This weeks reading from Urban Issues shed light on a prevalent issue of gangs and gang violence plaguing NYC. The term ‘gang’ has a pejorative connotation and is associated with violence and criminal activity. The gangs of today are different than the gangs of yesteryear in that the latter formed for protection and fought over “turf” while the latter primarily fights over drugs and the like. This negative view of gangs underlies many of the initiatives that states have recently taken to combat gangs and gang crimes.

There have been a few general strategies in the fight against gangs such as counterinsurgency, prevention of gang formation, and youth engaging activities etc. Law professor, Lawrence Rosenthal advocates for preventative measures in the war against gangs and calls for counterinsurgency and gang injunctions which places restrictions and makes it more difficult for gang members to congregate. This concept of injunctions is a more aggressive and preemptive approach to criminal activity and is similar in approach to last weeks reading regarding racial profiling and the stop and frisk method.  While these approaches can be said to be on the safer side, averting problems before than can arise, opponents argue that this is an abridgment of civil liberties as explained by Caitlin Sanderson, an attorney at ACLU. She argues that our justice system is biased and suspectful of certain races, a separate issue on its own and injunctions not only hurt these youths’ futures long term but could also possibly worsen gang activity by initiating increased internet and technological uses.

While I do believe  that there is a strong basis in preventative measures such as gang injunctions and believe that we shouldn’t wait to fix something only after a problem arises, reading this weeks chapter opened my eyes to the harmful affects of it as well. Sanderson’s proposition of after school programs and early intervention provides for a more welcoming route of preventative policing and can be effective as well. Overall, I think that a combination of Rosenthal’s and Sanderson’s suggestions, with a few tweaks here and there on both sides, can effectively reduce gang activity and crime.