ion of Los Angeles" (Gang Violence Recommendations 2). An estimated 950 gangs are active in Los Angeles county with an approximate membership of 100,000 youths (Congressional Oversight Hearing 5). Gang members often are chronic repeat offenders because the same lack of family support that made membership attractive exists once they are released from the criminal justice system. As one judge puts it, gang activity is rampant because "undisciplined, untutored, unnurtured young people" have so few alternatives in society (Gest 30).
Drugs are a major part of the gang lifestyle, and drug activity is closely related to the rate of violence. As one expert witness at a congressional public hearing testified, "Drive-by shootings, turf wars, and homicides are mostly tied to gangs. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area alone, gang-related killings increased from 317 in 1987 to 619 in 1990" (Congressional Oversight Hearing 5).
Gang activity in California has spread like a virus to other parts of the country. The Crips, a notorious African-American gang based in Los Angeles, has been linked by the FBI to the Medelin drug cartel in Columbia, major international drug smugglers. As one expert puts it, "They [California gangs] are not only spreading violence across the country but also are contributing to the trafficking of drugs around the Nation" (Congressional Oversight Hearing 6). Delinquent youth in urban areas in other par
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