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There is a perception that gang crime in Durham is rampant and widespread, however, the evidence is mostly anecdotal at best. A careful look at police reports indicates that gang-related crime is decreasing and that anti-gang prevention/intervention/suppression efforts are paying off.
There is a perception that gang crime in Durham is rampant and widespread, however, the evidence is mostly anecdotal at best. A careful look at police reports indicates that gang-related crime is decreasing and that anti-gang prevention/intervention/suppression efforts are paying off.
Key findings regarding gang trends, for those interested:
Quote:
2. Property crimes where a validated gang member was listed as a suspect or victim dropped 32% between 2009 and 2012.
3. Violent crimes where a validated gang member was listed as a suspect or victim increased 11.2% between 2009 and 2012
4. Weapons crimes where a validated gang member was listed as a suspect or victim have remained mostly constant between 2009 and 2012.
5. Drug crimes with a validated gang member listed as the suspect fell 6.7% between 2009 and 2012.
The Federal Report addresses violent crime in Durham but does not imply that gangs are a driver of this crime.
The WRAL story refers to a spike in shootings, some of which can be attributed to gang activity. But again, when compared to all crime (or even all violent crime) in Durham, gangs play a rather insignificant role.
From an overarching perspective, crime rates are mathematically significantly lower in Durham than a decade ago, and even better than two decades ago. Part of that is probably that the community is growing and attracting new residents, vs. high-crime towns in ENC (Rocky Mount, Kinston, etc.) that are stagnating. The bigger trend is a national one, where crime peaked in the early 1990s and has been falling ever since. There are a range of theories bandied about for that -- the most intriguing to me is the banning of lead-based paints -- but probably reflect a range of inputs.
In the decade I've lived in Durham, I remember high-profile crime events happening a decade ago more often than happen today. OTOH, I've never been affected by property or violent crime here and feel safe day and night in most parts of town... and I know not to go to the areas where that wouldn't be true.
The Federal Report addresses violent crime in Durham but does not imply that gangs are a driver of this crime.
The WRAL story refers to a spike in shootings, some of which can be attributed to gang activity. But again, when compared to all crime (or even all violent crime) in Durham, gangs play a rather insignificant role.
The problem is that when someone is bleeding out from getting shot in the street, telling them "don't worry, the guy who just shot you isn't known to be a member of any gang" is not really going to matter or make them feel better.
But, I understand your point if the goal is to rigidly adhere to certifiable gang affiliation, so to be fair you did specify this in your first post.
However, it seems to me that specifically associating a crime to a gang would be a non-perfect science, therefore statistics can never really be accurate.
What is the criteria for determination of whether a crime is gang related? If anyone involved in the crime (perpetrators, victims, witnesses, etc.) are on file in any way as having identifiable ties to any known gang? What exactly is the definition of a gang?
It seems to me that putting numbers on gang activity, whether it is an increase or a decrease, is going to be purely anecdotal. I'm sure law enforcement in any given area gets a "feel" for certain trends, for example they may see known gang members moving out of their jurisdiction and thus may see a decrease in crimes they've worked which "seem" gang related, but it is not a measurable indicator that gang activity is declining.
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