Response to Gangs Blamed for 80 Percent of U.S. Crimes

I really didn't think that gang committed that many crimes in the U.S.. I figured that they had their fair share, but not 80 percent! That's ridiculous. I chose this article because I wanted to reflect on something broader. I thought it was a good choice because it talked about gangs in general in the United States, and some of the things that they do criminally. I really liked this article, I thought it was super interesting. One thing that I thought was interesting is how gangs take part in identity theft, I honestly wouldn't have guessed they'd be interested in doing that. I liked in the article how they were honest and said that this is really a problem and that we need to take care of it. Also how they talked about the local and neighborhood street gangs and how dangerous they are, even though they might not seem like it. Officials are trying to inform people, not scare them. Overall I think I got a lot out of this article because it's a little different from what I've been writing about, and I think I'd like to keep on gooing with articles like this.

#9 Gangs Blamed for 80 Percent of U.S. Crimes

There are about one million gang members in the United States that are believed to be held responsible for 80 percent of the crimes that go on. The Justice Department said that gangs are spreading across the country. There are around 20,000 gangs in America that are criminally active and have a total of one million members all together. They're located and committing crimes in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia as well. The law enforcement officials are the ones stating that the criminal gangs are committing 80 percent of crimes. Some of the typical crimes committed by gangs include, armed robbery, auto theft, assault, alien smuggling, extortion, drug trafficking, home invasions, fraud, murder, identity theft, and weapon trafficking. It's said that gangs have usually been more of a problem is cities and that's the way it's been in the past. Officials think that could be changing. Gang migration typically goes from urban communities to more suburban and rural areas and that started years and years ago. Officials are saying that it's turning into a significant problem. The Justice Department's National Gang Center stated, "Gangs are now fully entrenched in many communities across the nation,".

The FBI has done research and work with criminal gangs and their motives. Their usual approach is to go for their leadership and try to break them down from the top. Since the rise in gang violence is so drastic, this isn't approach isn't effective enough. Department officials stated, "It is not enough to just gather intelligence about the violent offenders. We have to interrupt that violence,". Reports have been saying that the local gangs that tend to be smaller are now involved in the drug trade. The local and street gangs are a huge threat because they're still gangs. Prison gangs are also becoming a significant part of drug trafficking. The National Gang Intelligence Center is in the hands of the FBI which established this report.