Gangland Colonoscopy - Los Angeles CityBeat:
Perry Crowe
"Some groups commonly called 'gangs' are relatively peaceful and loosely affiliated neighborhood groups. Other gangs are elaborately structured with eyes on criminal enterprise. The L.A. Police Department puts the citywide gang population at 39,000, while others lower the number to 19,000 and still others push the number to nearly 80,000. Even compiling a list of the city's current gang-abatement programs is hard to figure. Depending on the definition, there could be as many as 100 programs and as few as 20. And that's not even getting into the more complicated issue of whether or not any of those programs are actually working. "
