Who's a Gangmember?

From the City of Madison, WI, Police Department's DANE COUNTY NARCOTICS AND GANG TASK FORCE -- GANGS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

"STREET GANG MEMBER":

An individual shall be considered a "Street Gang Member" when that person meets any one of the following criteria:

1. When the individual admits membership in a gang.

2. When a law enforcement agency or reliable informant identifies an individual as a gang member.

3. When an informant of previously untested reliability identifies an individual as a gang member, and it is corroborated by independent information.

4. When the individual resides in or frequents a particular gang's area and affects their style of dress, use of hand signs, symbols or tattoos, and/or maintains ongoing relationships with known gang members; or has been arrested several times in the company of identified gang members for offenses which are consistent with usual gang activity; and where the law enforcement officer believes there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in gang-related criminal activity or enterprise.

"STREET GANG AFFILIATE":

An individual who does not meet the criteria for a "Street Gang Member," but is known to affiliate with active gang members, and law enforcement personnel have established a reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in criminal activity or enterprise, or promotes the criminal activity of a gang.

What jumps out to me is No. 4 under the definitions of a Street Gang Member.

Even if a young person is just hanging around with gang members, that young person runs a very serious risk of suffering in the same fate as the gangmembers.

If you dress like a banger, if you act like a banger, if you hang around with bangers, you are considered a banger.

Not only will the Madison, WI, Police Department treat you like a banger, but rival gangs will, too. When they do a drive-by shooting, they are not going to stop and ask you technicalities about whether you have been properly initiated into your set; they're just going to open fire, then beat it.

This is why acquaintances and family members of gangbangers have an alarming tendency to die violently.

And that is part of the reason ganglife is so painful. Bangers watch even the relatively innocent people in their lives get gunned down in the crossfire.

Then, they want to take revenge, so they go and shoot at the people that they believe are their enemies (they're not checking ID's either), and more people die.

Then someone avenges that, and the violence continues....

Isn't that kewel...?