Latin Kings In Honey Park Research Paper
Eng 151-023
22 April 2014
Latin Kings in Humboldt Park
Chicago, Illinois: a perfect place for gangs such as the Latin Kings to spread. Among the many areas that make up the city, the chaos continues to grow when it comes to drugs and violence. Humboldt Park in Chicago has a very dense population dominated by gang members mostly included in the Latin Kings. For more than thirty years, the gang’s “Motherland” is at the corner of Spaulding and Beach in West Humboldt Park (Kugler). Though it is nearly impossible to fully eliminate the Latin Kings in the area, steps may be taken to slow them down. A solution to this problem is to have harsher punishments and longer sentences for the gang members who are arrested in the future. With time, this …show more content…
solution should start to remove the amount of chaos in the Humboldt Park area. The Latin Kings are among the most violent street gangs that are spread across America. George W. Knox states “the history of this gang is written in blood” (Knox). He goes on to express how vicious this organization really is, and how they become more powerful inflicting fear upon others. The first known Latin King gang in Chicago formed around 1961 (Knox). Since then, the gang has been causing disorder, being violent, and selling drugs.
The Humboldt Park area is infamous for murders, being mostly gang related.
Not only are these members targeting other gangs, but also innocent people. A common gang initiation requirement for the person wishing to join is to kill someone. According to CBS Chicago, in March 2012, two Latin King affiliated members shot and killed a six-year-old girl who was playing in her front yard. Within that weekend, there were around ten fatal shootings and around thirty-four others wounded (“At Least”). Gunshots are heard every day in this region, and many of them result in Latin King victims. Families are scared to go outside, never knowing if they will become a casualty of the next shooting. These Latin King members are so ruthless that they even harm their own men. According to No Way Out, Juan Vanga, 22, was beaten by other members for three minutes just to get out of the gang. This shows that there is even violence inside the gang (“No …show more content…
Way).
Previous police encounters with the Latin Kings can illustrate that they are also trying to crack down on the drugs being sold. According to NBC Chicago, in April 2012, ten supposed Latin King members were arrested and charged after an investigation that went on for two months, which exposed them selling and purchasing narcotics within 1,000 feet from a school in Humboldt Park (Torres). The war against drugs in Chicago is an immense problem. The drugs in Humboldt Park being brought in by the Latin Kings are contributing to this. The gang is focused on economics and will do anything to make money (Knox). There needs to be an end to all of this commotion.
Many solutions to the Latin King violence and drug problems in Humboldt Park have been brought into action, yet it is still a big problem today. In 1967, Chicago Police established their first gang squad in attempt to lower the amount of gangs (Lemmer). One new proposal, to lower the amount of Latin King concerns in Humboldt Park, would be to have harsher punishments for the crimes being committed. Knowing that there would be more severe penalties for their actions may be a deterrent to the members. Through interviews, a mean age has been calculated when members will be arrested for their first crime. While looking at Knox’s profile of the Latin Kings, the mean age of a first arrest of the many interviewed gangsters was about twelve years old (Knox). Laws should be made to have harsher punishments for any crime simply being affiliated with the Latin Kings. If the members are arrested, a higher bail should be set so it is harder to pay.
As for the Latin Kings that will be arrested in the future, longer sentences should be given. This would keep the members who were most likely arrested for violent crimes or drugs off of the streets for a longer amount of time. Law enforcement should focus on catching the members that have higher rankings in the gang, and pull them out of society. Without them on the streets, there is a lesser chance of them having communications with the rest of the gang to. This prevents them from contributing to business. According to Knox, “there already exists a hierarchy of Latin Kings (LK) control in the federal prison system” (Knox). This means that incarcerated members still have access to communication with fellow Kings while in prison. Higher-ranking Kings need to be held separate and away from other members so they cannot have contact with them. The Latin Kings who will be detained in the future should be given longer sentences. As a result, Humboldt Park would have fewer gang members.
With any solution proposal, there are always those who criticize and argue that it would not work. One counterargument to the solutions stated above, is that doing these things will not fully eliminate the violence and drugs in Humboldt Park brought with the Latin Kings. A rebuttal could be made to this argument by stating that it would be nearly impossible to fully eliminate any gangs spread throughout Chicago. The Latin King gang is extremely organized with thousands of members so it would be almost unfathomable to clean the streets of them. Instead of attempting to do something immense like that, there needs to be smaller steps taken to begin lowering the amount of Latin Kings in Humboldt Park. This is a common counterargument that people often claim.
Overall, the amount of Latin King violence and drugs in Humboldt Park is becoming outrageous.
This gang, that will do anything for the business, is taking innocent lives and causing havoc every day. Without taking actions to this problem, it will continue to progress and become worse. With any problem there is a solution. To begin gaining control of the Latin Kings in Humboldt Park, harsher punishments and longer sentences for the members who are arrested in the future need to be given. By doing so, progress will be seen and the streets will become a safer place.
Works Cited
"At Least 10 Dead, Dozens Wounded In Weekend Violence - CBS Chicago." CBS Chicago. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Hull Chicago, By Jon D. "No Way Out." Time 140.7 (1992): 38. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Knox, George W. "Gang Profile: The Latin Kings." NGCRC. National Gang Crime Research Center, 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Kugler, John. "Gang Violence Across Humboldt Park - Substance News." Gang Violence across Humboldt Park - Substance News. N.p., 19 June 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. .
Lemmer, Thomas J., Gad J. Bensingecr, and Arthur J. Lurigio. "An Analysis of Police Responses to Gangs in Chicago." Police Practice & Research 9.5 (2008): 417-430. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Torres, Sandra. "10 Arrested in Humboldt Park Gang Bust." NBC Chicago. N.p., 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
.
22 April 2014
Latin Kings in Humboldt Park
Chicago, Illinois: a perfect place for gangs such as the Latin Kings to spread. Among the many areas that make up the city, the chaos continues to grow when it comes to drugs and violence. Humboldt Park in Chicago has a very dense population dominated by gang members mostly included in the Latin Kings. For more than thirty years, the gang’s “Motherland” is at the corner of Spaulding and Beach in West Humboldt Park (Kugler). Though it is nearly impossible to fully eliminate the Latin Kings in the area, steps may be taken to slow them down. A solution to this problem is to have harsher punishments and longer sentences for the gang members who are arrested in the future. With time, this …show more content…
solution should start to remove the amount of chaos in the Humboldt Park area. The Latin Kings are among the most violent street gangs that are spread across America. George W. Knox states “the history of this gang is written in blood” (Knox). He goes on to express how vicious this organization really is, and how they become more powerful inflicting fear upon others. The first known Latin King gang in Chicago formed around 1961 (Knox). Since then, the gang has been causing disorder, being violent, and selling drugs.
The Humboldt Park area is infamous for murders, being mostly gang related.
Not only are these members targeting other gangs, but also innocent people. A common gang initiation requirement for the person wishing to join is to kill someone. According to CBS Chicago, in March 2012, two Latin King affiliated members shot and killed a six-year-old girl who was playing in her front yard. Within that weekend, there were around ten fatal shootings and around thirty-four others wounded (“At Least”). Gunshots are heard every day in this region, and many of them result in Latin King victims. Families are scared to go outside, never knowing if they will become a casualty of the next shooting. These Latin King members are so ruthless that they even harm their own men. According to No Way Out, Juan Vanga, 22, was beaten by other members for three minutes just to get out of the gang. This shows that there is even violence inside the gang (“No …show more content…
Way).
Previous police encounters with the Latin Kings can illustrate that they are also trying to crack down on the drugs being sold. According to NBC Chicago, in April 2012, ten supposed Latin King members were arrested and charged after an investigation that went on for two months, which exposed them selling and purchasing narcotics within 1,000 feet from a school in Humboldt Park (Torres). The war against drugs in Chicago is an immense problem. The drugs in Humboldt Park being brought in by the Latin Kings are contributing to this. The gang is focused on economics and will do anything to make money (Knox). There needs to be an end to all of this commotion.
Many solutions to the Latin King violence and drug problems in Humboldt Park have been brought into action, yet it is still a big problem today. In 1967, Chicago Police established their first gang squad in attempt to lower the amount of gangs (Lemmer). One new proposal, to lower the amount of Latin King concerns in Humboldt Park, would be to have harsher punishments for the crimes being committed. Knowing that there would be more severe penalties for their actions may be a deterrent to the members. Through interviews, a mean age has been calculated when members will be arrested for their first crime. While looking at Knox’s profile of the Latin Kings, the mean age of a first arrest of the many interviewed gangsters was about twelve years old (Knox). Laws should be made to have harsher punishments for any crime simply being affiliated with the Latin Kings. If the members are arrested, a higher bail should be set so it is harder to pay.
As for the Latin Kings that will be arrested in the future, longer sentences should be given. This would keep the members who were most likely arrested for violent crimes or drugs off of the streets for a longer amount of time. Law enforcement should focus on catching the members that have higher rankings in the gang, and pull them out of society. Without them on the streets, there is a lesser chance of them having communications with the rest of the gang to. This prevents them from contributing to business. According to Knox, “there already exists a hierarchy of Latin Kings (LK) control in the federal prison system” (Knox). This means that incarcerated members still have access to communication with fellow Kings while in prison. Higher-ranking Kings need to be held separate and away from other members so they cannot have contact with them. The Latin Kings who will be detained in the future should be given longer sentences. As a result, Humboldt Park would have fewer gang members.
With any solution proposal, there are always those who criticize and argue that it would not work. One counterargument to the solutions stated above, is that doing these things will not fully eliminate the violence and drugs in Humboldt Park brought with the Latin Kings. A rebuttal could be made to this argument by stating that it would be nearly impossible to fully eliminate any gangs spread throughout Chicago. The Latin King gang is extremely organized with thousands of members so it would be almost unfathomable to clean the streets of them. Instead of attempting to do something immense like that, there needs to be smaller steps taken to begin lowering the amount of Latin Kings in Humboldt Park. This is a common counterargument that people often claim.
Overall, the amount of Latin King violence and drugs in Humboldt Park is becoming outrageous.
This gang, that will do anything for the business, is taking innocent lives and causing havoc every day. Without taking actions to this problem, it will continue to progress and become worse. With any problem there is a solution. To begin gaining control of the Latin Kings in Humboldt Park, harsher punishments and longer sentences for the members who are arrested in the future need to be given. By doing so, progress will be seen and the streets will become a safer place.
Works Cited
"At Least 10 Dead, Dozens Wounded In Weekend Violence - CBS Chicago." CBS Chicago. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Hull Chicago, By Jon D. "No Way Out." Time 140.7 (1992): 38. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Knox, George W. "Gang Profile: The Latin Kings." NGCRC. National Gang Crime Research Center, 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Kugler, John. "Gang Violence Across Humboldt Park - Substance News." Gang Violence across Humboldt Park - Substance News. N.p., 19 June 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. .
Lemmer, Thomas J., Gad J. Bensingecr, and Arthur J. Lurigio. "An Analysis of Police Responses to Gangs in Chicago." Police Practice & Research 9.5 (2008): 417-430. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Torres, Sandra. "10 Arrested in Humboldt Park Gang Bust." NBC Chicago. N.p., 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
.