Philadelphia

Philadelphia has always been notorious for corruption ever since the political machines of the early 20th century. And the Philly Mafia has always had strong control over the city. In many parts of the city it is very obvious where the Mafia has left their mark. There is also a strong street gang presence in the city. The gangs out in Philly remind me a lot of what you might see in New York. Many feel that as of late, Philly has been growing more and more dangerous. There have even recently been city wide demands to stop the killing in Philadelphia. So far in 2007 there have been a bunch and in 2006 there were 406 murders. It's no joke out there on the streets of Philly. People are dying every day.

When I was out in Philadelphia a couple years back they had to implement the Operation Safe Schools program. This was a response to two after school shootings in Philadelphia. I mean, shit is crazy out in their school systems. As far as I've heard the Bloods and Crips and other large gangs are not present in Philadelphia. Some of them are but for the most part, the gangs to be found are well established gangs that started way back in the 70s. But most of these gangs are very localized. A lot of these gangs attract very young members because many of them are fairly unorganized.