Gangland Cities are everywhere. That is to say that in most cities there are gangsters, men, and women of every color, race, or creed. These gang members are united in their purpose and code. They are there for each other in the pursuit of profit. Whatever it takes.
Wonder why most Police Departments cannot manage or stop gangland violence, and its spread internationally? Police Departments across the land are armed to the teeth, trained in combat, protection technics, and even sociology, and psychology. Jamaica has @ 12,000 constables hopefully growing to 16,000 this year. Haiti shares its SSR Police duties with its Military, yet the nation is controlled by Gangland Feudal Lords allied with various political parties. In 2021 America had more than 660,860 police officers, not counting private security officers, intelligence gathers, and security guards. Canada has approximately 70,114 police constables in 2021, and the number has grown. Throughout Latin America, the police numbers have increased to 300 officers per 100,000 population. Within Latin American and Central American Nations police are challenged in their purpose. Combatting armed guerillas and rebels, fighting various powerful Cartels and their armies of gangland groups, and policing populations exhausted by unending criminality and personal loss at the hands of gangsters.
There are layers upon layers of criminality within our societies. One group challenges another for established zones of drug and other criminal endeavors. Some nations have become subservient to these gangs, as to their politicians and police forces. *If you cannot beat them, maybe you should join them. Politicians and the business sector look for stability, and public peace. Perhaps criminality can continue so long as it is hidden from public scrutiny or the media. How else can you explain the unending sourcing of opioids and other drugs within our society? It brings questions to the forefront of public discussion. Should prostitution and many illegal drugs be decriminalized? Should they be regulated, and revenue is drawn for public use? Is morality a public or private thing to be dealt with?
Oh, yeah, why can the police not eradicate or even manage gangs? Let’s look at this objectively.
Gangs are made up of men and women, often young, who are members of a society’s minority class. Blacks, Hispanics, and Aboriginals too. They often feel like society has oppressed them in their efforts to achieve. So, like a good Marxist, they devise that they must unite, gathering to be all they can be for themselves. Marxists blame everybody and everything for their oppression, and so do our gang members. Gangs need tools of the trade, so they acquire weapons and training on how to use them. Gangs identify one another through various identifiers like colors.
Police Departments are a group of gathering members with a multitude of goals. They have their own uniforms(colors) and are trained by the military to become a paramilitary force. This group is highly weaponized, trained to shoot people in the center mass of the body, and is told to never place themselves in uncontrolled harm’s way. When in doubt, shoot, and let others deal with the aftermath. Little granny was shot to death because they held fingernail scissors in a threatening manner. Sound familiar?
The Blue Line vs the Bloods, Latin Souls, MS-13, White Hand Gang, Native Mob, Satanas, Tap Boyz, Mongols and Hells angels, and so on. Police are viewed by many as nothing more than another gang. One hears of mass shootouts in Mexico where civilians die while 2-3 gangs have met and drawn their pistols. To both the police and gang members, the mission or goal is what’s important. Easy money seems to always overshadow societal needs. Gangsters care about profit, while police whether it is a righteous shot.
Criminality in North America and to our neighbors in the south will escalate as our various economies falter into recession and possible chaos. Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Mexico are on the cliff of social disaster. Criminality has become a hugely important issue for all 1st and Second nations, and critical for the poor of the world. Living with bars on their windows, or traveling only during the day, civilians are fearful, and not sure whether they should trust their public defenders, the Police. To many, the police are no better than gangsters and criminals. The fear police experience each day manifests itself in the way they do their job. Appearances count. Not trusting civilians, putting many through the wringer, through carding, undue questioning, and demands, with threats brought by the police. The community’s freedom, peaceful existence, and trusting manner suffer as historic police and gang persecution continues.
How can we change this game? Well, bad guys will always be with us. Even if we improve everyone’s life cycle, making available good jobs, positions of employment, better apartments, and education the search for easy money will always be there. As for the police, this gang needs more and better training. The power of the gun needs to be reimagined. Police trained in de-escalation tactics, and lived situations on how to, when, and why. Do all police need lethal weapons? Could not better training, and hiring wiser, more intelligent police improve the odds of less violence? Also, real definitive sentencing of habitual violent offenders is needed, with stiffer parole given to those with weapons. Of course, not only policing but how to rehabilitate and incarcerate criminals must go under the telescope for review. There are those who will not rehabilitate and must be incarcerated forever. Citizens must prove they can and will live among others in peace, effectively living productive lives, and giving to society mutually.
Winston Churchill once said, “it is better to do the wrong thing than do nothing”. Giving all our fellow citizens an equal chance in life may make the decision of joining any gang more difficult. Being your own person, and finding your own worth can end the need to join embattled groups. Cops need to show the world that violence is the very last resort, and that community means something more than simply living in an area or region. Gangs give others a purpose, a support system, and easy money. Perhaps the larger gangs, known as communities, cities, towns, and churches can lead the way.
As a child, many of us played cops and robbers to the delight of our parents. Well, the innocence of youth is gone, but the bloody game continues.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
[email protected]
