Gang Violence and Crime

Gang Violence and Crime

Monica Lathan

Instructor Broad

December 7, 2009

The weekend of April 18th-20th, 2008, Chicago, Illinois saw its most violent weekend in years. Fifteen of shootings were gang related. Some blamed mounting economic hardships, while others blamed the warmer weather. (Economist; 5/17/2008) In reading this article, I am reminded of a terrible weekend here in South Carolina. It involved no one being shot, however, a crime was committed by gang members. The local gun shop where I work was closed for the evening at 5 o’clock, like normal. We all went about our own ways for the evening. I joined a group of friends to enjoy an evening out to celebrate the coming New Year (it was in 2 days). I returned home about 4am and went to bed. Around 5:15am someone was pounding on my front door and yelling. I opened the door to find my boss mans daughter standing there. She informed me that the gun shop had been broken into and I was needed there. I immediately jumped into her car and we drove to the gun shop. When we arrived, all I could see was the tail end of a brand new Cadillac sticking out of the front of the building. I had to climb over the car and all the debris to get to our security camera system controls. I provided local authorities with a copy of the video and snapshots of the individuals involved. Within 24 hours they had apprehended all seven teenage boys. Authorities reported to us that the seven boys were involved in a gang and had finally broken their silence, turning over names to help authorities apprehend the individuals involved. As the next few months went by, we were informed that the same gang members that were involved with stealing the Cadillac and driving it into our shop, had plans to strike again. Authorities stepped up patrols in our area and captured those individuals, once again. Now those boys are serving time either in juvenile hall or through community service.

Our local authorities have been investigating the...