Gang Activities In Rural Communities

To gain control of gang activities in large cities has become a recurring issue for law enforcement nationwide, and internationally. More than seventy-five percent of police agencies declared gang activity as the top factor contributing to violent crime in their communities (youth.GOV, n.d). Memphis, Tennessee serves as the Southern headquarters for gangs in the United States. According to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, there are approximately 182 gangs with 84,000 gang members in the county (youth.Gov, n.d). For every four men in Memphis, two will eventually become a gang member. Gangs in the Memphis area are droned to high crime neighborhoods. According to the Governor's Public Safety Forum on Tennessee Gangs, gangs operation in Memphis rural communities are
dominated in areas such as Millington, Mason, and Northhaven. In predominantly black neighborhoods of North Memphis, South Memphis, Whitehaven, Binghampton, Frayser, Orange Mound, Riverside and Hickory Hill gang violence know no boundaries (Maclin, 2015). The presence of gangs is also felt in the suburban area of Tipton County, Tennessee and other areas also. Over the past years, state and local police have found themselves working overtime to gain control of gang activities. In 2009, violent crimes in Memphis declined from 2006. On the other hand, in 2009 youth ranging from ages 9 to 24 represented fifty-four percent of arrests for violent crimes (Maclin, 2015).
Violent crimes involving youth transition to certain areas of the city, and were committed by a small percentage of youth offenders, the majority of whom were gangs affiliated. In 2012, Tennessee had 30,000 gang members, 25,000 at large, and 5,000 in prison, according to the Governor's Public Safety Forum on Tennessee Gangs (Maclin, 2015). In Memphis, various gangs operate within different avenues of the community. Memphis is home to various Chicago and California based gangs such as the Gangster Disciples, Crips and Bloods Subsets, Vice Lords, Black P. Stones, Latin Kings, Four Corner Hustlers, Suenos 13, Mara Salvatrucha 13, and numerous others (Maclin, 2015). There is also Memphis based gangs with legendary reputations, including Fam Mob, Young Mob, Dixie Homes Murda Gang, and Kingsgate mafia. In July 2013, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted into law a bill that increased sentencing of any proven gang member who committed a crime (Maclin, 2015). It classified them as a criminal gang offender if a prosecutor could prove that the delinquent was a gang
member. This allowed gang members to be punished by a higher classification than the offense required by law with charges such as aggravated assault, first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape, and robbery (Maclin, 2015). Gang leader also faced a two time higher punishment that the offense required if identified as a leader. As compared to 2010, murder reports decreased by twenty-two percent, robbery decreased seventeen percent, and aggravated assault declined by twenty percent in May 2014 (youth.GOV, n.d). As a result, seventy percent of gang membership has increased over the past two years and a sixty percent increase in multi-jurisdictional gang-related crimes over that same time frame. According to Memphis demographic, 53.2 percent of gang members were white, while 43.5 percent were black and 1.2 percent Hispanic (youth.GOV, n.d.). Gang violence in Memphis increased in 2013, as gangs retaliated against each other increased and as the public grew comfortable with their existence. In 2011, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that there was recorded activities of over 1.4 million gang members that made up over 33,000 of the United States' gangs (Maclin, 2015). The Governor's Public Safety Forum on Tennessee stated that in 2012, the state of Tennessee had 30,000 active gang members compared to the 14,000 law enforcement officers serving at the time (Maclin, 2015). The rise of gangs and their affiliation has taken the city of Memphis, Tennessee by storm.