Once Again, Wrong Conclusion

Once again, the media dances around the elephant in the room, all so they can bash the police and pretend they're all "woke:"

• Nearly 33,000 juveniles arrested over about the last two decades have been labeled by Chicago police as gang members, according to police data.
  
  The records, released as a result of an open records fight by the Chicago Tribune, provide the first look at gang data kept by the Police Department for those 17 or younger, most of whom were African-Americans and Hispanics from historically violent neighborhoods such as Lawndale and Back of the Yards.
  
  At the time of their arrest, 13 of the juveniles were just 10 years old. About 60 were 11. And more than 300 were 12, a Tribune analysis of the records showed.
  
  Experts cautioned that labeling juveniles as gang members can create a stigma that causes lifelong problems for them yet serves little purpose for police.
  
  The Police Department defends its gang databases, saying they remain an important tool in fighting what drives much of Chicago’s violence. However, the department has promised reforms in how people end up listed as gang members and in how they can remove their names.

"Labeling"? In 99 cases out of 100, the juvenile admits to gang affiliation. In fact, they're proud of it. Do you know why? Because it gives them a sense of belonging to something. Their home life sucks, the "father" isn't in the picture, and the gang replaces the family structure, providing money, stature, protection, especially in Juvie, jail or prison. Some juveniles even make up their own "gangs" and associate with established gangs to give themselves street cred.

Are they "hard core"? Maybe. Depends how long they stay in, how involved mom is, maybe a decent uncle or some sort of intervention might save them. But the gangs get their hooks in the early and use them to run dope and guns, knowing that if they get caught the charges will be less.

But the media is acting all worried about how this "labeling" might affect futures? We're they this worried about Yummy Sandifer? He was a known gang member before the age of 10 and shooter for his gang. What about Gakirah Barnes? She was a two-time killer at age 14 before she was gunned down by Chief Queef's associates.

How about instead of further enabling the criminal element by denying them a label that many seem to crave (and deserve), the media start taking the community to task for enabling, praising and rewarding the anti-social tendencies of its most vulnerable members?