Transcripts For CSPAN Hearing Examines Challenges Posed By C

10 00. The subcommittee on crime, terrorism and Homeland Security will come to order. Without objection, the chairs authorized to declare recesses of the subcommittee at any time. Let me say that we are to vote between 10 45 and 10 50. I will not make an Opening Statement, but put my Opening Statement into the record. I will ask every other member to allow us to hear the witnesses so that they all are able to get their testimony in before we have to leave to go and vote. So, without objection, all Opening Statements will be placed into the record at this time. We have a very distinguished panel this morning. And i will begin by swearing in our witnesses before introducing them. Would you all please rise and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give to this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Let the record show that all of the witnesses have answered in the affirmative. I will give an abbreviated introduction for all of the witnesses so that we can hear them and get to as many questions as possible. The first witness is kenneth blanco, who is the acting attorney general for the department of justice. The second witness is mr. Mark vanek who is a Board Advisory member for the illinois chapter of the midwest Gang Investigators Association. The third witness is captain chris marks from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. And our fourth witness is dr. Gary slutkin, who is the founder of cure violence, a Nongovernment Organization based in chicago. We will now proceed under the fiveminute rule and, mr. Blanco, you are first. Mr. Blanco thank you. Good morning. It is a pleasure to appear before you this morning to discuss the department of justices efforts to combat Gang Violence. Violent crime is on the rise in many parts of america. Gang violence increasingly are in the News Headlines every day. There are approximately 1. 4 million members of 33,000 gangs operating across the country. All of whom use violence to boost their illegal money making activities, protect their territories, intimidate their rivals, and enhance their status and fulfill their missions. Too many of our citizens live in fear of these violent criminals. All americans deserve to be free from violence and safe in their homes, schools, jobs and neighborhoods. This is why its a top priority of the department of justice, under the leadership of the attorney general sessions, to reduce Violent Crime in america, including gangrelated violence. Reducing crime means we balance strong Law Enforcement with effective prevention measures. We must take the violent offenders off the street and thwart gangs efforts to recruit vulnerable youth. To achieve the first of these twin aims, the department relies on the expertise of its federal prosecutors and Law Enforcement agents, including the criminal divisions organized crime and gang section, the narcotic and dangerous drug section, the u. S. U. S. Attorneys offices as well as its Law Enforcement agencies, like the a. T. F. , f. B. I. , d. E. A. And u. S. Marshall service. And other Law Enforcement partners, such as the u. S. Immigration and customs enforcement, Homeland Security services, h. S. I. And state, local and tribal Law Enforcement partners. Federal prosecutors and their Law Enforcement partners lead investigations in prosecutions of criminal gangs of regional, national and international significance. Such as the aryan brotherhood of texas, the gangster disciples, and the ms13, to name just a few. Prosecutors and investigators have prioritized Violent Crime and are working to identify the most violent offenders in their districts and to ensure that individuals are prosecuted fully and sentenced appropriately, including under applicable federal, state and guidelines and significant penalties under the law. Many gangs distribute dangerous and Illegal Drugs to generate income to support their criminal activities. And with Drug Distribution comes violence. Thus when appropriate, federal prosecutors also seek to charge gang members and the foreign kingpins who supply them with drug offenses. None of these investigations and prosecutions, however, would be possible without the daily sacrifice of the dedicated Law Enforcement officers who investigate these criminals. Specialized task forces comprised of federal, state, local and tribal Law Enforcement officers, such as the f. B. I. s safe street task forces, h. S. I. s Operation Community shield, and those funded by the organized crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program are hard at work in the areas with the highest concentration of drug and Gang Violence. Law enforcement efforts to arrest and incarcerate violent gang members have a Significant Impact on the quality of life in our communities. But enforcement alone will not end gang membership and Gang Violence. We must also support gang intervention and gang prevention programs. Many such programs are funded by the departments grant making components, including the office of justice programs, o. J. P. , and the office of Community Oriented policing services, cops. For example, o. J. P. s office of juvenile justice and delinquency jointly fund the National Gang center. It provides comprehensive resources, training and strategic tools to those in the field of Law Enforcement and criminal justice. As well as to the Community Organizations to prevent Gang Violence, reduce gang involvement, and suppress gang related crime. These are just but a few examples of the departments continued commitment to supporting our federal, state, local and tribal enforcement partners and ending the scourge of Gang Violence in our communities. Thank you and i look forward to answering your questions. Mr. Sensenbrenner thank you very much. I forgot to ask this, i ask than i ask unanimous consent that all of the witnesses written statements be placed in the record in full. Mr. Vanek. Mr. Vanek good morning. Thank you, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the subcommittee. For inviting me to today to speak about gangs in our communities. It is an honor and privilege to be here today. I currently serve on the board for the midwest Gang Investigators Association, illinois chapter. Midwest Gang Investigators Association was formed in 1987 and is in organization with over 2000 members representing 12 states throughout the midwest. It is a Collaborative Association Whose Mission is to develop and recommend strategies to prevent and control gang crime, administer professional training as well as assist criminal justice professionals, educators, probation, parole and public regarding gangs in their communities. The last 17 years, i have been employed as a full time sworn Law Enforcement officer in the midwest with extensive experience in investigating street gangs on both the state and federal level. Street gangs today are different than the gangs of 10, 20, even 30 years ago. Presently street gangs are more violent, more technological savvy and glorified. Street gangs have increased their prominence over juveniles and drug addicts in their day to day operations. Social media, the internet, television and the explosion of gangster rap culture has glorified the gang lifestyle to juveniles. Africanamerican gangs has become the norm in the street gang life with no longer a strict hierarchy. Presently gangs have factions that number into the hundreds. In chicago, for example, one gang has over 200 factions operating in the city of chicago and dozens more in the metropolitan area. In many suburban areas, every black has its own faction or what is being called a hybrid gang. A hybrid gang or gang faction consists of a Younger Generation of gang members, gang members of different racial, ethnic groups, and gang members from different gangs. These hybrid gangs have unclear codes of conduct, no hierarchy, or no symbolic association with more than one gang. The hispanic gangs have largely remained under control of a strict hierarchy. Hispanic gangs are still committed to loyalty to their gang. The hispanic gangs still abide by the people folks nation alliances from the late 1970s. Gang members prey on individuals that cannot help themselves by getting them addicted to a certain drug and then routinely provide them with that drug. Gang members have become a staple for a supply of fentanyl and carfentanyl in streets. A quarter of a milligram of fentanyl can kill you almost instantly. The Younger Generation of gang members are more tech savvy than ever before. Gang members can reach a Larger Customer base than selling on the street corner. At any time, i can go onto the internet or social media and within seconds interact with a gang member to purchase any type of drug i wish. I have personally investigated these types of crimes and it has become chilling to the extent of amounts and variety of drugs to be purchased as well as weapons. The cause of Gang Violence stems from several factors such as fighting over selling drugs, comments made on social media, rap song lyrics that each gang creates about their rivals, and particularly hispanic gangs fighting over colors and territory. Gang members have taken violence in their communities to a higher level than ever before. Gangdays game world, world, juveniles and innocent bystanders are being shot and killed more than ever. Gang members today view targeting a viral gangs family just as good a target as targeting a gang member themselves. If a victim does not wish to prosecute, the offender is not charged with the offense. In fact, often the offender is not charged with any crime. Another hindrance for Law Enforcement is get overworked. The biggest obstacle for Law Enforcement is getting witnesses to cooperate in any type of gangrelated investigation. Law enforcement does not have the immediate Resources Available to relocate or provide assistance to witnesses. Without any assistance or incentives, how can we expect witnesses to come forward and place their lives and families in harms way . There are technological advances that can help Law Enforcement on gangrelated and shooting murder scenes. Ammunition when fired from leaves a unique fingerprint type mark. Requiring samples from all semiautomatic or fully automatic firearms entered into the system would provide Law Enforcement investigators with new immediate leads that would allow Law Enforcement to be able to stem the proliferation of guns from purchasers to street gang members. Thank you for inviting me to testify today. Law enforcement cannot be the sole answer to reducing Gang Violence. Its only part of the solution to reducing Gang Violence. Prosecutors and judges must be held accountable as well as Law Enforcement is with the rise in Gang Violence. Law enforcement, the judicial system, government and social and economic programs and Community Involvement are all essential to reducing Gang Violence. Not one entity can solve it alone or take credit. It must be a coordinated effort on all parties. I look forward to answering your questions that you might have about gangs and look forward to working with members of the subcommittee to ensure the success in reducing Gang Violence. Thank you. Mr. Sensenbrenner thank you, mr. Vanek. Captain marks. Mr. Marks chairman sensenbrenner, Ranking Member jackson lee, distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the major county sheriffs of america, Los Angeles County sheriff, and all the partners who comprise the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task force, thank you for inviting me to testify this morning on street gang members and sex trafficking. The Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task force combines the resources of local, state and federal Law Enforcement with the Prosecutorial Authority of the los angeles District Attorney and the u. S. Attorneys office with a truly victimcentered approach. The combination of resources include the Los Angeles County department of children and family services, Los Angeles County probation department, California Department of corrections, and a Nonprofit Coalition against slavery and trafficking are all colocated in the same office, literally sitting next to each other. Our colocation model breaks down the previously established silos between agencies, and brings together systems of discipline to address the victims needs through a victimcentered, traumainformed approach. The task force employees a regionalized strategy that crosses jurisdictional boundaries to identify and rescue victims of sex trafficking, while aggressively pursuing traffickers and buyers. For generations criminal street gangs have pursued and succeeded in criminal enterprises. However, the street gangs historically operated their enterprises within an established territory. Their willingness to commit crimes out of their geographical areas was generally limited to violence against rival gangs and property crimes. For the past several years, gangs have moved beyond their territorial boundaries and traveled throughout the state in teams or as crews, as theyre known, to commit residential burglaries and robberies. Los angeles gangs began utilizing the flocking tactic. In flocking, criminal street gang members from a single gang or multiple gangs and sometimes even rival gangs join together, travel throughout the south land and commit residential burglaries by forcing entry into a house in overwhelming numbers and in less than a minute or two commit the crime. Now criminal street gang members are proliferating in the illegal sex trafficking market. Gang members have realize the lucrative opportunity sex trafficking offers throughout Los Angeles County. The majority of cases we handle, the traffickers are a gang member or an affiliate of a gang. The crime of trafficking commercially sexually exploited children presents a relatively low risk of arrest for the gang member engaged in sex trafficking. Previous illegal enterprises such as illegal narcotics, weapons and stolen property, placed the possessor in immediate threat of arrest due to the possession of contraband. To add to that complexity of the issue, the commercially sexually exploited child victim commonly does not want to work with Law Enforcement because of the trauma bond they have with their trafficker. There is the fact that narcotics, weapons and property can only be sold once. As we all know, sex Trafficking Victims can be sold multiple times a day, every day of the week. In Los Angeles County, and throughout california, gang members operate sex Trafficking Victims both independently and for the benefit of the gang. And frequently the gang members will travel to any community to recruit sex Trafficking Victims and they will also travel to any community to sell their Trafficking Victims. Either online, on the street, or in a motel. Without fear of retaliation of violating another gangs territory. However, in certain geographically claimed areas of los angeles, some gangs require sex Trafficking Victims to pay a tax. In order to work in that area. The practice of tax something a the practice of taxing is a common means of gaining money for the benefit of a gang and is historically employed against small businesses. The tax for sex workers has not been uniformly adop