It is quite normal for young children and teenagers to form peer groups. But when they go unsupervised and start engaging in criminal acts, that peer group becomes a "gang". A gang is an informal body of friends. They are peer groups who are socialized by the streets rather than by conventional institutions. They have the capacity to reproduce themselves, usually within a specific neighborhood. They are a nuisance to society, who the police should try to break up.
             No place in the world is more representative in having the most diverse and numerous number of street gangs as East Los Angeles. East Los Angeles has traditionally been the heart of the Latin Community in Los Angeles. Mexicans have been living there since the time when California was part of Mexico. Throughout LA County, there are other communities which have a deep Mexican history; and is one reason why East LA is the densest gang region in the entire USA with the most gangs per square mile. There are about 200 gangs in a 10-mile radius. It is for this reason that East LA is one of the most violent and crime ridden neighborhoods in the USA, not to mention the world.
             It has long been established that gangs, for some reason or another, turn on each other resulting in numerous fights and skirmishes amongst themselves. These fights often lead to killings. It is normal behavior for gangs to avenge the killing of one of its members. This behavior results in spiraling violence with no end in sight.
             A case in point is the recent killing of Clive Jackson. He was a 6-foot tall basketball player that does not appear to have any connections to gangs. Judging by the location of the murder, and the execution style of the shooting, every indication was that the assailant was a gang member and about the same age as Jackson. This killing was only one of almost 600 gang-related killings in LA in 2002. Fortunately, however, gang-related violence has been on the downtre
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