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Ed Ramírez, Linden, CA
The Prevalence of Chicano Street Gangs and Street Gang Violence: La Prevalencia de las Pandillas Chicanas y la Violencia Pandillo-Callejera:
Statistics and Gang Suppression -IV This article continues the discussion of Chicano street gangs and covers the missrepresentation of statistics.
T
he primary strategies that address the Chicano street gang problem are prevention, intervention and suppression. The greatest investment in recent history has been on suppression executed through the criminal justice system which generates a large part of the available data on street gangs. While violent crime statistics by race and ethnicity are readily available, getting a true picture of gang membership, the number of blancos; y 3,2 entre hispanos. En consecuencia, la data nacional contradice el estereotipo que la violencia es, de alguna manera, inherente a la cultura de las comunidades chicanas y latinas, o que los hispanos son más violentos que los negros o los blancos. Y, además, genera la duda ¿Cuáles son las condiciones del entorno californiano que contribuyen a números más altos? Los números más elevados son reportados por las agencias policiales que tienden a usar métodos menos rigurosos
gangs and the degree of gang involvement with violent crime is more difficult to determine. There are significant differences in the numbers available depending on the source and methods used to gather data (e.g., law enforcement reporting versus self-identification studies, etc.). Nevertheless, the numbers indicate that there is a significant problem with gang related violence in the Hispanic population in California. For example, in 2010 of the 1,809 homicides reported 805 were homicides of Hispanic persons and 48.7 percent was attributed to Hispanic street gang violence. This para recolectar data. Sus métodos para identificar y cuantificar pandillas y miembros de pandillas son, frecuentemente, basados en forma de vestir, sobrenombres, colores que visten, tatuajes, grafiti, asociación con otros, fotos de grupo confiscadas, etc. —método basado en estereotipos que es impreciso y sujeto a presunción tanto respecto a afiliación pandillera como a su relación con algún incidente de violencia pandillera. Por ejemplo, durante un repunte de homicidios en 2011 (48) y 2012 (71) en Stockton, California, el Departamento de Policía de Stockton (SPD) se valió de grafiti para identificar a 70 pandillas con 3300 miembros y atribuir la mayoría de la violencia ocurrida a pandillas callejeras “mexicoamericanochicanas”. Esos números —basados en grafiti— justificaron la supresión o “desmantelamiento” de pandillas que le siguió, tarea efectuada por medio de múltiples agencias. Pero, desde una perspectiva de confiabilidad investigativa, esos números son bastante subjetivos y, por lo tanto, cuestionables. Respecto de la cuestionable identificación de violencia pandillera, la Unidad de Supresión de Violencia Pandillera (GVSU) del SPD aseguró que el 52 por ciento del cri-
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was the highest number of homicides among all ethnic/racial populations (Blacks, Whites, Pacific Islander, etc.) in the state. However, on the broader national level Hispanics rank behind both Blacks and Whites in violent crime victimizations. For example, during 2012-2015 U.S. residents experienced an estimated 5.8 million violent victimizations. Based on information provided by victims the offender was white in about half (49%), about a quarter (23%) black, 13% Hispanic and eight percent two or more races. Also, in 2012-2015 the rates of intra-racial serious violence was black-on-black 6.7 per 1,000 persons, white-on-white 3.7 per 1,000 persons and hispanic-on-hispanic 3.2 per 1,000 persons. Thus, the national data challenges the stereotype that violence is somehow inherent in the culture of Chicano and Latino communities or that Hispanics are more violent than Blacks or Whites, and it raises the question what environmental conditions in California contribute to higher numbers? The highest numbers reported come from law enforcement agencies that tend to use less rigorous methods for collecting data. Their methods for identifying and quantifying gang members and gangs are often based on criteria including style of dress, nick names, wearing colors, tattoos, graffiti, cohort associations, confiscated group photos, etc., a method based on profiling that is imprecise and subject to misidentification of both gang membership and incidence of gang violence. For example, during a spike in the murder rate in 2011 (48 murders) and 2012 (71 murders) in Stockton California, the Stockton Police Department (SPD) used graffiti to identify 70 street gangs with 3,300 members and attributed the majority of the violence that occurred to “Mexican-American/Chicano” street gangs. The numbers based on graffiti justified the multiple agency gang suppression or gang “takedown” that followed, but from a research reliability perspective the numbers are highly subjective and therefore questionable. continued on next page Regarding JUNE 2020 Joaquín 11
