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Health & Fitness

Why we teach about ICP!

A brief blog on why I teach on behalf of the Sheriff's Office about violent music.

After reading a recent posting on the Douglasville Patch by Mr. James Bell, I thought it would be a good idea to clarify a few things concerning ICP also known as the Insane Clown Posse. I think that the overall thrust of the meeting that was held in Villa Rica in June concerning ICP was misunderstood. So, in order to “keep it real”, I would like to take the time to help Douglasville Patch readers to better understand.

The point of the meeting was to educate local law enforcement officers in the West Georgia area on a new trend that we are seeing our youth involved in. That trend is the increase in the popularity of the music group ICP or the Insane Clown Posse with local middle school and high school students.

First, to say that ICP is just a music group that is only involved in entertainment is naive and misleading, and to compare them to other acts such as Elvis or Rob Zombie is ridiculous. An online search for ICP produces dozens of news articles covering the alarming trend of youth that are called juggalos and juggalettes (avid ICP fans) that are becoming involved with serious crimes such as murder, assaults, weapons possession and drug possession. I personally don’t know of any other fans of a specific music group that are being accused of such crimes. In fact, this trend in violence with this specific group is what is causing law enforcement on a national level to have the need to educate them on ICP.

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I am not here to argue the connection between violence and mass media, but it is no surprise that some ICP followers are committing such violent acts. ICP lyrics and imagery promote graphic violence, specifically assaults and beheadings with edged weapons. You will have no argument from me that ICP is a music group that produces music and videos for entertainment, nor will I dispute that a majority of those that listen and follow ICP are not involved in any crime at all. But it is hard not to argue that on a national level there is a growing trend in the number of kids that are committing serious crimes that are avid followers of ICP or other acts on their label. There is enough of a concern that many states and local agencies now consider ICP a gang.

Why would a governmental agency label a music group a gang? Well, the music group ICP has it’s origins in gang related activity. The Insane Clown Posse was originally formed by a group of youth in the suburbs of Detroit Michigan as a youth gang that dabbled in crime and gang related behavior. Their original name was the Inner City Posse. That gang related mentality has carried over into their music and lyrics and many of their most avid followers find themselves fitting the gang definition. Many people don’t understand the gang law and often misquote how it is applied. In the (blog) written by James Bell he facilitated the most common misunderstanding of the gang law. To commit a violation of the gang law three elements must be present; three or more persons involved, some distinguishing characteristic, and some crime that is specific to the gang.

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The common misconception is that all three members must be “together” committing the same crime at the same time and at the same place. On the contrary, many known gang members commit gang related crimes apart from and separate from their fellow gang members, i.e... drug dealing, fighting, or weapons possession. When a person who is a member of a gang goes home he or she cannot hang up their gang status on the coat rack at the front door. If a known gang member possesses drugs and weapons at their house they are charged with a being a gang member is possession of drugs and weapons. They don’t have to be with two other gang members at the time of the crime. They only have to be shown as part of the gang that has three or more members.

This is dangerously close to the example that was given of a young man that claimed to be a follower of ICP and was caught at home with drugs and edged weapons. Is ICP a gang or a music group? The answer to that could be a resounding yes to both. Does ICP have three or more followers? Yes, they number into the hundreds of thousands. Does ICP have some distinguishing characteristics that distinguish them from other groups? Yes, they have face paint, they have a name (juggalos or jaggalettes), as well as many other hand signs and identifying symbols. And for those that commit some crime that is based on their involvement with the group, yes they are a gang.

Please understand that the purpose of my speaking in the community is to educate teachers, law enforcement officers and parents on the dangers that they or their children might face in the community. That is why the Sheriff's Office has a website www.helpdouglas.com for parents and others to familiarize themselves on things that all parents should know. That site covers things like drugs, gangs, and sexting. To me, there is no difference in educating parents on the dangers of sexting as there is in educating parents on the dangers of violent music. Not every child with a cell phone sends “sext” messages, just like every fan of ICP does not commit a crime or is in a gang. But parents, teachers and law enforcement need to know what to look for in order to help better prepare their children for life. I agree that there is a fine line between educating parents and bringing attention to a group that does not need any more attention than they already have. Please understand that part of my assignment here at the Sheriff's Office is to educate parents and law enforcement on some of the possible dangers that are youth face. As a parent, I would want to know what friends my child is spending their time with, what pictures they have on their phone, and what music they might be listening to. My hope is not to have community members believe that we have a huge gang problem or that there are hords of killer clowns running the streets of Douglasville, but instead that a parent would to use this information to help them protect their children and keep them out of trouble with their school or with local law enforcement.

As a reference to my thoughts...another interesting blog to read just for information (Warning....some offensive language in this blog!)  http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2010/06/insane_clown_posse_stabbings_a.php

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