A gang member s risk of being killed is more than 60 times greater than that of the general population. Given their rapid proliferation and unusual propensity for violence, it is not surprising that gangs terrorize law-abiding citizens. Once gang members have taken over a block or a corner, legitimate activity must all but cease. Honest citizens become captive in their homes and their neighborhood becomes a wasteland awaiting murderous gang warfare. In many of our Nation's cities, gangs have virtually overtaken certain neighborhoods, contributing to the economic and social decline of these areas and causing fear and lifestyle changes among law-abiding residents.
Gangs fill the daily lives of many of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens with a terror . . .
These laws empower police officers to disperse, cite, and if necessary, arrest gang members who are loitering on a particular street or corner. Gang members typically loiter for the purpose of establishing ownership of certain public spaces. This dominion often allows them to sell drugs or engage in other illegal activities. Loitering laws allow police to disperse gang members before their violence erupts or other crimes are committed. Such laws return control over neighborhood streets to law-abiding citizens, who should be able to walk their children to the local school, library, park, or market, without fear that they will be gunned down by warring gangs.