Reflect on one of the following policies or programs that may have appealed to you, and discuss this question: why do you think gangs are still an issue in the United States today despite the existence of these programs?
1) MS-13 and Immigration Policy
2) M-18 and Immigration Policy
3) Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)
4) Transnational Anti-Gang (TAG) Task Force
5) National Gang Targeting, Enforcement & Coordination Center
6) FBI’s Safe Streets Violent Crime Initiative
ANSWER THE ABOVE QUESTION AND THEN REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTION AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 150 WORDS or MORE)
CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE
Gangs are an issue in the United States because they promote their own agendas. They will usually go after youth of a weak stature mentally. They will try to influence youth from high schools that may want to fit into a group. Youth may see the gang as a family because they may not get this from the family at home. The youth will see the gang as protection from other youth that bully them. Also, it is difficult to control gangs, because of turf claims where individual sets fracture off from the whole (Gau, 2019). The Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.). This program uses prevention, intervention, and suppression to try to prevent gangs from recruiting new members. Prevention is used in schools to educate youth younger than 14 years of age about anti-gang programming. Intervention is used to push youth out of gangs and help them organize the risks that can occur and harm that can be done to them by joining a gang. Suppression is done by cracking down on gangs, forcing them to cease activities or getting the gang to disband completely. Police use tactics to prevent, intervene and suppress a gang by street sweeps, drug buy-busts, covert surveillance, confidential informants, and covert surveillance of gang members than are on parole or probation,
                                                               Reference:
Gau, J. M. (2018). Criminal justice policy: Origins and effectiveness. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.