If you're not troubled with where things are headed with society and gangs, I might ask, why?
Just got off the phone with a woman upset about the severe tagging taking place in a certain rural area east of Ceres. Of course, I've been noticing how the punks are marking up road signs all over the county. Members of gangs are leaving their urban perches and making it into the country where they're tagging monikers on road signs and people's fences, something akin to dogs urinating on the fire hydrants to mark territory.
Consider the March 29 incident where a Modesto officer became surrounded by a group of about 60 lawless thugs on Pelton Avenue. The officer happened upon the scene of an assault victim. As the officer tried to end the assault and make an arrest, a crowd pulled the suspect from the officer's grasp. An ugly scene developed. The officer was punched in the face, assaulted with bottles and had his life was threatened.
Some of the poor brats who were at the scene whined to the local press that the police didn't treat them fairly when the billy clubs came out. My blood pressure rises as I struggle to refrain from writing something I shouldn't. Let's just say they should feel fortunate that nobody was actually shot by officers who demonstrated amazing restraint.
The March 29 incident was not unlike the incident that occurred in Waterford last year in which thugs from a Latino gang defied a Sheriff's deputy. A pastor who happened to be riding along that night offered what assistance he could: He called for back-up and drove the officer's car closer to the officer who was confronting suspects. It was a harrowing experience.
Something sick is going on with our youth. It's apparent that many parents are failing miserably in their duty. They are raising - or shall I say they're allowing the street to raise - a defective breed of offspring who disrespect others' property, disrespect the country and its laws and they don't fear authority.
Instead of recognizing the dysfunction and anti-societal attitudes within their communities, and taking it upon themselves to correct the problem, they resort to attacking police. Remember the whining and crying done by the Latino community as the police were getting a handle on gangs following the gang-related 2005 shooting death of Sgt. Howard Stevenson? Remember how the black community recently hailed rape suspect Lovelle Mixon as a hero for killing four Oakland officers all of whom were white? They saw what he did as payback for the New Year's Day BART shooting.
Locally the Latino community needs to undergo a thorough reality check. They need to quit attacking police and quit using the well-worn cries of racism and address why so many youth are reaching teenhood with criminal hearts.
There's not one cause for gangs, but certainly poverty and a sense of hopelessness are primary factors. Knowledge is power in getting out of poverty but while education is available to all, many don't take it seriously.
I also ask, where's dad? Society has deemed fathers as unnecessary in controlling kids. Each time a father abandons the family unit he created and drops it in the hands of an overwhelmed mother, he increases the likelihood that his children will join gangs for a sense of belonging.
I think it would be fair to say that the rest of us have had it. If this kind of lawlessness continues on our streets where youth flagrantly confront law enforcement, look for a citizenry to help out and it may not be in such professionally handled ways.
How do you feel? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
Just got off the phone with a woman upset about the severe tagging taking place in a certain rural area east of Ceres. Of course, I've been noticing how the punks are marking up road signs all over the county. Members of gangs are leaving their urban perches and making it into the country where they're tagging monikers on road signs and people's fences, something akin to dogs urinating on the fire hydrants to mark territory.
Consider the March 29 incident where a Modesto officer became surrounded by a group of about 60 lawless thugs on Pelton Avenue. The officer happened upon the scene of an assault victim. As the officer tried to end the assault and make an arrest, a crowd pulled the suspect from the officer's grasp. An ugly scene developed. The officer was punched in the face, assaulted with bottles and had his life was threatened.
Some of the poor brats who were at the scene whined to the local press that the police didn't treat them fairly when the billy clubs came out. My blood pressure rises as I struggle to refrain from writing something I shouldn't. Let's just say they should feel fortunate that nobody was actually shot by officers who demonstrated amazing restraint.
The March 29 incident was not unlike the incident that occurred in Waterford last year in which thugs from a Latino gang defied a Sheriff's deputy. A pastor who happened to be riding along that night offered what assistance he could: He called for back-up and drove the officer's car closer to the officer who was confronting suspects. It was a harrowing experience.
Something sick is going on with our youth. It's apparent that many parents are failing miserably in their duty. They are raising - or shall I say they're allowing the street to raise - a defective breed of offspring who disrespect others' property, disrespect the country and its laws and they don't fear authority.
Instead of recognizing the dysfunction and anti-societal attitudes within their communities, and taking it upon themselves to correct the problem, they resort to attacking police. Remember the whining and crying done by the Latino community as the police were getting a handle on gangs following the gang-related 2005 shooting death of Sgt. Howard Stevenson? Remember how the black community recently hailed rape suspect Lovelle Mixon as a hero for killing four Oakland officers all of whom were white? They saw what he did as payback for the New Year's Day BART shooting.
Locally the Latino community needs to undergo a thorough reality check. They need to quit attacking police and quit using the well-worn cries of racism and address why so many youth are reaching teenhood with criminal hearts.
There's not one cause for gangs, but certainly poverty and a sense of hopelessness are primary factors. Knowledge is power in getting out of poverty but while education is available to all, many don't take it seriously.
I also ask, where's dad? Society has deemed fathers as unnecessary in controlling kids. Each time a father abandons the family unit he created and drops it in the hands of an overwhelmed mother, he increases the likelihood that his children will join gangs for a sense of belonging.
I think it would be fair to say that the rest of us have had it. If this kind of lawlessness continues on our streets where youth flagrantly confront law enforcement, look for a citizenry to help out and it may not be in such professionally handled ways.
How do you feel? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
