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December 2, 2008 4:14:29 AM CST

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gang violence

gang violence news stories

13 Stories

 Ice Cube 
 Video Honors 
 Slain Teen 


Associated Press Associated Press Oct 4, 08 4:05 PM CDT
(AP) - The unlikely stars of Ice Cube's new video are the grieving relatives of a 17-year-old high school football star shot to death outside his home. The song "Why Me?" speaks out against senseless violence and gun crime devastating communities. "It just was a tragic, tragic story of why," Cube says. "Young people are dying for no reason all over the world that don't know why. It's ugly, everywhere." More »

More about:  music • rap music • gang violence • Ice Cube

Riot Police Move In on Parisian Gang War

Violence in French capital leaves several bystanders dead

Guardian (UK) Guardian (UK) Sep 18, 08 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - French riot police have been deployed to contain a gang war in the northeast of Paris, as fighting between youths from two rival housing projects has left several bystanders dead, reports the Guardian . Unlike earlier violence in France, this battle is taking place not in suburban ghettos but in the capital, where locals complain that they're being pushed out by the forces of gentrification. More »

More about:  France • shooting • Paris • gang violence • housing projects

ACLU Blasts Town's 9pm Teen Curfew

Wave of shootings prompts Hartford
to crack down

Associated Press Associated Press Aug 14, 08 5:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Connecticut ACLU officials are blasting a blanket 9pm teen curfew in Hartford and are considering challenging the crackdown in court, AP reports. The month-long curfew is due to begin tonight. The city announced the curfew after weekend shootings left one dead and 10 wounded. ACLU lawyers say the move violates minors' civil rights and punishes an entire demographic for the acts of a few people. More »

More about:  ACLU • Connecticut • gangs • gang violence • American Civil Liberties Union • curfew • Hartford

analysis

 Why Is Memphis the New
 South Bronx? 

Demolition of low-income housing has only redistributed the problem

Atlantic Monthly Atlantic Monthly Jun 29, 08 4:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite a flattened national crime rate in large cities, Memphis was recently dubbed the nation's leader in violent crime, prompting Atlantic Monthly to ask: “Why has Elvis’s hometown turned into America’s new South Bronx?" Local experts offer an unsettling answer: demolition of low-income housing projects isn’t eradicating crime and poverty by giving residents a fresh start—it’s just decentralizing and relocating the problem.   More »

More about:  poverty • gang violence • Memphis • urban poverty • public housing

LA Mourns Slain High School Football Star

19-year-old gang member charged
with capital murder

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Mar 12, 08 3:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mourners packed the funeral of a Los Angeles high school football star yesterday as police charged a gang member with capital murder in his death, the LA Times reports. The shooting of 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw only three doors away from his home was the latest in a spate of killings that has shocked even Angelenos numbed by gang violence. Shaw's alleged killer,19, is a member of the Hispanic 18th Street Gang released from jail a day before the killing. More »

More about:  Los Angeles • shooting • LAPD • gangs • gang violence • Antonio Villaraigosa

Cops Nab Gang Member in Bus Stop Shooting

He belonged to Crips,
was trying to make name for himself

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Feb 28, 08 8:48 PM CST
(Newser) - Los Angeles police today arrested a gang member who they say shot five children and three adults at a city bus stop yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports. Police say the suspect, a member of the Crips, had been trying to make a name for himself as an enforcer in recent months. He apparently was trying to shoot one target, who kept dodging between pedestrians. More »

More about:  Los Angeles • gang violence • bystanders • Crips

Girl Gangs Clash in Paris

Cops shocked by girl gangs fighting with knives, tear gas

Times (UK) Times (UK) Feb 23, 08 2:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Paris cops recently broke up a suburban street-fight between rival gangs—but this time the gangsters were girls, the Times of London reports. "They had knives, screwdrivers, sticks and teargas and they were really going for each other," one officer said. Girl violence has spiked 140% in France since 2002, but police were surprised by the sight of an armed girl-gang battle. More »

More about:  France • teenagers • Paris • youth • gangs • gang violence

Gang Gun Battle Shuts Down LA Neighborhood

Streets, schools closed after police shootout with drive-by killers

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Feb 22, 08 7:02 AM CST
(Newser) - Dozens of streets in Los Angeles were shut down yesterday following a police gun battle with gang members, the Los Angeles Times reports. Schools were locked down and residents ordered to stay in their homes as police searched for suspects in a drive-by shooting that left a man dead from a dozen bullets. When police pulled over suspected gang members, they jumped out of their car, fired on officers, and fled on foot. More »

More about:  Los Angeles • shooting • LAPD • gangs • gang violence • Swat

LA Gang Killings Down 27% Since '06

Crackdown on 11 most dangerous groups by wide range of agencies credited

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Jan 11, 08 7:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Los Angeles gang killings dropped 27% from the 2006 high of nearly 300, reports the Los Angeles Times . The city reported 216 gang-related killings in 2007, which still accounted for more than half of all homicides in Los Angeles. Authorities credited the reduction to a program that used police, federal agents, probation officers and prosecutors to target the 11 most dangerous gangs. Manpower was concentrated in eight "gang reduction zones." More »

More about:  murder • violence • gang violence • killings

Gangs Trade Tattoos for Suits

Members encouraged to keep low profile amid police crackdown

Associated Press Associated Press Dec 16, 07 6:00 PM CST
(Newser) - After years of punks with brazen head-to-toe tattoos and baggy jeans, organized crime has a new face: the clean-cut, yuppified mug of a college grad, AP reports. In an effort to keep cops off their tails and increase the bottom line, Latin American gangs are opting for brains over brawn—especially as they contend with widespread crackdowns in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. More »

More about:  gangs • gang violence • tattoos • El Salvador

Ex-Gang Members
Help LA Cut Homicides

Lowest rate since 1970 credited to
'gang interventionists' program

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Sep 28, 07 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Los Angeles homicide rate has dropped this year to the lowest level since 1970, a turnaround police credit in part to a new program using ex-gang members to prevent gang killings. Nine months after the mayor vowed to crack down on gang violence, homicides are down by 50% in some neighborhoods, the Los Angeles Times reports. A civil right attorney calls it a "paradigm-changing breakthrough." More »

More about:  Los Angeles • homicide • gang violence

Boy, 11, Shot Dead, and UK Press Reels

Youth's murder provokes shock, anger across British media

Sun (UK) Sun (UK) Aug 24, 07 8:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - An 11-year-old boy was shot dead in Liverpool yesterday, leading to soul-searching and recriminations across the British press. Rhys Jones died in his mother's arms, apparently an innocent victim in a showdown between two local gangs. Rhys's photograph is on the cover of almost every newspaper today alongside claims of "anarchy in the UK." More »

More about:  murder • crime • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • shooting • gangs • gang violence • Jacqui Smith • Liverpool

Frustrated Cities Take Gangs to Court

Lawsuits requesting injunctions gain popularity in effort to preempt violence

Associated Press Associated Press Jul 30, 07 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - San Francisco, Fort Worth, and other cities are suing gangs in an effort to curb violence, winning injunctions forbidding members to ride in cars together and even talk to each other on the street. Courts have struck down citywide measures after critics argued they unfairly target minorities, but injunctions against specific gangs or members have held up, the AP reports. More »

More about:  crime • lawsuit • Los Angeles • San Francisco • violence • gangs • gang violence • Fort Worth

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