to cater for the changing landscape of gang memberships. Another one of the notable efforts could be seen in terms of domestic la...