New York Police Department officials are reporting that 40 percent of shootings that happen in the New York City area are carried out by the more than 300 teenage gangs that roam the city.
With names like Very Crispy Gangsters, True Money Gang and Cash Bama Bullies, the 12-20 year olds are said to engage in violent and sometimes deadly altercations that usually start from a diss on the street, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
“It’s like belonging to an evil fraternity,” said Inspector Kevin Catalina, commander of the New York Police Department’s gang division. “A lot of it is driven by nothing: A dispute over a girl or a wrong look or a perceived slight.”
“When you ask young adults, ‘Why? Why did you shoot that young man?’ Probably 80 percent of the time the answer is: He disrespected me,” said Kai Smith, an ex-con-turned-businessman who runs a gang-diversion program in city high schools.
The latest in those shootings came from a 14-year-old, a member of the Stack Money Goons, who shot a .357 revolver at a rival member of the Twan Family on a crowded bus in Brooklyn. He instead killed an immigrant father, who was on his way home from one of two of his jobs to eat dinner with his family.
The trend of smaller, younger crews has also been seen in Chicago and other Northeast cities.
According to the Washington Post:
Investigators now focus on gathering intelligence about specific crews — understanding their activities, allegiances and feuds, which they glean through traditional street policing and trolling of social media sites, cellphone photos and even recorded jailhouse calls.
Police have also stepped up arrests of the most active crew members. In Manhattan, prosecutors set up an internal email alert system that notifies them when crew member are arrested, even on minor charges, and provides beyond-the-rap-sheet details for bail arguments. The prosecutor might mention that the person was a suspect in another crime or had made threats on Facebook, for instance.
Even with an overall dip in crime in the city, the crew-related violence still persists in neighborhoods.
NYPD statistics show gang arrests are up citywide nearly 14 percent from 2013 — and more than 28 percent from two years ago. Shooting incidents citywide are about the same as they were last year, with 282 recorded so far, and are down by nearly 23 percent from two years ago.
But with more arrests and the number of shooting incidents hovering around last year’s numbers, residents are asking if NYPD efforts are, in fact, enough.
SOURCE: Washington Post | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
