Jobs and L.A.’s Gang Problem

Commenting on Father Boyle’s column, I note the following: Gang members don’t commit suicide or intend to when gunning down another gang member or any innocent victim; they know the consequences of their heinous behavior and think they can get away with murder.

Most gang members don’t want to work or do their best at school, so their only option is to go to jail; because they’re minors, they expect to be on the streets in a few years.

Gang members’ parents are often to blame for not making sure that their children go to school or have any respect toward other people, their parents or the country they live in, which offers them all the opportunities to live a productive life.

Curtailing gangbanging is very easy:

--Youths 13-16 years old should be home by 8 p.m. every night; police and parents should enforce this curfew; youths 17-20 should be home by 10 or 11 p.m. After midnight, all youths under 21 should be home or police patrols should pick them up and take them home.

--Parents should notify police if they believe their children are gang members and give them the license numbers of the youths’ cars. That will make it easy for police officers to arrest them if they break the law or commit a serious offense.

Sure, these methods might sound like tactics used by a police state, but that’s the only way to deal with hoodlums, gang members or anyone else intent on committing a crime.

ANTULIO (TONY) RAMIREZ, Los Angeles