Multi-dimensional gang control strategy in cities needed.
Over the past decade, the traditional framework that shaped both law enforcement and counter-terror strategy for generations has shifted, in many ways radically. The boundary between civilian and military enemy, for instance, has blurred. So too have those between national and international terror organizations and, increasingly, between terrorist and criminal networks.
As retired Marine Corps Colonel Gary I. Wilson Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Lt. John P. Sullivan wrote in their influential essay On Gangs, Crime, and Terrorism last year “Non-state bad actors (i.e., gangs, terrorists, and criminals) along with private armies are altering the ontology of both crime and conflict. In many cases, non-state actors (terrorists and gangs) are intertwined or come into close proximity. These non-state actors share a common propensity for violence and represent a pernicious threat to global security and civil society. Dr Max G. Manwaring in, Street Gangs: The New Urban Insurgency, argues that gang-related crime is now a national security problem in many nations. This places terrorism, crime, and gangs in the same operational space.” Click here to read the full essay.
Though most street gangs maintain the traditional street turf orientation within their immediate environs (often a few blocks or a neighborhood) a new generation of Gangs, they write “ has evolved more broadly based operations, more systematic and sophisticated methods and, sometimes even, more political aims. They operate or aspire to operate at the global end of the spectrum, using their sophistication to garner power, aid financial acquisition and engage in mercenary-type activities. To date, most third generation gangs have been primarily mercenary in orientation; yet, in some cases they have sought to further their own political and social objectives.”
