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Graffiti and Gangs
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Researched by Matthew S. |
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Dedication
I
would like to dedicate my project to Ms. Derry, because she gave me
most of the information I needed, and also Helm’s Hardware because they
gave me the supplies. I would also like to thank my mom because she put
up with me during my volunteering.
Why I Chose This Topic
There
are several reasons I decided to take this opportunity to study all
about graffiti and gangs. First, I liked the fact that I got to
help the community. Second, I got to paint stuff and use spray off but
I did get a cramp by rubbing all the spray off with the rags.
Research Summary
Introduction
Welcome to the horrible world of organized crime! In my research
I learned many things. I will outline Crime, Graffiti, Gangs, and
even a little history. In addition to that, I will be explaining my
epic tale of cleaning graffiti in my Volunteer Summary, and all the
things I learned in my interview of Ms. Summer Derry.
History of Gangs
There have been gangs pretty much forever, even if we didn’t call them
a gang. In the medieval times, gangs were called religious orders. The
Templar Knights, Hospittalers, Teutonic Knights, the order of St.
Lazarus (an order of the people with Leper disease), the Freemasons,
are all examples of medieval gangs. These orders might actually be
considered terrorists now in the modern era. The Knights Templar are
one of the most revered and most closely studied of all these orders.
They started as the protectors of the pilgrims to the Holy Land. While
the order was there the knights found something that even modern
historians are debating about today, but they fled back to Europe. They
then suddenly launched themselves to center stage. Some say it was luck
and some say it was hush money from the Catholic Church. They then
became one of the most disciplined soldiers of their time. Now King
Philip The Fair (called that because he looked pretty) despised them
and feared the powerful knights, so like all monarchs of the time,
accused them of blasphemy and doing unspeakable things to the crucifix.
One
of the wickedest times in the U.S.A was the Wild West. This era of
extreme proportions was teeming with gangs like, Billy and the Sundance
Kid. In the Wild West gangs were involved with gambling and rival gang
shootouts. A gambling shootout is like during poker and you lose your
money (and your cool) and shoot the other man. In a shootout with a
rival gang or sheriff the two sides are facing each other and it is
then a shootout to the death.
All gangs have unique aspects. The Natives of
the Americas and the Celtic warriors of Scotland wore a type of paint,
which struck fear into the hearts of the enemy. Gangs use similar
techniques in this century, except they use tattoos instead of paint.
Others tells that you are in a gang are a drug addict (some times),
sell drugs, and have racist tattoos. Some rich people even join gangs
too (I know amazing right.) They are mainly kids that just want
attention from their parents. This really helps out the gang though.
They could ask the kid for money and if they are not allowed to buy
guns ask the rich kid or an adult gang member.
The Mafia
The
worst type of gang is one that is above the law and never gets caught
doing wrong. In America, we had something just like that… the
Italian Mafia. This is the type of gang you don’t want to know. They
murdered people who owed them money. They ran businesses and entire
companies without getting arrested. They originated in the mid-19th
century and wreaked havoc. The first Italian Mafia started underneath a
church in an island city, called Sicily. They came to America in
waves. The first immigrants arrived in the 1880’s. At
first, they were poor people that just wanted a job and a new start in
life. When they couldn’t find work, they turned to crime… Mafia
crime. The second wave of immigrants arrived in the 1930’s. These
people were educated and brought order to the Mafia. They would
eventually become big crime bosses. With the waves of immigration
in the late 1800’s and the early1900’s, they were bound to bring crime
but not on the scale of what America expected.
Crime and Gangs Today
rise in gangs over the years has greatly increased. With this rise, we
also see an increase in gang-related crimes. The main reasons gang
members get arrested is mainly illegal drugs, assault and battery,
stealing, and vandalism (graffiti mostly). Vandalism is mainly split
into three parts: breaking and entering, graffiti, and destroying
windows and other crimes.
The main way gangs make money involves
drugs and armed robbery. Armed robbery doesn’t get gangs a lot of
money, except for big corporate places (like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco)
but it is extremely hard and you need a lot of members. Banks are a
different story though. They are big, hold lots of cash, and not all
the time well protected like they should be. You could have one through
five guards there all at once, so bring ten members. Five to overwhelm
the guards and five to get the money.
Graffiti is a crime when gang
members vandalize a wall. However it is still considered an art form.
Graffiti is supposed to cause fear, demonstrate stature and power, and
demand respect. Graffiti is used to mark the gang’s territory. They add
to it certain hatred to other gangs. They also use graffiti to mark up
other gangs’ territories. With graffiti comes vandalism when used to
mark territory. You could get arrested and fined. I do not recommend
this for a gang member who murdered another, for the police will look
into your other crimes.
The only gangs I know of are the
Skinheads, Lk (a name of a gang), and LVL. I know of Lk and LVL because
of the volunteering I’ve done. These two gangs are one of the largest
the alleys of Selah. Since they are so big they need more territory, so
Lk and LVL are sort of rivals. They only fight each other because of
territory not because of a rival gang-banger shooting the other like in
most cases. That is why they haven’t been in the news of a
stabbing.
Sometimes the gang member after being released he
most likely goes back to banging. If he or she chooses to stop most
likely the gang is going to hunt you down. This is dangerous so try to
avoid them. If the gang is more than you think they might use torture,
so to protect yourself you might want to consider the witness
protection program if you blabbed on them for a crime. Only do this if
you want to get mixed up with the government.
The criminal justice
process for people is long or short for some. The more severe the crime
the longer. It can take up to 1 day or 1 year! The justice process is
hard and can have several court meetings just to prove innocence or
guilt! All this for every crime, no matter how small or severe crime.
Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine yourself a gang member. You
have just been given your very first job. It’s to kill a rival gang
member. You are now in shock. On one hand is the job, but on the other
is whether or not you get arrested or the gang punish you and either
way you are taking a life or your own. It is not worth being a member.
You could spend the rest of your life in jail or get sentenced to
death.
If it is mass murder (2 or more
dead) then this is definitely a death penalty through the eyes of the
public or those living or it’s life in jail. In New York there is a
gang called Blood Oath and they have been linked to over 80 murders. If
everyone would think before they acted they’re would not have to go to
jail and they would not have to have they’re meals and they’re hard
beds.
Conclusion
This graffiti volunteering was fun. I didn’t learn very much of
anything in my work, (unless I was a police officer.) but it was fun
and I enjoyed every minute of it. The research was the hard part and I
had to do a lot of it. I think it covers over 2/3 of my whole project.
It took about 3-4 hours of research. Now I hope you realize that gangs
are more complex than you think.
How I Evaluate My Entire Project
(1) How thorough and complete was my project?
I think I did a good job. I think it was thorough and complete. I could’ve done a better job.
(2) What would I do differently if starting over again?
I
would redo my interview summary, because I think it isn’t the best. I
would also redo my criminal justice process because it’s short. Overall
I think I did well.
(3) What major strengths does my project have?
My
research summary is the major strength for its longevity. I think the
history on gangs was probably the best paragraph I wrote.
(4) What weaknesses or problems does my project have?
My
grammar needs more work along with punctuation. My interview summary
needs a little bit more work and I could have asked for the Selah
Police Department’s help.
(5) What did I learn to do better during this project?
In
this project I learned that I need to better. I also learned that
things don’t have to be perfect but they still need to be good. Cutting
in a presentation is annoying.
(6) In what ways did I enjoy my study and work?
I
enjoyed my work in a number of ways. I liked volunteering but more
along the end of it I wanted it finished. I also enjoyed watching
Gangland which was really easy.
Who Helped Me With My Project
I
would like to thank the following people: My mom, Ms. Summer Dairy, and
Helms Hardware. My mom is the one who drove me around town and
tolerated me when I was volunteering. Ms. Derry is the person who made
my volunteering happen by giving me the supplies and Helms Hardware who
supplied the supplies.
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