I chose gangs as my research topic for a current urban issue. I found that there are many newspaper articles and journals discussing this topic, as it is a major issue that many urban and suburban areas are dealing with daily. I read articles that discussed the fact gangs are on the rise and areas in which gangs have recently been forming and gathering.
The first article I will discuss is from the Toronto Star. The title of the article is "U.S. Fears Resurgence of Gang Violence-. The main point of this article is that there is so much focus on terrorism these days, people aren't aware that the amount of gang-related violence in America is rising. In cities such as Los Angeles and Oakland in California and Little Rock Arkansas, the rate of homicides is up this year. Many of these homicides involve gang members and innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of gang violence. Other cities where gangs haven't been a big issue such as Philadelphia, New York, and Miami, have been experiencing either no change at all or a decline in the rate of homicides. The article concludes that the reason for this rise in some areas is the fact that some police departments stopped paying close attention to gangs because they felt that they had the situation under control. Another factor might be that the gang members arrested in the early 1990's might be getting out of jail and going back to the life of violence. The weak economy may also be another reason for this incline. .
The next article I read is called, "Again, Gang Violence On The Rise-. Like the first article I discussed, this one is about a rise in gang related crimes. After many years of decline in gang violence, the center for it, L.A., is seeing a large incline in street violence. From 1999-2000, gang violence rose 131 percent. There have also been major inclines in the instances of rape, kidnapping, robbery, felony assault, arson, and carjacking.