Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for interesting presentations and even some thought-provoking ideas on how we can attack a problem that I think we all agree is increasing and concerning.
There are two items I'm hoping you can elaborate on. Mr. Dubro and Mr. Nicaso passed over the issue of how organized crime recruits people. How does one become involved in a criminal gang? What are the typical ways in which they seek to add membership or expand their influence? I'm curious to hear your views on how they typically grow their membership, either formally or informally. In other words, how do they seek to add people under their influence who will participate in criminal activity?
Professor Beare, in your opening comments you referred to some of the root causes of why people participate in criminal gangs, or why criminal gangs become a problem in some communities. Perhaps you can expand on that. I'm interested in that.
We focus on the legislation and changing statutes. I sense that's a significant but certainly not all-encompassing solution. There are many other non-legislative means to help police and community groups, like giving tools to those involved in prosecuting, that can also have a big impact, and not simply changing the letter of the law. So I'd be curious to hear from you on that.