McCollum: Florida now has tools to take on gangs

There is no denying that Florida has a gang problem. In Central Florida, we believe there are more than 70 gangs with members and associates whose numbers greatly exceed 1,300. These dangerous street gangs, ...

[eaglecoach04]

This all sounds good but if the judges and courts do not enforce the law it is no better than the paper it is written on

[THE SHADOW KNOWS]

The problem now is the Legislature has removed massive amounts of money from the Judicial Court system that would have tried these gang members.

[Brook LLyn]

This problem is growing very rapidly we really need something that's going to make a difference.

[Lord Fairfax]

Locking up Gang Kingpins in prisons have no effect. Somebody else always steps up and usually they still run the show from the inside. Unless they plan to throw them into supermax prisons, this is just political showman ship. Also our prisons are already full so what will we do with them. One answer would be to end the "War on Drugs" and stop criminalizing drug use. And I said use, that would free up some space.

[LaQuisha_Here]

The ONLY way to reduce the growth, recruitment and crime with the gangs is with the GLOCKS blarin..the member, their families, cousins, girlfriends, hangers-on..Make undertakers a BOOMING business and cremate these bodies for fertilizer for the Orange groves and plankton for the fish..If we start lettin the lawyers and judges in on this...Have you ever seen lawyers live in the "city"; they got so many gates to get thru to their houses, it is synonymous with the prison their clients are in!

[Gil]

It's coming soon in America! Vigilantes, secret government assassination squads,concentration camps, etc., and the truth is it's really the only way to deal with things. Nobody wants it, but if it doesn't happen then the gangs will take over the whole country. How about labeling gangs as terrorists and using the homeland defense to fight them?

[tap19]

Its a Start to a better life for us all. Instead of complaining support it fully.We will survive this without a doubt. Hats off to Mr. McCollum for taking the right steps to quell these thugs. It should put Judges on the spot to do thier job Fairly and Swiftly.

Regards

[Mike]

So we are going to lock up the offenders who are caught.

What is being done to address why people join these gangs in the first place?

Dealing with the effect doesn't accomplish a lot if the cause isn't dealt with.

[SBT]

Lord Fairfax wrote:

Locking up Gang Kingpins in prisons have no effect. Somebody else always steps up and usually they still run the show from the inside. Unless they plan to throw them into supermax prisons, this is just political showman ship. Also our prisons are already full so what will we do with them. One answer would be to end the "War on Drugs" and stop criminalizing drug use. And I said use, that would free up some space.

The new law means that if a lower level gang member gets caught, the Kingpin of the gang can get life in prison, so if they make a deal with a lower level gang member, which they usually do if it means they won't go to jail, but the boss will, the Kingpins will be in law enforcement's cross hairs. Who would want to be the boss if the peons getting caught can cause them to go to jail for life? It's a good plan.

[ex-Miami native]

If the gangs have BROWN in the name, they should be deported, not become a burden on us tax payers. If it's brown, flush it down!!!

[Grandma Fudd]

Mike wrote:

So we are going to lock up the offenders who are caught.
What is being done to address why people join these gangs in the first place?
Dealing with the effect doesn't accomplish a lot if the cause isn't dealt with.

Oh God! I knew a bleeding heart, bed wetting, nose picking liberal would write in about the gangs and now would want to know if they were abused as children, denied a new bicycle or BB gun at ten, were picked on at school, denied a nutritious meal while growing up --- "Oh sob! sob! sob! booo hoooo. We need to get to the bottom of why these find upright young men have turned to a life of crime!! Oh My! Oh My! I'm sure the bleeding heart pansies at the Slantinel will soon be featuring their families on the front page of the Sunday edition to make us all "feel their pain".

[Brent Kovar]

What about the people bringing in the drugs? Think youll ever do an investigation?:

http://www.madcowprod.com/05072008.html

[Mike]

Grandma Fudd wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh God! I knew a bleeding heart, bed wetting, nose picking liberal would write in about the gangs and now would want to know if they were abused as children, denied a new bicycle or BB gun at ten, were picked on at school, denied a nutritious meal while growing up --- "Oh sob! sob! sob! booo hoooo. We need to get to the bottom of why these find upright young men have turned to a life of crime!! Oh My! Oh My! I'm sure the bleeding heart pansies at the Slantinel will soon be featuring their families on the front page of the Sunday edition to make us all "feel their pain".

And above we have and example of a business loving, "screw the poor" conservitive.

Now that the distractive, useless name calling can be called over, do you have a point?

Gangs being able to operate and recurit new members happens for a reason. Some of it is the basic need for a person to belong to something that is bigger than he or she. Some times it is just having a chance to be part of a group. And the list goes on, but I expect no one is reading this for a sociology lesson.

Simply put, as with any parasite, trying to treat the effects will only have limited result. The parasite has be removed/destoryed.

As was aptly pointed out, putting the kingpins in jail does not mean their time being a kingpin is over. Especially when the gang superstruture is very embedded into the prison system.

[Mike]

Additionally Fuddy, you make a very poor assupmtion that it is just males in their late teens & early twenties in these gangs. They recruit as young as can be useful to their agenda. If a kid on a tricycle can move messages or product for them unnoticed, the kid will be inducted into the gang.

Young kids don't equate what they are doing to being right or wrong. They just know someone asked them to do something and they get a reward when they do as they are asked.

[Cold Realist]

The only way this gang problem will go away is to declare open season on anyone wearing gang tatoos or colors. Give the cops more authority to kill these vermin when they commit crimes. Any time you get lawyers and liberal judges involved all it does is waste tax money and turn them loose back on the streets to commit crimes. If their dead, they wont bother anyone anymore.

[THE SHADOW KNOWS]

Cold Realist wrote:

The only way this gang problem will go away is to declare open season on anyone wearing gang tatoos or colors. Give the cops more authority to kill these vermin when they commit crimes. Any time you get lawyers and liberal judges involved all it does is waste tax money and turn them loose back on the streets to commit crimes. If their dead, they wont bother anyone anymore.

How about a few "Gas Chambers". A person Hitler would have loved.

[pudbert_Savannah GA]

All they need is more bullets...

It's all those friggin' white gangs that scare me..

Every time I see a white dude at night, I look over my shoulder. Especially is there's more than one guy. they run in packs you know.Listening to that rap music and flying flags from other countries in their cars..

[pudbert_Savannah GA]

Mike wrote:

So we are going to lock up the offenders who are caught.
What is being done to address why people join these gangs in the first place?
Dealing with the effect doesn't accomplish a lot if the cause isn't dealt with.

If you're looking for the real cause, just look at the liberals making sure we PAY single teenage mothers to have multiple kids that are born with no hope or parenting or direction or guidance.

It's a regular production line to resupply the gangs, and make sure our prisons don't get to empty.

It's surely not rocket science..

[Typical]

And Florida's biggest tool... Bill McCollum!

[Anti Immigration]

Mike wrote:

So we are going to lock up the offenders who are caught.
What is being done to address why people join these gangs in the first place?
Dealing with the effect doesn't accomplish a lot if the cause isn't dealt with.

Why don't you give us some suggestions? Sounds like the typical liberal. Throw money at them so they don't have to work and it's easier to target the people trying to make a decent living while they frequent the tatoo parlors and push their drugs. Legitimizing drug use certainly isn't the answer.