Myth: Gang killings in Los Angeles County are the result of drug wars.

Fact: Most gang homicides are not random, nor are they only disputes over drugs or some other crime. The vast majority of violent incidents involving gang members continue to result from fights over turf, status, and revenge.

Myth: Gangs are only an inner city problem.

Fact: Different types of cities (urban, suburban, etc) in Los Angeles County have local street gangs. While a majority of the gang related slayings were in the urban core, in the San Fernando Valley, the murder rate spiked 60% in 2001 because of gang related killings.
Streetgangs.com, 2002

Myth: Los Angeles is the gang capital of the world and will never again be a place to raise children and live a civilized life.

Fact: Over the last several hundred years, a number of cities in the world have been proclaimed the "gang capital". London, England, was first given this title. Just before our civil war, New York was reported to have approximately 30,000 street gang members. At other times, Philadelphia and Chicago were proclaimed gang capitals. All of these cities, with degrees of success, have dealt with the problem and passed the title on to other cities.

Myth: Youth join gangs to sell drugs, commit crime, and make money.

Fact: Youth join gangs for many reasons. However, while gang members commit more types of crime (and more often) than non-gang youth, many gang members are not heavily involved in crime. Most gang members are not drug dealers and most Los Angeles gangs are not organized drug distribution rings.

Myth: Gangs are tightly organized, cohesive units with stable powerful leadership.

Fact: Most gangs are loosely knit, with several members who fill leadership roles, depending on age and situation. Membership fluctuates and gang members have varying degrees of commitment to the gang. Gang cohesiveness is highest when the gang is challenged by other groups or by outsiders.

Myth: Ever since there have been street gangs there have been drive by shootings. Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.

Fact: Shootings by gang members have increased as guns on the streets have proliferated. Drive-by killings are a direct result of the availability of firearms. People injure people; guns kill people.

Myth: Gang violence has increased consistently for the last 15 years.

Fact: This myth is incomplete. Gang violence started to decrease 15 years ago, but in the last seven years, began to increase again in Los Angeles. There were 256 gang homicides in LA City from January to August 2002. This is a 22% increase from the same time period in 2001, and a 47% increase from the 5-year average for those months. LAPD, Citywide Gang Crime Summary, 2002

Myth: Gang violence is purely a law enforcement problem.

Fact: Most law enforcement officials agree that gangs are a community problem that must be dealt with in a variety of approaches implemented by police, schools, community-based organizations, public health professionals and others in an interactive and cooperative approach to gang prevention and intervention.

Other Facts:

• In Los Angeles County, law enforcement officials are aware of more than 1300 street gangs with over 150,000 members. In the City of Los Angeles alone, there are approximately 407 gangs and over 56,000 members.
  Los Angeles Almanac, 2002
• Gangs account for approximately 51% of all homicides in Los Angeles County. Of the 1156 homicides in 2001, 587 were gang-related. The majority of all gang homicides are committed with handguns.
  Los Angeles County Safe Streets Bureau, 2002

Sources: "Report on the State of Los Angeles Street Gangs", Los Angeles County Interagency Gang Task Force, 1999-2000. Los Angeles Almanac, Gang Populations, 2001

MIAMI, Florida

A convicted sex offender committed a calculated, horrific crime when he murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford by burying her alive, and he deserves a death sentence despite evidence of his mental problems, a state prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

"The murder of Jessica was a cold, calculated and premeditated murder," prosecutor Peter Marino said in the penalty phase of John Evader Couey's trial. "There are some cases, factually, that call out for the death penalty."

The same jury that convicted Couey last week of abducting, raping and killing Jessica must now recommend by majority vote whether he deserves life in prison or death. Then, using the jury's recommendation, Circuit Judge Richard Howard will make a final decision on Couey's fate, probably in several weeks time.

Jessica was abducted from her bedroom in the central Florida town of Homosassa in February 2005, leading to a massive search that drew worldwide attention. She was found three weeks later in a shallow grave, clutching a stuffed dolphin and encased in two black plastic garbage bags, outside the trailer where Couey had been living.