Can one distinguish gangs from organized crime?
As far as drug distribution organizations, yes they are organized crime, some of these major gangs, the Crips and Bloods the Latin Kings, they have an organized structure they import cocaine, I call them organized crime, although some of my colleagues may disagree. Of course crime can be less conspicuous. Shootings call tremendous attention of the police. But drug dealing has changed. The cell phone for example, makes it harder for the police to track down such activities. Less violence by the gangs would reduce police attention. Are there civil society initiatives doing violence prevention successfully? There have always been initiatives doing preventive work, these range from the Cease Fire project, the Chicago Area Project, the YMCA. Historically there are civil society groups that aid young people to get out of gangs, offering gyms, football, baseball, basketball, that stuff is all important. How can you measure results? As police we measure gang violence, we count gang shootings,
