Cartels & Gangs

IN THIS SECTION    Presidential Executive Order of 2017     Books     Articles     Blogs Presidential Executive Order 2017  on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking:  National Security & Defense: Issued on: February 9, 2017 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-enforcing-federal-law-respect- transnational-criminal-organizations-preventing-international-trafficking/ Excerpt:  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1.  Purpose.  Transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, including transnational drug cartels, have spread throughout the Nation, threatening the safety of the United States and its citizens.  These organizations derive revenue through widespread illegal conduct, including acts of violence and abuse that exhibit a wanton disregard for human life.  They, for example, have been known to commit brutal murders, rapes, and other barbaric acts. These groups are drivers of crime, corruption, violence, and misery.  In particular, the trafficking by cartels of controlled substances has triggered a resurgence in deadly drug abuse and a corresponding rise in violent crime related to drugs.  Likewise, the trafficking and smuggling of human beings by transnational criminal groups risks creating a humanitarian crisis.  These crimes, along with many others, are enriching and empowering these organizations to the detriment of the American people. A comprehensive and decisive approach is required to dismantle these organized crime syndicates and restore safety for the American people…. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-enforcing-federal-law-respect- transnational-criminal-organizations-preventing-international-trafficking/ Books Gangs of the El Paso–Juárez Borderland (2019) A History By Mike Tapia This thought-provoking book examines gang history in the region encompassing West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Known as the El Paso–Juárez borderland region, the area contains more than three million people spanning 130 miles from east to west. From the badlands—the historically notorious eastern Valle de Juárez—to the Puerto Palomas port of entry at Columbus, New Mexico, this area has become more militarized and politicized than ever before. Mike Tapia examines this region by exploring a century of historical developments through a criminological lens and by studying the diverse subcultures on both sides of the law. Tapia looks extensively at the role of history and geography on criminal subculture formation in the binational urban setting of El Paso–Juárez, demonstrating the region’s unique context for criminogenic processes. He provides a poignant case study of Homeland Security and the apparent lack of drug-war spillover in communities on the US- Mexico border. No COLORS: 100 Ways To Stop Gangs From Taking Away Our Communities by Bobby Kipper, Bud Ramey Hacking: 10 Most Dangerous Cyber Gangs, Book 5 (audio book) By: Alex Wagner Narrated by: Matyas J James Densley:  How Gangs Work https://www.jamesdensley.com/howgangswork An Ethnography of Youth Violence Palgrave Macmillan St. Antony's Series 11 April 2013 In the wake of the 2011 UK riots and the British government’s new American-style ‘war on gangs’, this book is the definitive account of ‘how gangs work’. Based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork with gangs and drawing on a variety of sources, How Gangs Work provides a vivid portrayal of gang life, but not as the British traditionally know it. James Densley deconstructs the mythology of gangs to make sense of the profiles and motivations of gang members in straightforward, rational terms. How Gangs Work examines the vital processes of evolution, organization, and recruitment within gangs and gangmembers’ instrumental and expressive uses of violence, media, and technology. Special attention is paid to the role of gangs in the drugs trade and the relationship between gangs and organized crime. Densley concludes with a critical appraisal of gang desistance and the precarious future of gang prevention and intervention, with practical advice for practitioners, police and policy-makers. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets (12.11.2007) Hardcover – December 11, 2007 by Sudhir Venkatesh (Author) Articles and Websites Common Sense http://www.csdp.org/news/news/8steps.htm Excerpt: Below are eight steps that are effective methods of controlling drugs and reducing drug-related harms. (To download a copy of this as a PDF, click here.) 1. Shift Resources Into Programs That Work 2. Make Treatment Available on Request Like Any Other Health Service 3. Prevent Drug Abuse By Investing in American Youth and Providing Them with Accurate Information 4. Focus Law Enforcement Resources on the Most Dangerous and Violent Criminals 5. International Drug Control Efforts Should Be Demilitarized and Focus on Economic Development 6. Restore Justice to the US Justice System 7. Respect State's Rights and Allow New Approaches to Be Tried 8. Make Prevention of HIV and Other Blood Borne Diseases a Top Priority Back to top Shift Resources Into Programs That Work: US drug control strategy has been approached primarily as a law enforcement issue. Police have done their jobs with record arrests, drug seizures and record incarceration of drug offenders yet drug problems continue to worsen. Expensive eradication and interdiction campaigns abroad have brought few results and many costs. Two-thirds of the federal drug control budget continues to go to incarceration, interdiction and law enforcement programs while treatment, prevention, research and education divide the remaining third. Government needs to accept that the law enforcement paradigm will never work and shift to treating drug abuse as a health problem with social and economic implications. The solutions are in public health approaches which focus on addicts and abusers – not all users – as well as social services to reduce many of the root causes of abuse, economic strategies to develop alternative markets and also control drug markets. The federal drug budget should recognize this by shifting resources to prevention, treatment and education. Click here for more info. Back to top Make Treatment Available on Request Like Any Other Health Service: Making treatment services widely available undermines the drug market and reduces the harms from drug abuse. Treatment needs to be defined broadly to not only include abstinence-based treatment but also easier access to methadone and other alternative maintenance drugs. In addition it is important to provide mental health treatment, as well as services for victims of sexual abuse, spousal abuse and child abuse in order to resolve the underlying causes of addiction. Treatment also needs to be user friendly, i.e. designed to meet the needs of special populations, especially women, children and minorities. Finally, it needs to be focused on abusers and addicts rather than all drug users. The best way to accomplish this distinction is to allow people who need treatment to choose it, rather than law enforcement choosing treatment for people who happen to get caught. Click here for more info. Back to top Prevent Drug Abuse By Investing in American Youth and Providing Them with Accurate Information: The most effective way to prevent adolescent drug abuse is to invest in youth and keep them interested and involved in life. Government should increase funding for after school programs, mentor programs, skills building/job training programs and summer job programs. The Higher Education Act provisions denying college aid to students convicted of drug offenses should be repealed as barriers to education and employment are counterproductive to preventing drug abuse. Education needs to be fact-based, accurate and taught by trained educators and health professionals, not by police. Resources should be shifted away from ineffective programs like the ONDCP media campaign and the DARE program and toward research to develop more effective drug education approaches and programs to keep youth active. Focus Law Enforcement Resources on the Most Dangerous and Violent Criminals: Half of drug arrests in the United States are for marijuana offenses and possession cases. Low-level, non-violent drug- using offenders dominate police time, waste the time of courts and fill US prisons. The drug war has resulted in record- breaking prison populations giving the US the highest incarceration rate in the world. Arrest and incarceration also have a devastating impact on individuals and families. The focus of the federal government in drug enforcement should be large cases that cross international and state boundaries. Smaller cases that are intra state should be left to the states. Law enforcement should stop wasting its limited resources on simple possession charges. Small-time dealers who essentially sell to support their habit should be given the choice of treatment instead of prison. Drug offenders, particularly marijuana, should be the lowest law enforcement priority while violent criminals should be priority number one. All correctional systems in the US should be less restrictive in granting parole to bona fide nonviolent drug prisoners at review time, less restrictive in granting compassionate release and less restrictive in allowing family visits. These modest changes would give prisoners a motive for good behavior to earn their way out of prison and back to their families and communities. http://www.csdp.org/news/news/8steps.htm 10 Ways to Stop Gangs Without Money! Help children learn how to become centered. Create a network of love and support. Teach children the buddy system. Encourage them to listen to their self-protective instincts... Include children in your home safety program: Create a safe neighborhood. Join a neighborhood group or start one. 10 Ways to Stop Gangs Without Money! - travelerarsenal.com/10-ways-to-stop-gangs-without-money/ [the website seems gone] How Stuff Works: Street Gangs https://people.howstuffworks.com/street-gang3.htm Photo: Forming neighborhood groups to clean up graffiti and maintain the area can help to drive out gangs. Excerpt:  There is no easy way to stop gangs, because the underlying conditions that lead to gangs are complex. Police crackdowns can temporarily lower gang influence…. A Literature Review on Gang Violence Kittle, Jolene MS, RN, ACCNS-AG, CCRN, CEN, TCRN, CFRN Journal of Trauma Nursing: July/August 2017 - Volume 24 - Issue 4 - p 270–279 doi: 10.1097/JTN.0000000000000303 Gangs and gang violence are a concerning cause of preventable injuries and death in the trauma community. The number of gangs and gang members has been on an upward trend since 2003 with an estimated 30,000 gangs in the United States. This includes approximately 850,000 gang members. Trauma centers are in a unique position to participate in the prevention of gang violence. This review compiles current, relevant literature on gangs and gang violence covering the following topics: prevention/intervention, contributing influences, and experiential reflections. The purpose of the literature review is to deepen understanding of gangs and gang violence and potentiate further research in this area in order to help promote successful prevention efforts. Trauma nurses can use this information in developing culturally sensitive, compassionate care and trauma centers will find this useful in the development of injury prevention programs aimed at the reduction of gang and street violence. Copyright © 2017 by the Society of Trauma Nurses. Blogs Quora blog site Two posted answers shown below.  Police Factor thought the answers held merit. https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-ways-to-stop-prison-gangs https://www.quora.com/Why-do-so-many-prisoners-once-out-wind-up-back-in-prison-Doesn-t-freedom-mean-a-lot-to- them https://www.quora.com/profile/Chuck-Nelson-6 How to Stop Prison Gangs: an answer by Chuck Nelson, I deal with the post convicted. Answered Nov 17 2017 · The best way to stop prison gangs is to put all of the gang members in a single prison (or prisons by affiliation) and never move them. Make every effort to validate inmates and move them to the proper location as soon as possible. You need to minimize contact with non-gang inmates to eliminate, or at least reduce, recruitment. https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-ways-to-stop-prison-gangs Managing Prisons/Security Threat Groups http://www.corrections.com/news/article/35652-managing-prison-gangs-security-threat-groups Excerpt:  Prisons are responsible for housing convicted inmates in a safe and secure environment. This also includes identifying an inmate’s custody level, program needs, medical, mental health issues, and housing assignment. An assessment is completed to determine if the inmate is involved with a gang and/or security threat group. This verification can be completed in a variety of ways, including self-admission, gang tattoos, written materials, and other means. The following questions need to be answered: Does the inmate pose a threat to other inmates and staff? Is the inmate deemed an escape risk and/or security threat? Does the inmate require protection from other inmates, or pose a threat to the safety, security, and good order of the prison? A compilation of the assessment allows for identifying proper security level, housing assignment, program needs, and other. We may ask why there is a concern for security threat groups. These security threat groups are involved in violating various prison rules. This may consist of, but is not limited to, trafficking and trading in contraband, sexual acts and exploitation, participating and ordering assaults on inmates and staff, disrupt activities, exhibit extreme violent acts, and other. If left uncontrolled and not effectively managed, these violent actions can lead to serious disruption and even riots. These groups pose a serious management problem and concern for prisons. http://www.corrections.com/news/article/35652-managing-prison-gangs-security-threat-groups Why Do People End Up Back in Prison? Chuck Nelson, Correctional Officer in a Prison Hospital Answered Oct 15, 2019 · Author has 754 answers and 738.7k answer views Many inmates return because committing crime was what they did for a career (or serious hobby) before they finally got a charge they couldn’t dodge and caught some prison time. When they get out, they go back to what they know. This is especially true when they return to the area they grew up in. They start hanging out with the people they hung out with prior to prison and get right back into trouble again. Placing an inmate in new surroundings on release and providing them with support (employment help, housing, financial assistance) is the best way to prevent recidivism. There are inmates that were not regular offenders before they did THE ONE CRIME that got them into prison. They will become institutionalized because you have to in order to survive in a prison setting. This may lead them to a life of crime after prison but it is less likely as prison does not necessarily give you the criminal mindset, it gives you the inmate mindset. There are some similarities but learning how to sneak peanut butter out of the kitchen or light a cigarette with steel wool are not the things that lead you into crime. Some of the things you learn in prison may even be helpful on the street. For example, unless you are already the kind of person that likes to fight, you are going to have to learn conflict resolution and mediation.  THE ONE CRIME is usually murder so those guys are generally not getting out anyway. The other guys that get caught for a single crime with no background history are often sex offenders because you get caught for most sex offenses you don’t get back on the street for a long time. Sex offenders are usually repeat offenders, they just don’t get caught because they are abusing within their family and the abuse goes unreported. You ask any inmate and they will tell you they don’t want to be locked up. What they don’t say is that if retaining their freedom means they have to live the life of a citizen, they are going to take their chances with get arrested and convicted. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-so-many-prisoners-once-out-wind-up-back-in-prison-Doesn-t-freedom-mean-a-lot-to- them Updates: 2019/11/02 csdp common sense 8 steps website link added; Page started 2019/10/18