WHERE ARE GANGS A PROBLEM AND HOW DO THEY SPREAD?
Gangs continue to be active in large cities where they have been long established, and they are spreading to suburbs and smaller cities. Pressure by police and rivals and the lure of higher drug profits push gangs to seek new territories (Dan Bryant 1989). Meanwhile, in many midsize communities factory closings and business failures create unemployment and poverty, “conditions conducive to gang activity” (Tursman). In some cities, like Chicago and Philadelphia, gang activity is actually stabilizing or declining as their gangs move into other cities like Detroit and Milwaukee (Tursman). Gangs flourish in Los Angeles, the current “gang capital of the U.S.,” in spite of increased community and police efforts, and have spread like cancer to surrounding communities (Stover). The Drug Enforcement Agency has confirmed the presence of members of Los Angeles gangs in forty-nine other cities across the nation. Chris Baca, director of Albuquerque’s Youth Development, Inc., warns other midsize cit
