Why Can't We Control The Gangs?

Gang related murders are on the rise in every large city in America with new records for the slaughter of innocents being set on almost a daily basis in cities like Oakland, Long beach, Los Angles, Newark, Chicago, Oklahoma City and Washington DC. The question I would like to ask the politicians on both side of the isle is this. Why is it that we were able to eliminate the powerful and well organized Mafia in a relatively short period of time, but cannot deal with the low IQ uneducated misfits who, for all practical purposes, control the streets of almost every large city in America? Just why is this? There can be only one answer to this question. We, as a society, refuse to deal with root causes of inner city crime! First, let's be clear about one thing, it's not the guns or the drugs that are the problem. No, the mafia had plenty of guns and the mob was involved in every illegal activity imaginable including extortion, illegal gambling, drug dealing, prostitution, the illegal sale of liquor during prohibition and, last but not least, the wholesale bribery of corrupt politicians. The mafia also was much better organized than are the street gangs of today. Yet, despite the magnitude of the problem posed by the mob, the FBI was able to eliminate them and their illegal activities in a few short years. There is no doubt in my mind that gang related crime could be greatly curtailed, if not eliminated entirely, if local and federal politicians had the will to do so. Just how hard would it be to free our streets of criminals who brazenly wear clothing that identifies them as members of a specific lawless gang? I ask again, why don't we lock up these gang-banger and throw away the key? When all is said and done it all comes down to race. The vast majority of street gang criminals are either of Black, Chicano or of Asian descent. Sure there are Caucasian gangs in America, but they are not responsible for the high murder rates in Oakland, Chicago or Washington DC. More importantly, there would be little or no resistance to any program designed to eliminate Caucasian gangs just as there was no resistance to the wide ranging policies that helped us rid ourselves of the mob. The problem is, that to control the members of White gangs, we would have to step on the toes of minority gang members and that, of course, is politically unacceptable. Whether we like it or not, in today's America members of minority groups are in a protected class which makes it difficult or impossible to enforce any policy that could be seen as being the slightest bit raciest. The ACLU would go berserk if congress tried to pass a law like the RICO act (that was enacted to curtail mob activities in 1970) that was designed specifically to curtail the unlawful activities of any minority segment of our population, especially if that group is primarily made up of Blacks or Chicanos. No way Jose, is that ever going to happen in a million years in twenty-first century America. What should be done to stop the carnage? First, all gang related criminal activity should come under the jurisdiction of the federal government and all gang related offenders should be tried in a federal court. If convicted, gang bangers should sent to a federal penitentiary for a minimum of ten years with no time off for, so called, good behavior. If guns are involved in their criminal activity, they should be imprisoned for life with no possibility of parole. Second, if one member of a gang commits a crime (like a drive by shooting) all members of the gang should be treated as accessories to the crime; they should be tried as a group; and again, if convicted, receive the same sentence as the perpetrator of the crime. Finally, all gang members over the age of 14 should be tried as adults, no exceptions. Admittedly, our present laws would have to be tweaked a bit to implement new anti-gang measures such as this, but we were willing to change our laws in our war against the mafia and there is no reason not to do so again as we engage, for the first time, in a meaningful effort to free the streets of our inner cities from gang related violence. Unfortunately, this is all pie in the sky! Nothing of significance will be done and the killings will go on and on and on. The politicians will wring their collective hands and continue to throw money at programs like head start which have no positive effect other than to make the politicos and their liberal supporters feel good. In the meantime, the senseless slaughter of the innocent men, women and children of color in our inner cities will continue as civil society slowly crumbles before our very eyes.