Young People, Criminal Gangs, Gun Violence: Addressing the Challenge - Essay Sample

Introduction

Gun violence is a significant challenge where young people form criminal gangs to steal and engage in criminal activities. Gun violence has led to the death of many people when they get attacked and killed in the attacks. There are various measures put in place to reduce violence and protect the people. The measures taken include addressing the challenges faced by the youth that is making them join the criminal gangs (Ludwig, 2017). The objectives of the government are to keep the youth engaged by empowering them and punishing criminals gang members caught engaging in gun violence against innocent people.

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I agree with the governor that the enhancement of a 2-year sentence for any crime committed with a gun as well as a 2-year mandatory sentence for possession of an illegal firearm. The two-year sentence will ensure that criminal gangs and people that engage in violence using illegal firearms are arrested and jailed for two years, denying them a chance to commit a crime (Ludwig, 2017). Punishing criminal gangs will trigger reforms among other gang members reducing violence within the cities. According to the crime deterrence theory, criminals consider the risks of breaking the law; hence increasing the risk by increasing punishment will reduce crime when the criminals fear the risks involved.

The amendment of the law to fund a media campaign against gang violence and to inform the youth on the new consequences of criminals caught engaging in gun violence. The media campaign will help in reducing gun violence by educating the youth on the importance of maintaining peace and the changes in the law (Ludwig, 2017). The media campaign will change the mindset of the youth and make them understand that they can live a life without crime. I agree with the governor that the media campaign will help in reducing crimes by changing the mindset of the youth who are likely to engage in criminal gun violence.

Sentencing and media campaigns to create awareness about the penalties for gun violence is a good solution for reducing gun violence among youths. The initiative can be boosted by the use of technology through programs such as Gunshot Detection Technology. This program works through a surveillance system that is installed in areas where crime is prevalent to alert police of a gunshot and the specific location (Fairchild, 2016). The program helps n boosting community detection and providence of data about the areas with high cases of gun violence. This data can subsequently be used in determining the number of police that should be deployed in the area to deal with the crime.

The initiatives can also be boosted through offender focused policing, which helps by focusing the attention to an offender who is repetitively involved in gun violence in neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence. After gathering data about the rates of crimes in different neighborhoods, the police can focus on the youths who are involved in crimes frequently and encourage them to stop gun violence (Fairchild, 2016). These youths can then be used to act as peacekeepers and create awareness to their peers about the benefits of quitting crimes. Apart from using policies that apply force and intimidation, friendly approaches have also been proved effective.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the interventions by the governor are among the many measures that can be taken to end gun violence in society. The youth need to be engaged to keep them busy as well as ensuring they have a source of income to end the violence. Gun violence causes harm to innocent people and causes insecurity in society.

Reference

Ludwig, J. (2017). Reducing gun violence in America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(46), 12097-12099.

Fairchild, H. H. (2016). Gun violence in America. Re) Solving violence in America, 17-24. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Re-Solving-Violence-America/dp/9382661352