Can Gangs Declare a Truce among Themselves?

Can gangs declare a truce among themselves? This is a topic that has been explored on more than one occasion in the United States to prevent unnecessary crimes. Gang members tend to take more lives or cause more harm to people than most other crimes throughout the country. Whether gang members fight for territorial reasons or respect, the crime has to stop somewhere. Whether it is the Crips, Blood,s or the Latin Kings, they all need to stop the violence and call a truce. Too many lives, young and old, are being taken for no reason. This study will show what some communities have done to keep the violence down between gangs. Research also will show what some former gang members feel about what happened to them, and why they decided to make a change.

To research this particular topic, the proquest database was used. I used keywords such as: gangs, Crips and bloods, youth gangs, and gang truce to pull up information on my topic. There were more than 887 sites that I could have pulled up to get information on gangs themselves, but I pulled up about five sites that I chose to use. Out of all the sites I had access to, I only chose two of the articles to further my research on my topic.

The article, “Violence Decreases with Gang Truce,” by Paul Cotton was based on a truce between the area’s two main groups, the Crips and Bloods. The change came because gang members themselves realized what they were doing to themselves and their families. A lot of the leaders learned to listen to one another and learn that they were only hurting themselves when they fought amongst themselves. Older gang members and an increasing number of younger ones are looking at the “the overall picture, which helps us to understand that we are only hurting ourselves when we fight among ourselves.” They have learned to disband and forget old vendettas towards one another.

There were 162 drive-by shootings versus 85 during a period with a 48% decrease. The number of gang-related homicides dropped from 26 to 10, which was a 62% decrease. The change is even more dramatic than those numbers suggest, because the truce exists only in the South Central area. Gang war continues unabated elsewhere, especially in the largely Hispanic East Los Angeles area. Looking at these statistics, one would have to feel it is a very positive situation developing. The gang violence that plagued Los Angeles was primarily economic warfare over the illicit drug traffic. Violence during the unrest resulted from pent up frustration with injustice, economic hopelessness, and neglect of the poor by the health care system. The importance of this article was to show how the formation of the truce began and what contributions the community to made to keep the truce going.

The article titled, "Crips & Bloods in LA Declare Truce," by Robert Seigel was based on a transcript that this author decided to write and give feedback on the truce in Los Angeles. He wanted to note that in South Central Los Angeles, young men and gang members, are talking peace. For decades, the city's toughest black gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, have been killing each other. Now a tentative truce is at hand among many but certainly not all, of the gangs. The avowed end to the violence has brought hope to many neighborhoods. But both gang members and outside experts agree that a truce cannot be sustained unless the young men have new opportunities for education and jobs. This is just to show how the truce can continue with the help of the city and what gang members expect to be done.

Some gang elders, one a Crip and the other a Blood, got together and decided it was time to work for peace. Their efforts and those of many others throughout the housing projects and the streets of South Central Los Angeles have begun to pay off. The riots, which pulled many African-Americans together, seem to have enhanced the peace efforts. In a neighborhood where shootings used to be a nightly event, there hasn't been a single gang-related murder involving a Crip or a Blood since the riots began and ended.

In this article the two gang elders feel that the brothers are tired of killing one another. For many of the 100,000 or so gang members in L.A. , the gang is like family. Loyalty to the gang is intense. Historicallym if one gang member was shot by a rival gang, honor required payback, a revenge killing. Some gang experts believe that the truce offers many young men a respectable, honorable way of breaking that cycle of violence.

The Crips and the Bloods were responsible for a very large number of murders. The two gang elders felt that they would never be able to stop all the killings, but they felt they could both make a difference, a big, big difference, because people can walk down the street hold hands, kids can play in the park, they can go to the ice cream trucks again and not have to worry about losing their lives. Now they can do the little things that matter and be safe with their families. They don't have to hear gunshots in their neighborhoods anymore. Most are confident the truce will last.

One critic, Micheal Genelin, feels that within Los Angeles, they are dealing with people who have particulary hard-core gang members, who have a history of violence and are very angry in many respects and feels someone needs to pay. Don't forget, gang members commit more crimes, over a wider range of crimes, for a longer period of time than other criminals. He's not just talking about drive-bys, he includes robberies, rapes and all of the things that criminals do. So he doesn't feel that the solution is that easy.

Many police officers express concerns that the Crips and Bloods are not uniting for peace but are forging an alliance to go after them. Gang members working on the truce dismissed thae notion that they are planning an assault on the police. Unless the underlying conditions that breed gang members are fundamentally changed, the violence will continue. There is a lack of leadership that is felt by most gang members from the police and there a very few afterschool sports or recreational programs. The poverty and despair is overwhelming: no education, no jobs, and no hope.

With that as a backdrop, it is not hard to understand why the gangs, which have power, prestige, and glory, have become such powerful forces in the neighborhoods. While some of the gang elders, known as OG's, original gangsters, may want a truce, others may not. As for the rank and file, the gang members themselves admit that not all the "homeys" are interested in making peace.

The elders feel that all they need is a opportunity. Give them a chance. They deserve a chance. They want to be firemen and doctors. If given the chance, they can prove to be good people, successful people, honest people and loving people. There is no doubt that some gang members feel that they can seize the moment, that with all eyes on Los Angeles, there will be new, positive programs for jobs and opportunity. They see the truce as just the first step in creating a better life. The fact remains that the problems in South Central Los Angeles are enormous and it will take a great deal in terms of people and time and resources to turn things around. Still, for the moment at least, some members of the Crips and the Bloods have optimism and hope, something that is in short supply in the inner city.

The article titled, “The Gang Truce: A Movement for Social Injustice,” by Nancy Stein was based on what efforts and actions were taken or made to continue the truce. It shows how the truce was developed in Los Angeles as a part of a new building structure for social justice. It was set to offer youths hope to engage in a better life.

Throughout the paper it discusses resolutions to stop gang violence everywhere and not just in Los Angeles, California. It shows what steps the LA community took to show their kids that gangs are not the way to go. It also shows what the police did to initiate the gang truce and it also shows how things are working