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Currently the city of Syracuse, as well as most major metropolitan areas across the country, is experiencing an alarming trend in violent crime and youth gang activity. ... These alarming statistics are usually directly related to the current gang problem in the city. It has been the policy of the city administration to deny the fact that a gang problem existed in Syracuse. ... This lack of attention to this real problem has caused the proliferation of gang activity throughout the entire city.
During the 1970’s, a very organized gang emerged on the south side of Syracuse, calling themselves the “Corleones.” This gang, which took its name from the movie The Godfather, became a very organized and violent street gang in Syracuse. This particular gang was very structured and responsible for narcotics activity, shootings, and a considerable amount of violent crimes. ... This task force was successful in shutting down the operations of this street gang and arresting several of its members for high-level violent crimes. This curbed the gang and violent crime activity in the city at that time, causing the city to dissolve the task force that was responsible for combating the Corleone gang. The city of Syracuse ignored the possibility of a gang problem for the next fifteen to twenty years.
“In recent years, the gang population in Syracuse has grown to approximately 750 members, from nineteen identifiable groups. ... Stonecypher, personal communication, July 9th, 2003) The predominant area for gang activity is on the city’s south side, but organized gangs have been identified on the city’s east, west, and north sides. In all, the entire city has experienced an increase in youth gang membership. This is a trend that continues to grow, despite the efforts of law enforcement to deter and combat this type of criminal activity. The most organized gang operating in the city today is the Boot Camp gang, from the Midland Ave. ... “The ages of the gang members range from 10 to 45 years old. ... Stonecypher, personal communication, July 9th, 2003) A large number of these gang members have lived with gang activity in their families ever since they were born. ... It has almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy for these young boys to become gang members just like their fathers, brothers, and uncles. ... Some of these units were: The Crime Control Team (CCT), the Directed Patrol Detail (DPD), the Neighborhood Anti-Crime Section (NACS), the Direct Deployment Team (DDT), the Syracuse Anti-Firearms Enforcement unit (SAFE), the Community Policing Team (CPT), and recently, the Gang and Violent Crime Task Force (GVTF). ... This enabled the officers assigned to these special units to conduct through investigations and invest more time on street level, gang activity. ... Approximately three years ago, the Neighborhood Anti-Crime Section, the Direct Deployment Team, and the Syracuse Anti-Firearms Enforcement unit operated as uniformed special patrol teams, responsible for combating narcotics, nuisance crimes, and gun related incidents. ... The Neighborhood Anti-Crime Section has evolved into a plain-clothes narcotics unit, focusing primarily on drug enforcement and is directly assigned to the Special Investigations Division. Although drugs and gangs often go hand in hand, this unit has been concentrating on narcotics investigations that are not always related to the growing gang problem in Syracuse.
Based on my experiences, the two most effective units in the reduction of gang, and violent crime, were the Direct Deployment Team and the Syracuse Anti-Firearms Enforcement unit. Both units had teams that operated on the city’s south side, which has the largest concentration of gang activity. ...
The Police Department’s most recent attempt to combat gang violence in Syracuse is the formation of the Gang and Violent Crime Task Force. ... The current structure includes the following units and divisions: The Criminal Investigations Division - Selective Enforcement Squad, the Special Investigations - Division Vice Unit, the Traffic Division, and the Neighborhood Anti-Crime Section. These units give the GVTF twenty-nine members to address the gang problem on the city’s south side.
Approximate Word count = 3253
Approximate Pages = 13
(250 words per page double spaced)
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