"'Scary' growth of gangs in war zones" and back on the home front gangs use military tactics.

'Scary' growth of gangs in war zones

Additional background at Gang-Related Activity in the US Armed Forces Increasing (12 Jan 2007)

Looks like drug cartels in Mexico are adopting terrorist tactics Cartel ramps up drug war with car bomb so we can probably expect similar use in the US for our own home-grown version of domestic terrorism.

That of course would be followed by people demanding martial law. Who knows what other changes in government might be in store?

on the less than wealthy, even formerly middle class kids are joining gangs.

There is a precedence for street thugs learning their trade in the military

must exist if a group has a chance of winning in combat.

Add to that baptism under fire will embolden gangs with the result not unlike what has happened in Mexico with drug gangs that ignore police and military.

Unless things change, police will be occupied full time protecting capital assets; e.g. manufacturing plants, warehouses, business infrastructure; and citizens will be left on their own for self-defense with high-income communities using private police forces and low-income communities prime targets for crime.

A lot of Russian (Soviet back then) soldiers returned from Afghanistan to find a crumbling economy with little hope for jobs or money post-war, they joined with other black market criminals and the Russian mafia suddenly had a lot of well trained foot soldiers with access to military equipment and training.

military forces in the US.

from their proximity to the Afghan heroin trade as well. The Russians certainly did.

Compared with 2008, violent crimes declined by 5.5 percent last year, and property crimes decreased 4.9 percent, according to the F.B.I.’s preliminary annual crime report. There was an overall decline in reported crimes for the third straight year; the last increase was in 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25crime.html

Reject the scare tactics.

crime rates are down across the board, but the Prison Industrial Complex has to justify their war on poor people who use the wrong drugs, and keep the tax dollars flowing into their pockets, so they invent the LATEST BIG SCARY THREAT and hope that they will in fact fool us again, which they do, routinely, year after year after year.

Every war trains the next generation of thugs. Oh well...

Want to reduce crime rates across the board permanently? End the war on some drugs. That will take care of the gang problem too.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/gangs.htm

The report, Gang Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing, dated January 12, states that members of nearly every major street gang have been identified on both domestic and international military installations. Members of nearly every major street gang, including the Bloods, Crips, Black Disciples, Gangster Disciples, Hells Angels, Latin Kings, The 18th Street Gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Mexican Mafia, Nortenos, Surenos, Vice Lords, and various white supremacist groups, have been documented on military installations. Although most prevalent in the Army, the Army Reserves, and the National Guard, gang activity is pervasive throughout all branches of the military and across most ranks, but is most common among the junior enlisted ranks, according to the report. The extent of gang presence in the armed services is often difficult to determine since many enlisted gang members conceal their gang affiliation and military authorities may not recognize gang affiliation or may be inclined not to report such incidences.

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Even though the policy violates Military recruiting regulations, US criminal courts have allowed gang members to enter the service as an alternative to incarceration. Several instances wherein gang members have been recruited into the armed services while facing criminal charges or on probation or parole have been documented. In many instances, a gang member facing criminal charges may be provided the option to join the military or serve a jail sentence. Furthermore, some army recruiters have been known to conceal recruits' gang affiliation to help boost their enlistment numbers.

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Gang membership in the armed forces can disrupt good order and discipline, increase criminal activity on and off military installations, and compromise installation security and force protection. Gang incidents involving active-duty personnel on or near US military bases nationwide include drive-by shootings, assaults, robberies, drug distribution, weapons violations, domestic disturbances, vandalism, extortion, and money laundering. Gangs have also been known to use active-duty service members to distribute their drugs.

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Military-trained gang members also present an emerging threat to law enforcement officers patrolling the streets of US cities. Both current and former gang-affiliated soldiers transfer their acquired military training and knowledge back to the community and employ them against law enforcement officers, who are typically not trained to engage gangsters with military expertise. Gang members in the military are commonly assigned to military support units where they have access to weapons and explosives. Military personnel may steal items by improperly documenting supply orders or by falsifying paperwork. Law enforcement officials throughout the United States have recovered military-issued weapons and explosives-such as machine guns and grenades-from criminals and gang members while conducting search warrants and routine traffic stops.

by ferreting out covert gang members in uniform?