In several countries, the crackdown on gangs is going on. Some notable countries are Mexico, Ecuador and El Salvador. Among regions, gang crackdown is more widespread in Latin American countries. In some counties such as Mexico, the crackdown on gang has been going on for more than a decade but it has been going on for several years in some other countries. By this time, many gangs were killed and thousands of gangs were arrested in different countries to end gang crimes with the drive. No doubt, the crackdown on gang groups has reduced the number of gangs, that are connected with various sorts of crimes. Moreover, gang crackdown lessens many crimes.
No doubt, many countries are struggling with gang violence for decades. Gangs have increased organized crimes including drug trafficking and kidnapping in different countries, but most gangs are mainly involved with drug trafficking, locally and internationally. Consequently, the number of drug addicts is on the rise in many Latin American countries. Moreover, a significant number of people are killed each year and children are given wrong messages in their upbringing due to gang culture and various types of organized crimes. The worrying aspect is that children are increasingly getting involved with organized gangs in some Latin American and other countries. Moreover, gang crimes have harmful effects not only on others in society but also on criminal gangs and their future generations.
Under such a context, gangs need to be controlled. Among available options, gang crackdown is needed and undertaken especially where the regular law-enforcement system does not effectively work. But there are some causes of concern with the ongoing gang crackdown in different countries. Some notable concerns are arbitrary killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, harassment of innocents, the killing of innocents in the name of the crackdown on gangs, the involvement of law enforcement with gangs and mass incarceration of detained gangs. Arbitrary arrests are a common criticism in all the countries that are carrying out crackdown. In Mexico, civilians are getting disappeared and killed, not only by gangs but also by public officials who are engaged in the crackdown.
Of course, gangs need to be controlled. Among the available options, the crackdown is needed especially where the regular law-enforcement system does not effectively work. But there are some reasons that need to be well-addressed too. Some reasons for the involvement with gangs or organized gang crimes include a lack of economic opportunity, corruption in the government, lucrative opportunities in gang engagements, the presence of international gangs, a linkage between gangs and local and national level political leaders and a link between gangs law enforcing agencies, especially the police. A lack of social and economic opportunities is one of the most important reasons for increased involvement in gang crime in many countries around the world, but it is more common in countries that lack economic justice and that have heightened corruption.
Thus, along with the crackdown, some other measures are important too in successfully reducing gang crimes in many countries. It needs to be ensured that the gang crackdown does not lead to avoidable killings. Also, arbitrary arrests and detention need to be avoided and, once it is found that an arrested person is not connected with gang crimes, he/she should be immediately released. No doubt, juvenile corrective measures and social integration are very important for effectively fighting gangs. Putting emphasis on juvenile corrective measures is especially important in El Salvador where juvenile gangs are increasingly given long-term imprisonment (up to twenty years). The scope of social integration needs to be given so that anyone willing to leave the gang and live a social life can do so.
But the gang crackdown cannot be the desired solution to gang crimes. A functioning and just system is more desirable because such a system itself can reduce the chance of getting involved in gangs and prevent different sorts of gang crimes. In this respect, public corruption needs to be well-addressed and an effective and just judiciary and effective law enforcement need to be ensured with a long-term plan. Also, social and economic injustice needs to be well-addressed so that no one remains deprived and is compelled to get involved with gangs.
