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The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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127<br />

the poor economic conditions <strong>in</strong> projects that they are used to and,<br />

suddenly they are <strong>in</strong> a wide open territory and one <strong>of</strong> the first th<strong>in</strong>gs they<br />

do is to beg<strong>in</strong> form<strong>in</strong>g gangs...<br />

Q. Most <strong>of</strong> these gangs are m<strong>in</strong>ority youth. Are they any white gangs <strong>in</strong><br />

town<br />

A. Yes.<br />

Q. Black gangs<br />

A. Yes.<br />

Q. And Hispanic gangs<br />

A. Yes. <strong>The</strong>re have been also some <strong>in</strong>dications <strong>of</strong> Asian gangs.<br />

Q. And the police see each <strong>of</strong> those gangs as equally dangerous<br />

A. I th<strong>in</strong>k the police view gang behavior similarly. I th<strong>in</strong>k because <strong>of</strong> the<br />

<strong>in</strong>telligence that the police have gathered it has helped them. <strong>The</strong>y have<br />

followed through their system and tracked <strong>in</strong>dividual known gang<br />

members and by the national criteria and state criteria (you know, there<br />

are certa<strong>in</strong> criteria that are laid out before you can identify someone as an<br />

identified gang member.) <strong>The</strong>y would probably treat a gang <strong>of</strong> fifty or<br />

sixty differently than they would a gang <strong>of</strong> seven or eight. <strong>The</strong> large gangs<br />

were black. <strong>The</strong>re are at least two different white gangs that have been<br />

identified. . .White gangs are perceived to be as threaten<strong>in</strong>g as m<strong>in</strong>ority<br />

gangs and maybe more so <strong>in</strong> some ways.<br />

It a comb<strong>in</strong>ation.. .our gangs are multi—racial. <strong>The</strong>y have whites,<br />

Hispanics, Blacks, and Indians...<br />

Q. Who is more likely to belong to a gang <strong>in</strong> this town<br />

A. Either black or Hispanic youth.<br />

Q. What about br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g them (police) <strong>in</strong> the first place ... Can the police<br />

make it tougher if they see a gang Are they more likely to stop a kid who<br />

is wear<strong>in</strong>g all <strong>of</strong> the Raiders stuff<br />

A. You mean <strong>in</strong> general No, because not all <strong>of</strong> the police are conv<strong>in</strong>ced<br />

that we have gangs <strong>in</strong> Sioux City. In fact, I would say that the<br />

preponderance <strong>of</strong> the police disagree with the fact that there are gangs <strong>in</strong><br />

Sioux City.<br />

Q. How do you expla<strong>in</strong> that How do you expla<strong>in</strong> that some th<strong>in</strong>k there<br />

are and others th<strong>in</strong>k there aren’t and how do you support your belief that<br />

there are<br />

A. Well, I th<strong>in</strong>k what the police, and I can only address what I th<strong>in</strong>k, there<br />

is someth<strong>in</strong>g

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