Gangs in California - how bad of a problem is it? (Los Angeles: statistics, safety)

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Gang members aren't the only people who commit crimes.

Yes, and their total disbelief is yet another example of how they apply their regional sensibilities to over here, and it quite frankly doesn't correlate with reality.

When I was going to college in Los Angeles and they heard that I was from Oakland, they immediately likened Oakland to Compton and then when I actually went to Compton, I was totally grossed out that such a horrid place(this was back in 92-93 btw) could be likened to the sophisticated and urbane areas of Oakland that I was accustomed to.

As an Oaklander, I felt way more at home in Westwood than Compton. Quite frankly.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Discovery Channel lies about the number of gangs in Oakland | StreetGangs.Com

Did anyone read this article? It states that the Police in Oakland do not even contribute to the State wide crime statistics. Although the company that made the show may have gotten the numbers wrong, the article did say that Almeda county has closer to 10,000 known gang members. It said Oakland has about 25% of the people from Almeda County and chances are 25% of that 10,000 number would be at least a starting point for the number of gang members. Still since Oakland Police does not contribute to the known information I would bet that it is much higher. No one will know since the numbers are kept down by the city of Oakland's own Police department.

So basically the Discovery Channel completely LIED about Oakland having 10,000 gangmembers in order sensationalize their fake account of what Oakland is like.

Yes we know that.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Sure, and LA is about that amount as well.

But LA has lots of areas that are far higher than $50,000, NO? Guess what? Oakland does too.

In fact, much of Oakland is quite idyllic and desirable, home to thousands of professionals and highly educated and affluent families.

And until Compton compares in that sense, it doesn't compare to Oakland, in the least.

But good luck.

But you are saying that 60 - 80% of the people of Oakland are making over $200,000 a year. You wrote that.

Oakland Gangs

“Gang Wars: Oakland” leaves locals perplexed, upset | Oakland North

The above article claims that Oakland probaby has 2,000 gang members

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

So basically the Discovery Channel completely LIED about Oakland having 10,000 gangmembers in order sensationalize their fake account of what Oakland is like.

Yes we know that.

Yes and the Oakland Police lie about how few that you have. SO go figure.

[Teckeeee]

Originally Posted by ExeterMedia

Long Beach is exaggerated. I have been dining in areas near 3rd street parallel to Ocean which people claim is full of gangs. Couldn't be further from the truth.

I would agree with all the rest based on homicides alone. Doesn't get worse than some parts of LA, Oakland, and Newark. I'd throw some parts of Chicago in there too.

I don't know who told you that, it's north Long Beach that has always had the problem, where Snoop Dog, a Crip is from, which makes sense since NLB is close to Compton.
Crip Gangs in Long Beach, California | StreetGangs.Com

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

But you are saying that 60 - 80% of the people of Oakland are making over $200,000 a year. You wrote that.

WRONG.

I said that Oakland has: huge swaths of town where 60-80%+ of adults have bachelor degrees or higher and average family incomes in the 200K to 300K range.

Which is accurate.

Oakland Gangs

“Gang Wars: Oakland” leaves locals perplexed, upset | Oakland North

The above article claims that Oakland probaby has 2,000 gang members

Okay, so 2,000 out of 400,000 total people in Oakland is still less than 12,000 for Ventura County which has 800,000 people. I feel better now that we've cleared that up.

[mrazyattic]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

But you are saying that 60 - 80% of the people of Oakland are making over $200,000 a year. You wrote that.

Oakland Gangs

“Gang Wars: Oakland” leaves locals perplexed, upset | Oakland North

The above article claims that Oakland probaby has 2,000 gang members

I can tell you for a fact, that Oakland has more than 2,000 gang members. Heck - drive down international you'll probably see a couple hundred JUST ON ONE STREET.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by mrazyattic

I can tell you for a fact, that Oakland has more than 2,000 gang members. Heck - drive down international you'll probably see a couple hundred JUST ON ONE STREET.

Oh, and how do they look exactly?

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

WRONG.

I said that Oakland has: huge swaths of town where 60-80%+ of adults have bachelor degrees or higher and average family incomes in the 200K to 300K range.

Which is accurate.



Okay, so 2,000 out of 400,000 total people in Oakland is still less than 12,000 for Ventura County which has 800,000 people. I feel better now that we've cleared that up.

Yea and many of those gang members in Ventura County are old. Take the Hells Angels that used to have a major opperation in the city of Ventura. The average age of those guys must be 50. They are aging. Many of the Mexican gang members in Colonia that are known gang members are also very old. You have guys that are in there 50's and 60's that are still considered part of the gang but due to the health issues of these people the threat has ended long ago.

As far as having huge swaths of town where people are making $200,000 and $300,000 a year, it may be so, but your numbers have to account for an average. That would mean that many of the people there are not making the average of $50,000 a year then, would it not?

You want to keep comparing your city of 400,000 to Compton which has 96,000 or so people. You are right, that you probably won't find many people making $200,000 a year in Compton. Ventura County though is a differant kind of place than Compton. You will find hige swaths of people making $200,000, $300,000, you also have people making $1,000,000 and more. A lot of people that you might see on TV live in Ventura County. Others in the industry that you don't see also live in Ventura County. In Oxnard alone we have an entire costline with people living in homes that are in the $5,000,000 and more range. In Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, and within the county we have people living in multi million dollar homes that are also making high 6 figure and 7 figure incomes.

Still it is nice to pick and choose cities to compare against. I bet that your example of picking Compton makes Oakland look grand. Good for the people of Oakland that they are making more money than those people in Compton, a place that is much safer on average than Oakland, but still they are doing much better anyway.

[ExeterMedia]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Discovery Channel lies about the number of gangs in Oakland | StreetGangs.Com

Did anyone read this article? It states that the Police in Oakland do not even contribute to the State wide crime statistics. Although the company that made the show may have gotten the numbers wrong, the article did say that Almeda county has closer to 10,000 known gang members. It said Oakland has about 25% of the people from Almeda County and chances are 25% of that 10,000 number would be at least a starting point for the number of gang members. Still since Oakland Police does not contribute to the known information I would bet that it is much higher. No one will know since the numbers are kept down by the city of Oakland's own Police department.

Interesting finding. If the Oakland PD doesn't care enough for reliable statistics, then the number could be much higher than is being claimed in this thread.

Based simply on the amount of violent crime in the city, I would agree it's a lot higher than people are claiming here. Oakland has a higher violent crime rate than Chicago for crying out loud.