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"Be careful
what you wish for; you may get it"
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Lawrence C. Trostle
Anchorage Daily News, November 17, 1995, p. B8.
A recent Associated Press article,
"Serious street crime grows . . .", which appeared
in the Daily News, was picked up by CBS National News
Radio, broadcasting to the nation that Anchorage is a violent,
gang-ridden city. In addition, based on statements by Anchorage
police authorities and media, the Los Angeles Times reported
that people moving to Anchorage for a peaceful life cannot escape
street gangs.
I accept the axiom that the delinquent
behavior of juveniles is frequently group behavior. However,
I refuse to accept that Anchorage has a gang problem simply because
a police officer or a media reporter claims it does.
As a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles
County, I spent many years working directly in street gang interdiction
programs. As a faculty member at the UAA Justice Center, I have
devoted much time to researching street gangs. I do not see the
gang problem so many people are discussing.
When we hear the term "gang,"
what are we hearing? The term seems to be a vague reference point
that many are willing to accept without precise definition. It
would be beneficial if everyone was on the same page and we all
knew just what was meant when someone talked about "gangs"
or "gang members." Are we talking about gang colors?
Or about kids who leave the right or left shoulder strap of their
overalls unbuttoned? Are we talking about a group of young black
males standing on a corner in Mountain View, or about a group
of young Asian males driving down Northern Lights at 10:30 on
a Friday night, or about a group of high school football players
going out for a late night snack after a game? Or are we talking
about internationally known, second or third generation, violent
street gangs like the West Coast "Crips" and "Bloods,"
Hispanic street gangs like "18th Street" and "White
Fence" of East Los Angeles, or regional gangs like the "People"
and "Folks" from the Midwest?
We have been told we have "drive-bys"
in Anchorage. What is a drive-by? Is it one group of people who
set out with the specific intent to locate another group to kill
them for some perceived wrong? There have been examples of this
type of behavior in the municipality -- but are these acts of
violence the result of groups of kids who identify specific turf
as theirs and who will kill to defend it? Or who will kill because
someone is wearing the wrong gang color?
Or are these acts random? In gang
parlance, a drive-by shooting means to shoot specifically at
another person from a rival gang or at a residence where a rival
gang member is believed to be. It may not always be apparent,
but gang behavior -- especially violent behavior -- is not random.
It involves retaliation for perceived insults by rival gang members,
or it is aimed at establishing and maintaining territorial bounds.
The incidents in Anchorage have not fit this definition.
There is a sound criminological
theory called "labeling theory." Without any academic
rambling, Judge Lance Ito summarized labeling best: "Be
careful what you wish for, you may get it." Based on available
statistics, Anchorage has about the same delinquency rate it
has always had, although, because of the availability of guns,
some delinquents today are more capable of violence than those
in the past.
But if we insist on having a gang
problem, just like down south, let's define what a gang is, what
a gang member is, and what a drive-by shooting is, so that everyone
has the same points of reference in interpreting the information.
Let's also bear in mind that our definitions will set the parameters
of public policy when it comes to dealing with "gangs."
Once again, we're apt to get what we wish for. We create serious
social problems when we label every group of young people we
see on the street as a gang.
Lawrence C. Trostle, Ph.D., is assistant professor of justice at the University of Alaska Anchorage.