Gangs In The City

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment, "approximately 1.4 million gang members belonging to more than 33,000 gangs were criminally active in the U.S. as of April, 2011." This statistic is especially apparent in Memphis, where rates of violent crime among youth continue to remain high. Many of these violent crimes involving youth are gang-related, with the Shelby County Sheriff's department reporting the identification of 8,400 gang members involved in 182 gangs and gang sets within Shelby County.

Often kids who end up joining gangs are boys being raised by single moms in poor neighborhoods, says Toney Armstrong, the Director of the Memphis Police Department.  And Armstrong says that’s his story, too.

Some of the more notorious gangs originated in Los Angeles, like the Crips and Bloods.  L.A. has a long history of gangs and gang violence, and some of the gangs from L.A. have taken hold in Memphis.  Over the last couple of years, though, Los Angeles has had some success in reducing the number of violent acts committed by gangs.

Guillermo Cespedes is the Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles.  He heads the city’s gang intervention program.  He’s worked four decades fighting gang violence, first as a social worker, and since 2007 as the Deputy Mayor.