Youth Crime & Violence Protection

Counterintelligence: Crime and Violence Prevention

Foreword

Counterintelligence will provide a way to create a avenue for our youth to gain proper helpful assistance before catastrophes cripple everybody. We must stop playing games, creating programs that confuse and threaten them to a point where they can not function. All is not well in society. Proper counterintelligence will ensure proper assistance in aiding our youth if done with honor and integrity. It will help us to understand our own experiences in such matter.

Youth Mentoring, Youth Violence and Gang Violence

First step is understanding and helping our youth. We think that we all know how to aid young children. Some may be very capable, but others may need to understand basic skills and child protection policies. Mentoring needs adults who are responsible, supportive and basically law abiding citizens. Mentoring acts as guides, leaders, teachers and trusted friends. Mentors need to have creativity, patience, communication skills, ethics, prevention training and respect for boundaries.

Proper youth mentoring allows young people to find socially accepted ways to develop into a responsible adult. Mentoring will provide the following:

	Enables effective communications such as talking and listening.
	Allows positive changes that nurtures one's physical, emotional and spiritual well being.
	Educates our youth to build strong friendships and relationships.
	Provides a investment where everyone will benefit in the future.
	Provides a role model that is supportive, honorable and law abiding.
	Provide assistance and healthy advice where young people suffer economic hardships, negative influences and family problems.
	Offers practical help in problem solving skills, career planning and business skills, schoolwork, sports games and current events.
	Teaches kids to have fun.

Basic skills for successful mentoring

	Creating relationships that is based on mutual trust, respect, honesty, reliability and acceptance.
	Being calm, understanding and providing solutions to problems.
	Avoid giving gifts. The best gift is your time and attention.
	Avoid making judgments and comparisons to others. Accept the person as the individual is.
	Provide challenges, support and encouragement for new goals and healthy risks.
	Act as resource that enables the person to become independent.
	Stay positive, encourage a "can do attitude" and keep trying.
	Do the best you can. Accept that you do not have all the answers.

Youth Violence

Youth Violence is any act that violates the rights of others which includes injuring and harming others or destroying property. Youth violence can harm entire communities by causing property damages and other economic costs, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual damage. As a community you have the responsibility to stop violence by being proactive, networking with communities' resources and groups, supporting recreational and educational programs and encourage multi-cultural awareness. Let us promote ethics and the importance of helping others instead of crime and violence.

Causes of Youth Violence

	Misguidance, neglect and abuse in any form.
	Low self esteem that results in violence to gain power and control.
	Inadequate adult supervision, role models and good examples.
	Influenced by shady characters who support violence and crime.
	Influenced by the media that promotes twisted values and facts.
	Insecurity, lack of respect and apathy from others.
	Improper, immoral and illegal community and family values & views.
	Disconnected and inefficient support systems.
	Negative influence and unrealistic pressures which results in despair for the future.
	People are influence by drugs, immorality, alcohol or weapons.
	Spiritual and religious games or practices that promote hostilities or confusion.

Tips for Helping Youth and Adults to become Good Citizens

	Be a positive role model.
	Build self esteem. Alleviate Fear.
	Teach youth positive ways to handle anger, frustration and conflict.
	Teach skills for conflict resolution, decision-making and stress.
	Teach them about crime and violence prevention.
	Give them support, love and time in a socially acceptable way.
	Provide programs for safe activities and healthy risks.
	Listen, Talk with them and encourage them. Ask for their help and advice.
	Teach them how to build healthy relationships.
	Foster cooperation and correct misunderstanding.

Things to do for the youth, mentors and others.

	Get to know your neighbors, talk with them and share ideas.
	Work with law enforcement and build a healthy relationship.
	Work and support schools, businesses and religious & civic groups.
	Build healthy relationships and foster community interaction.
	Help keep your neighborhood free of crime, safe and clean.
	Get involved and stay involved.
	Provide information on personal safety skills, self-protection skills, counterintelligence and executive protection techniques.
	Avoid becoming prey for illegal activities, immoral people or bad influences when working with groups. Trust your instincts.

Gangs

Gangs are local people or organization who join together to promote violent and criminal activities. Gangs are increasing in size, recruiting more members, spreading to smaller communities and becoming more violent and deadly.

Backgrounds of Gangs

	Gangs are people from the same neighborhood who socialize.
	Gangs are created from the same ethnic make-up or racial groups.
	Members consist of men, women, children, adults, teens and all-income levels.
	Types of Gang activities consist of graffiti, vandalism, drug dealing, theft, assaults, threats, extortion and drive by shootings. Not all gangs promote these activities.
	Gangs has existed a long time and are likely to continue but citizens can influencing them to change their dynamics.
	Gangs may evolved to a more sophisticated associations or businesses.

Breakdown of Gangs Characteristics

	Gangs can exist in low income areas creating strong bonds with adolescents and adult criminals.
	A gang in poor decaying conditions will fight for social status, integrity and honor.
	Some gangs will withdrawal and use drugs because they lack skills for criminal activities.
	Other business oriented gangs focus their attention on making money.
	Certain gangs focus on controlling and defending their turf by using violence.
	Some gangs have small organizational structure that motivates needy people to join.

Reasons for joining gangs

	Rites of passage. To obtain social identity.
	Pressured by gangs, outside influences and legal pressures.
	Respect and know other gang members.
	Quest for adventure and fun.
	A step to achieve economic opportunity.
	The person sees gangs as a source of status, power and acceptance.
	Community is disrespectful towards youth.
	To replaces their own dysfunctional family with a new one.
	Exposed to violence while being raised and perceive it as socially acceptable.
	Low self-esteem and hopelessness.
	Suffer economic hardships such as high unemployment and poverty.
	Threats and intimidation from any party or group.
	Protection from dangerous elements in society such as other gangs, government, religious organizations, unwanted spiritual influences and criminals.

Warning Signs of Involvement and Identification of Gangs

People who exhibit the following signs may not be part of the gang.

	Unusual gang names, identifiers, signs and symbols.
	Unusual clothing and jewelry that displays colors, logos and types.
	Unusual signals such as hand signs, lingo, verbal and visual codes and mannerism.
	Tattoos that promote some form of loyalty and pride.
	Special weapons or graffiti paraphernalia.
	New friends, poor grades and/or skipping schools.
	Adults who encourage support and encourage gangs.
	New religion, conversions & occult practices.
	Selling and using drugs or alcohol.
	Unexplained wealth.

Keys to prevent gang Prevention

	Analyze harmful behavior.
	Develop mentoring skills.
	Provide good role models and a supportive family.
	Discuss the danger signs of gangs.
	Create a community contact list of experts for positive support and advice, such as friends, family members, law enforcement or intelligence community.
	Empower and mobilize the community. Convey information.
	Use mediation, effective communication and negotiation skills.
	Use civil law to control nuisances, offensive behavior and crime.
	Develop strategies to discourage gang membership.
	Provide new opportunities for people leaving gangs.
	Be open, honest and respectful of people's problems and situations.

Conclusion

To provide assistance to youth, prevent gangs from emerging and criminal activities from occurring. We should be aware and understand the following: mentoring, warning signs, proper law enforcement procedures, community policing, procedures for reporting crimes, techniques that promotes business and schools involvement, creating a neighborhood watch and provide support. In addition, we must be aware of any type of criminal fraud and activity that will mislead and misinform our youth. Our concerns with gangs may extend to government, corporations and other organizations that appear honorable but are not. These type of gangs use a mores sophisticated approach to things to get what they want. I always ask the question, what happens to the youth who is tormented, mislead and abused? In addition we should make sure that our system of seeking help for people is non-threatening and problem free from internal chaos.

Warning: Please investigate policies and procedures, laws and regulations and history of the organization. If you become suspicious or threatened, find help elsewhere. Guard against questionable practices, carelessness, negligence, criminal activities, off the record conduct, biases, misinformation, re-victimization, misguidance and misdirection when seeking assistance. Know your individual rights, the right to collect information on any subject matter and the right to use other resources, if necessary. Check your instincts from time to time. Proper help is not always available. As a result, other healthy socially accepted methods must be established. Know when to request professional backup for protection.

E-mail: Fhawk@Ccil.org

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