By: Las Vegas Now Staff
The number of people joining gangs is not decreasing. In fact, just last year Metro identified more than 60 new gangs from the year before.
Police also say even with the number of gangs going up, the number of gang crimes, like shootings, stabbings and murders, is going down.
But the Clark County District Attorney says they still can't waive the victory flag in this war on gangs. In fact the DA's office is beefing up its army in the fight by adding another prosecutor to their gang unit.
Read the Clark County Homicide Report
For years gangs have wreaked havoc in the valley and Metro has been working to take them down. The latest numbers show metro's winning the war.
Gang related shootings are down from 274 in 2006 to 185 in 2007. Killings by gang members have dropped from 63 to 40.
“We have to continue keeping the full court press on the gang members,” said Clark County District Attorney David Roger.
Roger says the success is a combination of good police work and his office's commitment to keep the bad guys locked up.
The DA's office has a team of prosecutors whose main responsibility is to build strong cases against these criminals.
“We started off with one prosecutor then added a second and this year will add a third,” he said.
Street officers have changed their strategy to battle gangs because gang members have revamped their lifestyle as well. The gangs of 10 years ago aren't the same anymore.
“Gangs are less territorial. They are getting more involved in crimes of opportunity and more sophisticated crimes,” said Roger.
He says his office is seeing more crimes like financial and identify theft. But Roger warns citizens — don't let your guard down. Violence is still a common thread.
The gangs of today are less likely to battle each other. They are also joining forces to mixing an matching members.
“Today we have hybrid gangs so you might have Crypts and Bloods as part of a hybrid gangs,” he said.
Although the fight to take down gang members is showing progress, the community can help speed the process along.
The DA says the biggest hurdle they face when it comes to keeping these gang members off the streets is finding people to speak up against them. Unless they have witnesses who can point the finger at these gangsters and speak up about the crimes being committed, suspects will not be prosecuted and come back to terrorize the community again.
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I still believe gangs should be treated as terrorists. We should learn from Isreal and bulldoze the homes of these thugs as Isreal does suicide bombers. We must pass laws so punishing maybe the punishment won’t be worth the crime. I don’t care if the thugs are from rich parents the home should still be bulldozed and the entire family escorted to city limits just as the bike gangs were in the 1960’s. Poor parents should loose their children, food stamps, homes and especially wellfare and be escorted to the city limits. I’m tired of murders sobbing in front of the judge after nurdering a child. Pass laws and use the ones we have. By all rights all four of the people involved in Summerlins’ drive by should be charged first degree murder and death penalty. We passed a law stating if anyone criminal or victim dies in the act of an armed crime automatic death penalty.
Comment by Linda — March 3, 2008 @ 4:37 pm