Ganging up: gang violence KO'd.

• Author: Balko, Radley
• Position: Citings - Legislation to combat gang violence

SEN. DIANNE Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) recently introduced legislation to combat gang violence. The bills create new federal crimes and sentences, fund a national gang database, and appropriate $700 million for gang suppression efforts. But these tactics have been in place for years in gang-plagued cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, and a new study by the Justice Policy Institute concludes they aren't working.

"More police, more prisons and more punitive measures haven't stopped the cycle of gang violence," the institute reports, and "heavy-handed suppression tactics can increase gang cohesion while failing to reduce violence." The study bucks conventional wisdom about the gang threat, reporting that gang activity in the U.S is declining, that most gang members quit gang life by the time they reach adulthood, and that gangs are responsible for a fairly low percentage of violent crime. (According to the authors, less than 10 percent of all crime in the U.S. is gang-related, though it can vary widely in different parts of the country.) It contrasts the aggressive, enforcement-based anti-gang efforts of Chicago and Los Angeles with the approach taken in New York City, which is less punitive and less expensive, using programs that focus on...