Of Mice and Men: Gangs, Narco-Terrorism, and the USA

[Bill Moore]

Posted by slapout,

1-A good jobs/education program.

2-Better Neighborhood watch program.

3-Police cell phone communications system.

I agree with all of these, but do we really need good jobs and a good education system to prevent crime? The reason I ask is that both of these may not be politically feasible based on the available tax base, so if we can't get good jobs and a good education system (I'm thinking Hawaii), will that automatically lead to an increase in crime?

A better neighbhorhood watch program may be best described as mobilizing the populace to take action against crime (by alerting law enforcement) and developing trusting relationships between the residents and law enforcement. The residents know if they call, a police officer will respond relatively quickly. Over time the zeros (crooks) will get the word not to operate in this area.

Jmm99, in addition to infiltration (enemy centric) and good crime scene work ups (enemy centric) the police need to maintain a presence by active patrolling (foot, horse, bike, motorcycle, vehicle, and undercover) to deter and if deterence fails to quickly react. Amazing how quick crime rates drop when the police are actually out on the streets. That is getting tougher now due to the economic crisis. If they can use technical surveillance to augment their efforts without being overly intrusive I'm all for it. Not sure where that line between augment and too intrusive is though.

[jmm99]

Two of Slap's programs:

1-A good jobs/education program.

2-Better Neighborhood watch program.

could work together if, with respect to the common link (a solid, independent community organization, whether formal or informal), Bill's KISS principle would be followed.

The folks in the community know what is really needed re: jobs, education and security. Their solutions, I expect, would be better and cheaper than those imposed from above.

All of this fits into active patrolling and establishes a personal link between the cop and the community (as long as the cop doesn't act like an Imperial Storm Trooper and the community is not a bunch of knuckleheads).

The "friendly local cop" (who ain't going to be that if he locks himself up in a vehicle) can then explain technical surveillance measures (a video camara looking up and down the street) as being "my backup" and "your backup too".

The "political elites" (of whatever political spectrum) would hate this setup because they would lose a large measure of control over both the community organizations and the cops. And, it would kill a lot of their pet programs and controlled organizations. This paragraph a bit of a mini-rant.

Cheers

Mike

[j37]

The problem with stepped up enforcement is that crime becomes displaced. In other words, it just moves from one geographical location to another. There are tools that help LE identify where crime is occurring so that they can focus their efforts. One such tool that comes to mind is http://crimereports.com/

To address the better education system/better jobs:
They help, but I think law enforcement needs to be careful. LE can't just assume that the reason people commit crime is because they are uneducated or lack good jobs. It's not that I don't think the education system and economy don't play an important role;however, it's better to study the populace one polices to make sure you are truly getting down to the roots and sources of the issue.

Just to throw this out there, what can a police department do about lack of jobs and a bad education system?

Checkpoints:
I would have to wonder what good they would do here in the United States. LE can set up checkpoints;however, the stops can not be random. Before the start of the check point, LE has to come up with a pattern. For example, we will stop every fourth car. I do believe the Supreme Court set up a few exceptions to that rule.

MikeF - would gangs that do things for the community start to cross the line between money and political goals? For example, motorcycle gangs participating in toy runs during the holidays.

[jmm99]

Let's leave the law about checkpoints on the shelf and consider the public reaction to them. I'd suggest that it depends on the purpose of the checkpoint, and the reactions of individuals. Let's take two examples: prison escapees and drunk drivers.

1. Prison escapees.

Because I live in God's Country (it's so far from everything earthly, it must be Heaven ), we have and have had, near the route between Hancock and Marquette, two state correctional facilities (one at Marquette and one at Baraga). When I was a kid (late 40s and early 50s) we traveled that route quite a bit. Several times, we ran into State Police checkpoints which did a thorough search of interior and trunk and ID'd occupants because prisoners had escaped. The primary thought was not that the drivers were likely to be accomplices of the escapees, but that an escapee might take a car hostage. Looking at it from that standpoint (obviously, my dad's standpoint), the checkpoints were for our protection and to get the bad guys - and some were very bad guys.

2. Drunken drivers.

Here, the sole purpose is to nail drunken drivers (let's say everybody agrees that drunken drivers are bad guys - degree of bad will vary). Now, some in the line of cars three miles long (seen that in WI) will say: "Hey, I'm not a drunk driver, and we should do everything to nail those buzzards." Others will say: "Hey, I'm not a drunk driver either, but I resent being classified as a possible drunk driver where there is no probable cause to think I am."

In the first case, most people will take it as a "we-we" situation. The State Trooper is on our side. In the second case, some will see it as "we-we"; but others will see it as "us-them". In that case, the State Trooper becomes an adversary.

Tricky things, cordoning off villages and interrogating the villagers. There are more subtle methods, but they take skill, time, patience and a bit of showmanship.

My take.

Mike

[MikeF]

Just to throw this out there, what can a police department do about lack of jobs and a bad education system?

One firm conclusion that I've come to is that gangs are not a police problem just as insurgencies aren't a military problem. They are societal problems that must be addressed holistically.

Checkpoints:
I would have to wonder what good they would do here in the United States. LE can set up checkpoints;however, the stops can not be random.

Checkpoints have limited value regardless of the restrictions.

Static/Fixed Checkpoints. Think of a toll road. If you have the time, you will choose to bypass a toll road in order to not have to pay to drive.

Snap/Temporary Checkpoints. Think of a DUI checkpoint. You may get lucky and catch the first of a group, but a single cellphone call can alert the others of the location of the CP.

MikeF - would gangs that do things for the community start to cross the line between money and political goals? For example, motorcycle gangs participating in toy runs during the holidays.

Certainly yes. Remember Robin Hood and his merry band (gang) of thieves robbing from the rich and giving to the poor? In civilian terms, this is good Public Relations (PR). In military terms, we would call this good psychological operations or the "narrative."

In theory, it's easy to differientiate between gangs and insurgencies. In practice, it can become more difficult particularly when the group morphes or evolves. My recommendation is to consider both gangs and insurgencies as social networks.

Mike

[slapout9]

1-Jobs/education are a lot cheaper than LE. LE can have a long tail. There are the cops....then court....then prison.....then parole and probation gets very expensive when it is viewed as a whole system. Jobs/education create productive tax paying citizens. It is no a panacea but it is a vital element.

2-Everybody and there brother has a cell phone and most have a camera built in. 911 systems should be able to collect video not just audio.


3-More cops......we need them!


4-Future technologies......Air Policing, as in ISR capabilities with UAV's would be incredible. If they were just half as good as what you see on TV from Iraq that would be a game changer. They would not be as intrusive as fixed surveillance either. A camera would be able to respond faster than any police car. A great big Amber alert system

[Bill Moore]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34466436...ews-americas//

U.S. drug cartel crackdown misses the money
Criminals find a variety of ways to funnel billions into Mexico each year

"This is the brilliance of the drug cartels. They pay ordinary people to get cash across the border for them, and then easily launder it into working capital to build and expand their violent and illicit operations," said Louise Shelley, who directs the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University.

Interesting article

They seized $16 million in 10 years? That's absolutely nothing. That doesn't amount to a deterrent. That is an unsuccessful effort," he said. "We haven't begun to curtail the flow of illicit money generated by the cartels, and as a consequence of that we have not begun to curtail the drug trade."

Out of an estimated 25 billion a year.

The problem that prevents the problem from being solved,

Once the money gets to Mexico, the cartels put it to work. About 10 percent of Mexico's economy — the world's 13th largest — is based on cartel operations, analysts say.

As a result, lawmakers have refused to pass anti-laundering laws such as reporting requirements when people pay cash for mansions and luxury cars or regulations for salaries paid in cash.

[Ski]

The cartels - specifically, the Zetas - are also tapping into oil pipelines, stealing the oil, shipping it northward into the US, and then selling it to various businesses. There was a Washington Post article last week on this activity, which is estimated to net over $700M a year...and it's particularly painful to the Mexican state which relies on oil revenues to fund the Federal Budget.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...202888_pf.html

The shadow economy is growing like wildfire in Mexico. Also note the one Mexican minister stating that there is a "parallel government" within the state.