The Facts About Gangs

Belonging to a group is key for many gang members

Keeping Our Community Safe

The Allentown Police Department includes a Gang Task Force. Officers work undercover, in conjunction with the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI, to gather information that leads to the arrest or eradication of gangs. If you live in Allentown and suspect gang activity or see graffiti or symbols, call the Allentown Crime Tip Line at 610-439-5911.

Street gangs used to be a phenomenon of large cities, but now they’re evident in rural areas, small towns—and midsized urban areas like the Lehigh Valley. “We have some national gangs, like the Cripps, Bloods and Latin Kings,” says assistant chief Joe Hanna of the Allentown Police Department. “But most are gangs without a national affiliation trying to control the local drug market.”

Street gang activity is becoming more of a problem for area law enforcement, Hanna says. Members commit a growing number of assaults, burglaries and robberies, with much of the violence directed at rival gangs.

“Gangs are a complex community problem with roots in poverty, hopelessness, educational failures and national drug policy,” says Michael Adams of the ALERT Partnership. “The media also play a role. The music industry, especially, glamorizes the gang culture.”

Members join young

Many gang members become involved while they’re still in middle school. The majority are from poor, singleparent families with little education. Some have family members who are alcohol- or drug-addicted, and many have parents or older siblings who are gang members. Girls join gangs, too, or auxiliary groups like the Crippettes. Some young girls are initiated by having sex with gang members. Some girls will participate in violent activities, although the majority do not.

Youngsters join gangs for many reasons—to find a surrogate family, for protection from rival gangs, because relatives or peers are in the gang, for the excitement, or to make money. “Ironically, most kids selling drugs on the street would make more working at a fast-food restaurant,” Adams says. “The kingpins make the money and aren’t so exposed to the risk of arrest.”

While a few gang members continue into adulthood, “many of them just grow up and get out,” Hanna says. “They may get wounded, have a child, or get a job and want to change.” Unless you’re high in the gang hierarchy, he says, it’s not too difficult to get out.

A community concern

Are gangs a threat to the health and safety of the community? Yes, Adams and Hanna agree. Gang members fall prey to drug addiction, sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis C from shared needles, not to mention gunshot or knife wounds that require treatment at a trauma center. Since almost no gang members have insurance, treating them is a drain on the health care system. And the community as a whole suffers from acts of violence, as well as the access to drugs provided by gangs.

“If you want to do something about the gang problem in our area, get involved in community organizations,” Adams says. “These kids are our children, too, and they need the support every kid needs—only more.” Be a Big Brother or Big Sister, he suggests, or volunteer as a reading tutor. It’s important to reach at-risk children as early as age 9 or 10.

Monitor your own children as well, Hanna says. “Know their friends, activities and hangouts. Most middleclass teens in this area don’t have much interaction with gangs unless they buy drugs. Not all drug dealers are gang members, but most gang members deal in drugs.”

Want to Know More about drugs and your teen? For information on marijuana and warning signs of drug abuse, call 610-402-CARE or click here.

Published from Healthy You Magazine, November-December 2007

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