A workshop about gang violence was held in the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan for concerned parents and teens. Gang violence has always been a huge problem. The host, Carlos Ortiz, an officer of the NYPD Division of School Safety Special Projects Unit, says that “there are over 500,000 members worldwide” pertaining only to a new gang called the MS13 alone.
The workshop consisted of the staggering gang violence statistics, gang related clothing, jewelry, hand signs, tactics, logos and more. As videos were played to show gangs—Bloodz, Cripz and The Latin Kings in particular—advocating their affiliation, the audience was appalled and speechless.
One video, for example, was a clip from a Fox News report that talked about gang members joining the army just to learn warfare tactics to teach their fellow gang members. Ortiz explained that this is not new but has been happening for a long time. “This is what is happening–this is what this is all about,” he says. “Gang members are growing. They’re not going anywhere. We need to be aware of things.”
But the question is: What causes youths to join these dangerous gangs? Ortiz says who gang members target to join them. “The people that they aim for [are the] kids that has a lot of idle time on their hands, not doing anything.” Barrington Polite, a correctional officer and a father of five, says that young people learn by example. “The problem is not just gangs in this world. The problem is that America is a violent nation; it is the most violent nation on the planet,” he says. “What other example do you have to go by when you see us going to war all the time and you’re telling us not to be violent in our communities.”
Polite says that there needs to be more workshops like these and he couldn’t have been more correct. Gangs are a serious problem and parents need to be more aware of their children’s actions and behavior.
