NorCalUrban

TRACY (CBS 5) ― As families from Oakland, San Francisco and East Palo Alto migrate to places such as Tracy and Stockton, police in the Central Valley say they are bringing in more young people with problems to the area. The gang graffiti that litters an otherwise well-kept city park in Tracy is a symbol of the growing pains now tormenting Central Valley communities. And police say the very children whose parents might have crossed the Altamont Pass to escape the streets of Oakland, San Francisco or East Palo Alto are driving the trouble. For law enforcement agencies such as the Tracy Police Department, the crime fight becomes even more complex because gangs are commuting to and from the Bay Area to commit crimes. See the video here.

" Gangs are blamed for 56 percent of the 478 murders in Los Angeles last year. Many of the dead were victims of inter-gang warfare or drive-by shootings so commonplace and so far away from affluent Beverly Hills that they barely make the local news. "Most gang killings involve minorities, black or brown. It is only when something special happens, or a white person is involved, that it becomes newsworthy," said Malcolm Klein, professor of sociology and a gang expert at the University of Southern California. Klein said most kids join gangs for identity, status, reputation and a sense of excitement. Baca said 95 percent of gang members in Los Angeles were high school dropouts "who have basically given up on themselves. Some of them say they do not expect to live beyond age 20." Public apathy is part of the problem. "Even in Los Angeles there is a lot of denial. If you live in Beverly Hills, do you really care what goes on in Compton?" said Wes McBride, d...