Gang violence is something that plagues every city, and recently, city leaders have been stepping up to try and curb some of that violence through community awareness and meetings with gang leaders. While that has benefitted several of the cities that have attempted to make these changes, Chicago seems to be struggling. In fact, after a meeting here with self-proclaimed gang leaders, these leaders decided to hold their own press conference where they bashed the police who tried to meet with them.

Under the pretense that gang leaders were meeting for a regular parole check-in, police officers and officials sat down with these men and warned them that any further gang violence done by any of their gang minions could lead to a crackdown on the leaders, and, “Parolees could also be checked for violations; cars could be towed if there are outstanding violations; and law enforcement agencies in general will keep a close eye on the gang leaders.” First of all, shouldn’t police officers be doing these things anyway? I don’t understand why the threat of a felon being watched can even be used.

As if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, this offended the gang leaders so much that they decided to hold their own meeting where they said cops can’t just give them an ultimatum, they need to provide gangs with options. “At the news conference, the speakers said the city should be working to place young African-American men in jobs, particularly those with criminal records who have paid their debt to society.” While this would be a great solution in an ideal world, it’s not fair for gang members to curb their violent habits only on the condition that police officers find them other jobs. What will they do when the construction job doesn’t pay as much as selling drugs did?

Although there is evidence of these meetings having successful results in other cities, I have to wonder if they will last more than a few months. Gangs are clearly not looking to stop what they’re doing, they just want to make excuses for their violent behavior and offer ridiculous solutions that they know are impossible to make happen. They claim that they do not condone violence and that innocent lives are never meant to be lost, but are not willing to change their ways until they see other options. "The problem with them is that they're giving us an ultimatum – quit – instead of an alternative. But we're offering these young men an alternative, saying, 'Get off the corner selling these bags, and come to this construction site and pick up this brick." Babysitting gangs isn’t anyone’s responsibility and all of these people are grown adults, if they want jobs, they know how to go out and find them. It’s time to grow up and act like adults, and get their own lives together instead of destroying everyone else’s.

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