![]() Gangs have waxed and waned in areas depending on many factors, but the sheer number of gangs and gang members has steadily increased with population and urban density (Pyrooz et al., 2015). Moving forward to 2021, almost 100 years since this seminal work in Chicago, gangs are prevalent throughout the United States of America. As history has unfolded, Thrasher’s assessment of gangs has been accurate. He noted, “the feudal warfare of youthful gangs is carried on more or less continuously” (p. In one of the earliest sociological studies on gangs, Frederic Milton Thrasher (1927) identified 1313 gangs and approximately 25,000 members in the area of Chicago during the 1920’s. Key Words: Gangs, Gang Members, Social Media, Music, Gangsta Rap, Evidence, Privacy, Surveillance, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment This paper offers a policing solution to mitigate these arguments while affording those accused of gang crimes transparency and redress to social media music videos utilized as gang evidence. Defense lawyers and gang activists raise racial and U.S. Prosecutors and gang investigators argue music videos involving suspected gang members can and should be used as gang evidence. Community activists often argue these seizures violate the individual’s freedom of speech and assembly. Police regularly seize these videos through open source and search warrants and present them as evidence of gang involvement. In modern times, gangs have utilized the power of social media to spread their message of power and control through music videos. In California, the “Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention” (S.T.E.P.) Act enacted in 1988 increased punishments for individuals convicted of crimes involving gangs (Cal Penal, 1988, §186.22 et seq.). There is a tremendous debate between the freedom of speech and assembly versus the police documenting such speech and assembly for criminal trial purposes. ![]()
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