Assume you're the police chief of a major city with an out of control gang problem. How would you address the issue?

radical socialism on a national scale

@mammal Thank you. May I ask you to elaborate? How would socialism reduce gang activity?

gangs are a symptom of unfortunate social situations in certain regions.
i would counter it with an increased police presence in the afflicted area (to initially decrease the symptoms and to make it easier for the next step) coupled with with a sizeable social and economic development effort in that region.

If its out of control , the police would need to have a much greater presence. That is, more policemen on the streets keeping them safe rather than just reacting to crimes already committed. See ya…wtf

Offer a substantial reward system for information leading to a conviction for any gang related activity. Awards to be made anonymously. It will make every citizen a threat to them and make them distrust their own members.

Approaching the problem from both ends. Increased presence from the police and rooting out the social situation causing criminality. That takes time and considerable resources. Sounds very easy doesn’t it?~

Dare I even say gun control . . .

I do not know, but I’ll tell you what I do know. I grew up in a gang infested area, and my observations have yielded these conclusions. How to stop the gang problem:

Provide an equivalent education to all, no matter the economic condition. With a proper education comes actual opportunities at a career and a decent life.

Discrimination against minorities and immigrants must change. Having the majority of your countrymen think you are less than, and not as capable not only wears on the psyche, but creates a distance between people. Why would anyone want to adopt the values of those who think they are less than capable.

At this point in time poverty is a vicious cycle. Those in poverty have children; those children receive deficient educations, they are bombarded with images of themselves as criminals, drug addicts, abusers of the system, as less than, and not belonging; these kids grow up with little opportunity and a feeling of alienation, and they reach out to the only security they can find: gangs. As these kids grow up, they produce children with the same experience. The cycle continues. Until the situation changes, gang culture will continue to thrive.

There is mo way to stop it, for every new action the public tries to stop a particular gang, 5 more gangs are created. It’s just like terrorism, get rid of one leader and 2 more take over.

Put on a very tight rubber suit that looks like bat and fight crime.

When I was a kid there was a movie where one gang made up a rumor about another and all other gangs joined to together to wipe out the falsely accused gang. The whole movie was gangs, battling gangs, taking down their own numbers. Start there to downsize and then formulate a plan to clean up the leftovers.