wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Brooklyn prosecutors have indicted 14 members of the so-called Brower Boys, a Crown Heights street gang accused of a series of burglaries, assaults and robberies near Brower Park in Brooklyn. 

Federal authorities say they've arrested a fugitive leader of a violent New York City gang linked to a series of armed robberies and shootings.

In 2010, 66 children died of gunfire in Chicago, and hundreds more were injured. Staggering statistics like this show that gang violence in the Windy City has grown out of control. CeaseFire, a community organization with a public-health approach, tries to lead Chicago's youth away from a life of crime. To do that, the group employs "interrupters," former gang members who actually go to the scene of a conflict and try to resolve it in a non-violent way. And it's all chronicled in a recent documentary film called "The Interrupters."

Forty-three members of two feuding gangs who “terrorized” Brownsville were indicted on several charges, including murder and conspiracy to murder, on Thursday, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced.

A new report finds gang activity has been rising in East Harlem. A local non-profit is calling for multiple solutions, including an expansion of the Department of Education's Gang Prevention and Intervention Unit. The unit's director, Norbert Davidson, says his training sessions have reached hundreds of school administrators and also bring in outside agencies to help steer young people away from gangs.

Mara Salvatrucha, otherwise known as MS-13, is considered one of the nation’s most violent gangs. In recent years, it has a stronghold in Long Island, where is has been considered a source of illegal activity and indiscriminate violence. Local and national law enforcement have joined forces to weaken MS-13.

As the sun was setting over Central Harlem on a recent evening, 33-year-old Dedric Hammond, better known as Beloved, was getting ready to start his work day.

Gang violence erupted in cities across the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the youth homicide rate skyrocketed along with the crack epidemic. The government attempted to solve the problem by pouring money into strict policing programs, but while the incarceration rate soared, gang members still murdered each other in the streets. The problem seemed unsolvable until a method called Operation Ceasefire took root, an anti-violence strategy that held entire gangs accounted at group forums for any violence that occurred.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has responded to last week's riots by bringing in outside counsel. On Saturday, Cameron announced that he’ll be seeking advisement from Bill Bratton, an American policeman with a history of combating street crime. Bratton served as New York City police commissioner under Rudy Guiliani, and as chief of police in Los Angeles he overhauled the police department after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The British media are calling Bratton a "supercop," but the British Police have not taken kindly to the announcement.

How should the United Kingdom combat the violence that's raged across the country all week? British Prime Minister David Cameron says the country needs to learn a few lessons from America on how to fight gangs, along with possibly revoking social media and Blackberry service from rioters. What can the U.S. offer as advice for the U.K. on handling gang violence?

Producer-director Steve James and author-turned-producer Alex Kotlowitz talk about their creative partnership and the documentary “The Interrupters,” inspired by Kotlowitz’s New York Times Magazine article. The film focuses on former gang members who disrupt violent situations as they happen. “The Interrupters” opens at the IFC Center on July 29.

Federal prosecutors have brought new murder charges in an ongoing crackdown against members of the Latin Kings gang in Newburgh.  In an updated indictment unsealed Thursday, prosecutors have added murder, attempted murder, assault, racketeering and gun charges against a total of 31 people.

Gangs are present in all 21 counties in New Jersey and extends to urban, suburban and rural communities, an analysis by the state police revealed.

A year ago, when the monumental earthquake of January 2010 hit Haiti, 250,000 people died, even more were injured, and roughly one million were left homeless. But the tragedy didn’t end there. At the same time that millions of civilians mourned, over 4,000 prisoners escaped from the national penitentiary and began a reign of terror over the nation’s tent cities that continues today; raping women and children, brutalizing citizens, and controlling access to drinking water and electricity.

We're following up on a story we did yesterday, from the perspective of Chicago funeral home owner Spencer Leak Sr., about the challenges Chicago is facing in combatting gun and gang violence. On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a Chicago ban on handgun ownership, a move that divided city residents. Some Chicagoans were thrilled, and say the ability to own a handgun makes them feel safer. Others say even more people will lose their lives. Why is gun violence such a problem in Chicago? The Chicago Police Department says that gang activity was involved in 74 percent of murders in the first five months of 2010. 80 people were shot and thirteen killed over the past two weekends in the city.

Frank Meeink tells how he was drawn into America’s Nazi underground and how he ultimately triumphed over drugs and hatred. 

The United States is attempting to have alleged drug lord and gang leader, Christopher "Dudus" Coke, extradited from Jamaica. The announcement by the Jamaican government, Sunday, that they will cooperate with the U.S. has ignited a huge storm of violence that has left a reported 49 dead in Jamaica's capital city of Kingston.