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< | Violence in Urban Communities |
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> | Reducing Violence in Chicago |
| | -- By ChrisMendez - 13 Mar 2015 |
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< | I. Gangs as a Form of Social Control |
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> | I. Rethinking Approaches to Social Control |
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< | Donald Black argues that law is one form of social control. He suggests that there exists an inverse relationship between law and other types of social control. The presence of elevated levels of violence in underprivileged communities in the inner city seems to suggest the lack of social control in such areas. Such an argument overlooks the complexities stemming from the heavy gang presence in many urban communities. The form of social control exercised by gangs oftentimes includes particular rules related to permissible attire, regulating access to particular blocks and alleys, and territorial markers via graffiti. The forms of social control exerted by gangs are oftentimes enforced through violence or the threat of violence. |
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> | Donald Black argues that law is one form of social control. He suggests that there exists an inverse relationship between law and other types of social control. The presence of elevated levels of violence in many underprivileged neighborhoods in Chicago seems to indicate a lack of social control. Such a view overlooks the complexities stemming from the heavy gang presence in these areas. The forms of social control exercised by gangs oftentimes include particular rules related to permissible attire, regulating access to particular blocks and alleys, and territorial markers via graffiti. Gang social control is typically enforced through violence or the threat of violence. |
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< | This is not to suggest that the law is nonexistent in communities with a large gang presence. Many cities have dedicated substantial resources, including additional police officers, to these communities. Many have also turned to surveillance technology to monitor gang activity and drug trafficking. Beginning in 2003, for instance, Chicago began installing “Police Observation Devices” (PODs) in intersections experiencing high rates of violence. On one hand, these devices may exemplify the introduction of more law in underprivileged communities because they allow the police to monitor the activity of individuals passing by the cameras for twenty-four hours a day. On the other hand, the cameras do not necessarily decrease gangs’ level of social control because gangs can simply conduct illicit activities, which are oftentimes linked to violence, in a more clandestine matter. For instance, gangs can move drug operations to another block and they can refrain from wearing gang colors. Overall, violent crime has not decreased much in Chicago since 2004 and many of the areas in close proximity to PODs continue to experience elevated levels of violence. |
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> | This is not to suggest that the law is nonexistent in communities with a large gang presence. The Chicago Police Department has invested in surveillance technology to monitor gang activity and drug trafficking. Beginning in 2003, Chicago began installing “Police Observation Devices” (PODs) in intersections experiencing high rates of violence. These devices seem to exemplify the introduction of more law in underprivileged communities because they allow the police to monitor particular areas twenty-four hours a day. Gangs react by conducting illicit activities, which are oftentimes linked to violence, in a more clandestine matter in areas outside the cameras’ reach. |
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< | II. Change, More of the Same |
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> | Around the same time, a large number of Chicago gang leaders were prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms. As the hierarchy was incarcerated, many large gangs split into smaller factions. As a result, the social control that gangs exercised over communities fundamentally changed. While crime rates dramatically decreased in some neighborhoods as they gentrified, the rates of violence in other communities has increased. Due to displacement stemming from policies of urban renewal and tearing down high-rise project complexes, many members of decentralized gangs moved to different neighborhoods in Chicago where there was already a gang presence. This helps explain why violent crime rates have worsened in parts of the South Side, West Side, and Northwest Side as overall crime rates have remained relatively stagnant in Chicago for the past decade. |
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< | Many cities have responded to the violence that is far too common in underserved communities through policies of urban renewal. Between the late 1990s and the late 2000s the vast majority of the high-rise housing projects in Chicago were torn down. Lower-income Chicagoans were offered Section 8 vouchers to live either in mixed-income apartment buildings to be built where the housing projects previously stood or in other neighborhoods. Given the time it would take to build sufficient mixed-income housing for tens of thousands of people, most residents moved to affordable areas elsewhere in Chicago. |
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> | A continued focus on surveillance technology investment and incarcerating Chicago gang leaders is not an effective solution. A better approach to reduce violence is to redirect some of these resources to community organizations that are dedicated to combating street violence. These groups tend to have programs aimed at-risk youth, a nuanced understanding geography of gangs in their neighborhoods, and substantial links to community leaders. The lack of funding oftentimes limits the effectiveness of such groups. Through modest reinvestment of existing resources, Chicago will empower community leaders and strengthen organizations dedicated to combating violence. |
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< | Around the same time, a large number of Chicago gang leaders were prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms. As the hierarchy was incarcerated, many large gangs split into smaller factions. As a result, the social control that gangs exercised over communities fundamentally changed. While the crime rates dramatically decreased in some neighborhoods as they gentrified, the rates of violence in other communities increased. Many members of decentralized gangs moved to different neighborhoods in Chicago where there was already a gang presence. This may help explain why violent crime rates have worsened in parts of the South Side, West Side, and Northwest Side as overall crime rates have remained relatively stagnant in Chicago for the past decade. |
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> | II. The Gun Issue |
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< | III. Guns |
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> | The fracture of formerly centralized gangs is especially worrisome given how easily gang members are able to access guns. Even though Chicago has very restrictive gun laws, they are nonetheless abundant in the city due to its close proximity to areas that have much more lax gun laws. For instance, more than 1,300 guns confiscated in Chicago between 2008 and 2013 were traced to Chuck’s Gun Shop, which is located only a few miles south of the city limits. Like many other cities, Chicago has stringent gun laws yet guns are far too common as they are easily accessible in surrounding areas. |
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< | The fracture of formerly hierarchical gangs is especially worrisome given how easily gang members are able to access guns. Even though Chicago has very restrictive gun laws, they are nonetheless abundant in the city due to its close proximity to areas that have much more lax gun laws. For instance, more than 1,300 guns confiscated in Chicago between 2008 and 2013 were traced to Chuck’s Gun Shop, which is located only a few miles south of the city limits. Like many other cities, Chicago has stringent gun laws yet guns are far too common as they are easily accessible throughout the Chicagoland region. |
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> | One approach address the link between the proliferation of guns and street violence is to advocate for uniform gun laws across the nation that would limit the flow of guns into Chicago from its surrounding areas. Another possibility is to continue with the current patchwork of laws which led to the situation in Chicago. The third potential approach is loosening gun control laws in Chicago to make it easier for city residents to legally obtain firearms. To a certain degree, the latter two approaches entail letting gun violence play out. Moreover, they overlook the fact that acts of violence are oftentimes manifestations of underlying societal issues played out through the use of guns. |
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< | To address the violence plaguing many underprivileged urban communities, one option is to address the availability of guns. One approach is to advocate for uniform gun laws across the nation that would limit the flow of guns into cities from the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, given that there are approximately 300 million guns in the United States and the current political climate regarding gun laws, this does not seem to be a realistic option at the moment. Another possibility is to continue with the patchwork of laws that we currently have which led to situations akin to that present in Chicago. The third potential approach is to loosen gun control laws in cities to make it easier for city residents to legally obtain firearms. To a certain degree, the latter two approaches entail letting gun violence play out. These approaches overlook the fact that acts of violence are oftentimes manifestations of underlying societal issues played out through the use of guns. |
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> | The first approach is the most attractive. Even though it does not address the fact that gang members already possess far too many guns, strong national gun laws could limit the continued flow of guns into city. Unfortunately, given the current political climate regarding gun laws, this does not seem to be a realistic option at the moment. Focusing on advocacy to shift the current political climate might be the most practical approach to guns because taking a good portion of them off the streets requires significant resources that the currently city does not have. |
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< | IV. Looking Forward |
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> | III. Looking Forward |
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< | A better option to address violence in underprivileged communities is to address the deep socioeconomic inequalities entrenched in many cities throughout the United States. The acts of violence that are far too common in underserved areas are ultimately manifestations of inequality in segregated cities.. While there are compelling benefits in attacking the social control exercised by gangs, revitalizing neighborhoods through urban renewal, and regulating access to firearms, these strategies do not address the socioeconomic inequalities that are the root of the problem. As the socioeconomic conditions improve in underserved communities, fewer youth will be attracted to joining gangs, residents will have improved opportunities, and the levels of violence will likely decrease. By strategizing to comprehensively address underlying socioeconomic inequalities, it is likely that there will be a reduction in the forms of social control that far too often lend themselves to violence in urban communities. |
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> | Overall, the ideal method to reduce violence in underprivileged communities is to address the deep socioeconomic inequalities entrenched in many cities throughout the United States. The acts of violence that are far too common in underserved Chicago communities are ultimately manifestations of inequality in an extremely segregated city. While there are compelling benefits to attacking the social control exercised by gangs, revitalizing neighborhoods through urban renewal, and regulating access to firearms, these strategies do not fundamentally alter the socioeconomic inequalities that are the root of the problem. |
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A completely different essay, without much connection to law and therefore requiring both a different style of writing and of editing. I think the primary route to improvement here, however, would be to take the same approach that we took to the first draft at the strategy level: what is the primary idea the essay wishes to get across? Is the question, how to reduce street violence in Chicago? Or, what has happened to the political geography of gangs in Chicago? Or, why do urban police forces uniformly believe in strong national gun control?
The first question requires complex answers, or else a simple
answer: more money. Why does Rahm Emmanuel risk his political
existence by closing schools? Because Chicago cannot afford to
educate its children. It also cannot afford to police its streets.
Illinois cannot afford the pensions of its public servants, and its
prisons have been mostly turned over to gangs. The very rich of New
York City pay enough income taxes to provide almost the majority of
New York State's income tax revenues over all. New York City is
policed by the largest force run by the smartest police commissioner
in the country. The very rich of Illinois elect Bruce Rauner the
way the Koch's of Kansas, the Upper East Side and Nantucket bankroll
Scott Walker next door. Chicago policing has been a joke throughout
my lifetime and the lifetimes of several Daleys, a Byrne, an
Emmanuel, and even an occasional Washington.
The second and third questions are easier but less rewarding to
write about, because new ideas are harder to have even as the old
ones are simpler to rewrite.
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> | Some of the policies that can address socioeconomic inequalities include assuring that affordable housing is being preserved or built in gentrifying neighborhoods, improving public transportation in communities that are far from the Loop, and reinvesting in neighborhood schools that have been closed or neglected. These solutions all require substantial investments during a time in which Chicago and Illinois are confronting a severe debt crisis. In the meantime, preventing the continued disintegration of gangs into competing factions, strengthening community organizations, empowering community leaders, and working to shift the political climate on gun control all represent steps in the right direction to reduce street violence. The ultimate goal, however, should focus on dedicating considerable resources to directly address the socioeconomic inequalities that are entrenched in Chicago. |
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