One of the annoying little aspects of my job is dealing with gangs. I understand that it is natural for disaffected youth who have few family supports to band together as a gang. I get it. But the code that is kept by these gangs is so far removed from my experience that I have a hard time working with it in my job.
People of my vintage, even the bad kids, were raised to have, if not a healthy respect for the police, then a healthy fear of them. I was a bad kid. But one of the things I had to deal with in my early days as a prosecutor was the inherent fear I felt when I saw a police man with a gun. It was instinctive and ingrained in me that they were figures of authority and power. Of course, I am way past feeling that now - I know many and count some of them as personal friends and know that they are human beings doing a job that can get pretty lousy.
But getting back to "kids these days" (I know, I know). I feel sometimes when dealing with these gang members and gang wannabes that I have stepped through the looking glass. I mean, had my friend been murdered at a party by another friend, and I witnessed it, I would have come forward to the police and told them what had happened. Because murder is wrong. But time and again, I have witnessed The Rat Syndrome. It makes no sense to me that, should you come forward and tell the truth about what happened to your friend, you will be branded as a rat and ostracized. Shouldn't the person who committed murder be ostracized??? However, people who cooperate with the authorities are pariahs and treated as traitors - their homes and vehicles are vandalized, their families at risk.
Because there is a publication ban on my current matter I can't go into detail, but I can say overall that watching people stand up for what is right in the face of this new morality inspires and humbles me. Now, more than ever, people who have the courage to say "No that is wrong and we as a community refuse to accept this any longer" should be lauded. It was easy for me to do the right thing when I was a kid, because it was clear what the right thing was. These days, it is so more complex.
Don't forget that in many instances the gang is the only family these people have, and to them it would be the same as ratting on your family - which is singularly difficult.
ReplyDeleteI'd rat my brother out in an instant, lol.... I got a conviction on this one today. Three guys walked up to the victims house in broad daylight in a residential neighbourhood...they opened fire. On trial was the alleged shooter. After a couple of witnesses rolled on him, he plead guilty.
ReplyDeleteThe scary thing that, aside from the danger to the victim, there was an 18 month old baby sleeping in a bedroom mere feet away in the house next door. I don't think I would shoot at someone, even if my mom told me to, but then again, I am not living the thug life.
I think that a lot of problems with gangs come from the cultural aspect of things. Many cultures are not policed. Many cultures have police who are more corrupt than the criminals. Many cultures have acceptable practices that we can't fathom, such as people turning a blind eye on a husband who kills his wife because he suspects she has cheated on him.
ReplyDeleteAnd in many of those cultures, one does not confide in anyone outside their circle for any reason whatsoever.
I don't pretend to understand it either. I do know that I am glad I was fortunate enough to not have to deal with issues like that as I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteWhoever this person is who is brave enough to risk their own safety and come forward with the truth is an amazing person. I honestly don't know if I would have the guts to do the same thing.