City of Madras
Police Department
Introduction to Gangs
While Madras does not have the gang problems that you would
see in a large city, we do have a gang problem here within
the City Limits. It plagues many of our children
in the schools and some of our young adults as well.
The Madras City Officers are very familiar with the gang related
activity in the area. The following is information will
give you great insight as to what gangs are and how they operate.
Having knowledge of this material is a first step in helping
to keep Madras' gang activity to a minimum for years to come.
A gang is a group of people who stand together for a common
purpose and engage in violent, unlawful, or criminal activity.
Most gangs are lead by the most active/strongest member and
rarely have any form of formal organization. Each gang
has a name and will generally claim a territory of some sort.
It is not uncommon for local gangs of smaller towns to claim
a Los Angeles street or neighborhood that is out of State.
Rival gangs and the local citizens are generally the focus
for criminal activity of any gang which come in the form of
robberies, assaults and illegal drug sales. Madras is small
enough that we have not seen any inner territorial disputes
as of yet. We do however have territorial disputes when
rival gangs from other Cities pay a visit to our town.
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What Are Gangs?
Gangs are groups of people who form an allegiance for a common
purpose and commit violent, unlawful or criminal activities.
Today's street gangs may claim control over a certain territory
in their community, and create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation
there. Gangs are often involved with narcotics; which
bring them a profit.
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Who Joins Gangs?
Gang members generally range in age from 13-21 years old,
but can be as young as 9 years old. Those who join gangs
often have low self-esteem, feel unloved at home, do poorly
in school, and have a hard time making decisions and communicating
with others. Many come from single-parent homes. Most
gang members are boys, but 10% of all gang members are girls
and the number is growing.
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Why Do Kids Join Gangs?
Kids join for many reasons, and each case is individual.
However, reasons include: excitement and fun, a sense of belonging,
companionship, peer pressure, attention or status, financial
gain, intimidation, protection, and a failure to realize what
being in a gang means. Living in a gang-infested area
or having a family member in a gang increases the possibility
of a kid joining one.
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What
Risk Factors Lead To Gang Membership?
Among the risk factors are:
a) lack of adequate community youth support systems and too
much unsupervised time
b) poverty
c) lack of self-worth
d) poor decision-making and communication skills
e) domestic violence at home
f) media that glorifies violence
g) parent denial of a gang problem
Gang membership could also be considered a form of survival,
if living in a gang-infested community.
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What
are the dangers of being in a Gang?
Gangs often have guns and drugs, exposing kids to the dangers
of both. Members can be seriously hurt of killed during
gang fights or criminal acts. Gang membership can also
hamper education, since schools are viewed negatively by gangs.
Extensive police records limit future employment opportunities.
Families of gang members also face danger for their own safety
from feuding gang members.
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How big is the problem?
Many experts (and kids themselves) believe the gang problem
is growing, with gangs networking across the USA rather than
being confined to certain communities as in the past.
And older gang members recruit younger ones to do their criminal
acts, including drug trafficking and shootings.
The average age of a shooter in a street gang is now 9-11
years old.
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Protect Your Children
For their own safety, tell children:
* Don't wear clothing in colors or style that is gang related.
* Don't associate or attend parties with gang members or
Wannabe gang members.
* Don't hang out on street corners where gangs are active.
* Don't approach individuals in cars who seemingly want information.
* Don't take part in writing graffiti or hang around walls
marked with it.
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How can you help?
Stay informed, involved, and aware. Help your
children choose to refuse gang membership by becoming more
involved in their lives, by building their self-esteem at
home., and by working to combat the gang problem in your community.
Click
on any of the following for more information.
Become Informed
Get Involved
Know Your Children's
Friends
Communicate
Spend Time Together
Set Limits
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Signs of
possible gang involvement
1. Sudden poor school grades and disinterest in school.
2. Withdrawal from family activities.
3. Use of unknown vocabulary (gangs have many slang words).
4. Sudden change in friends.
5. Evidence of drug abuse.
6. Sudden affluence.
7. Use of hand signs.
8. Desire for excessive privacy.
9. Having a new nickname.
10. Developing a bad attitude towards family, school and
authorities.
11. Purchase or desire to buy clothing of all one color or
style.
12. Wearing altered headwear (gang members often put gang
information on the inside band of ball caps).
13. Changing appearance with special haircuts, eyebrow markings
or tattoos.
14. Use of gang graffiti on folders, desks, walls, and buildings.
15. Staying out later than usual.
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Become Informed
Find out about gang and drug activity in your community.
Learn how gang members dress, speak, and behave. Attend
informational meetings and read articles related to gang activity.
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Get Involved
Become active in your children's education and in your community.
Organize or join neighborhood watch groups. Discourage
gangs from hanging around your area. When incidents
occur (i.e.: vandalism, loitering and drug activity) report
them to law enforcement officials at once.
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Know Your Children's
Friends
Know who your children are hanging out with and how they
and your children spend their free time. If children
choose friends that are mostly from gangs, they are probably
involved or will become involved in gangs too.
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Communicate
Develop open, frequent communication with your children.
Be positive, allow your children to come to you to discuss
any topic or problem. Tell your children that you love
them. Allow them to express themselves.
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Spend Time Together
Plan activities the whole family can enjoy. Expose
children to different places outside of your neighborhood,
such as parks, museums, the beach, and the mountains.
Let children know you want to be with them.
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Set Limits
Don't let children stay out late or spend a lot of unsupervised
time in the streets. (Most gang members start
with curfew violations.) Don't allow children to write
gang names, symbols or any other gang graffiti on their books,
papers, clothes, bodies., walls or any other place.
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Teach Good
Values And Responsibility
Help children develop respect for each other's property and
pride in their community. Give them responsibility at
home and reward them for a job well done. Teach them
to set positive goals for themselves, to hold high standards,
and to prepare from a positive future.
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Monitor Media
Children on the average see 8,000 murders on TV by the time
they are ten years old. Watching violence on TV makes
viewers become insensitive to it. Music and video games
also glorify violence. Know what your children are seeing,
hearing, and playing. Say no to violent media.
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Encourage Healthy
Activities
Encourage children to be involved in athletics and other
health-oriented group activities so they can gain a sense
of belonging that way. Take elementary students to college/high
school games to promote an interest in sports. Host
gang-free parties for children old enough for them.
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Be A Role Model
Set a good example. Deal with anger in a healthy way,
so children learn from you. Limit your intake of alcohol,
and don't do other drugs. If you have a problem with
drugs, get help. If necessary, work on your own self-esteem
or anger control. Keep stress manageable.
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Say No To Gangs
Develop an anti-gang environment at home. Don't
let children dress in gang-style clothing. Read articles
to children about gangs and help them see the natural consequences
of actions.
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Avoid Denial
Many parent refuse to recognize their children's gang involvement
until it is too late. Be alert to signs of possible
gang membership. See SIGNS
OF POSSIBLE GANG INVOLVEMENT.
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