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I've never understood why they had to wait to arrest gang members. Even in the old timey days of the mafia, they'd have a full list of mob bosses and other members and a list of their crimes. Why the heck don't they go after people if they know all of this? I hate hearing about a gang member being arrested and they tell you what he did and then list a whole bunch of other stuff they had on him. What took so long?
Btw I know being in a gang doesn't mean you can just get picked up because a gang is like a club or group and you shouldn't get in trouble for just socializing. But if you're in a gang, group or club that publicly says it's all about drugs, stealing and killing that shouldn't be allowed and you should get in trouble for being a part of it.
Ok, I'm done with my rant. I'm ready for the waves of post telling me how stupid I sound and how I should go die or whatever.
1) They do put gang members away.
2) It is expensive and time consuming to build a case that will stand up in court.
3) There are a LOT of gang members.
For gangs they now use what is called a RICO warrant, and the technique is to develop a source -- like Henry Hill, remember him? -- who reports on ALL the crimes he's aware of and who did them and when and why and where is the money or where are the bodies and la de da. Then they can take down the whole gang at once, basically. But the wait can be verrrrry long.
yeah, and don't forget, alot of the stuff they have put in place- like RICO- have made a real dent in this stuff. i live in LA, and everyone knows this is the epicenter for gangs, but we have a 45 year low crime rate right now. it hasn't been this safe here since the freaking 60's. and there is a rule that if you get out, you can't associate with known criminals, which means you gotta move out of the county. which means san berdoo and riverside counties are loaded with gangbangers. but they are settling down. and the crime rate reflects it. so ALOT has been done.
i figure all these gangs will never go away, but they will grow more sophisticated and integrated, like the Mob, and then one day those guys will all shoot it out. the Mob vs MS13.
I've never understood why they had to wait to arrest gang members. Even in the old timey days of the mafia, they'd have a full list of mob bosses and other members and a list of their crimes. Why the heck don't they go after people if they know all of this? I hate hearing about a gang member being arrested and they tell you what he did and then list a whole bunch of other stuff they had on him. What took so long?
Btw I know being in a gang doesn't mean you can just get picked up because a gang is like a club or group and you shouldn't get in trouble for just socializing. But if you're in a gang, group or club that publicly says it's all about drugs, stealing and killing that shouldn't be allowed and you should get in trouble for being a part of it.
Ok, I'm done with my rant. I'm ready for the waves of post telling me how stupid I sound and how I should go die or whatever.
Ever hear of that pesky 1st Amendment? Its not a crime to belong to a "gang." Its a crime to commit a crime and said crime can be enhanced, with gang penalities. However, at least in California, you have to show the crime was for the furtherance of the gang. How do you do that?
Cyborger, every time to make it easier to convict criminals, you also make it easier to falsely convict the innocent. That is overly simplified, but it is the underlying factor in why so many of our laws and processes seem so convoluted, unintuitive and slow.
And nobody will join gangs if they have better opportunities elsewhere. That's especially true of today's youth gangs, which are just a way to get yourself killed making money for someone else. The old-school mafiosos took care of their own, including widows & orphans and retirement benefits. Can the Crips say that?
Knowing and proving are two different things. Plenty of witnesses who won't testify because they don't want to be dead. And then there is that pesky Constitution thing.
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