Caught on Tape and Still unsolved: A young man murdered In the Hollenbeck Area of Los Angeles

In a CNN report by Anderson Cooper ,I read about a young man killed by gang violence in a tough area of Los Angeles. This sounds like a story that we have heard a million times in the past and it is. However, it never gets less disheartening.

In the Hollinbeck neighborhood, which is 15 minutes from downtown LA, every street corner is "owned" by a gang, making the area a virtual warzone. Last summer, five people were murdered in a single week. Making matters worse, thirty percent of the homicides comitted in Hollinbeck go unsolved because of what LAPD detective Dewaine Fields refers to as "the code of silence". It is this unwritten code, perhaps, that has caused the murder of 20 year old Steven Bueno to go unsolved. Upon arrival at the crime scene, the first thing that officers did was look for cameras since they are all over the city of Los Angeles. Indeed, the entire incident was caught on tape. It shows gunman extending his arm out of a green Honda, firing at Bueno and three other alleged gang members. This being said, you would think that it was solved right? WRONG! Even though the vehicle was clearly shown in the surveillance video, there was no way to identify the perpetrators because no one would come foward. This is where the street code comes into play. For years, people who are disenfranchised have been mistrustful of the law--and rightly so in many instances. This mixed with the fact that many people are afraid of criminals in their neighborhood, are the foundation for this mentality. I have heard many people talk about how much they hate a snitch and at times--when the matter is petty--I agree. However, when someone's life is lost, that is a different thing entirely. There is no one group of people to blame for the "no snitching" credo either. On the one hand, hip hop culture has helped to perpetuate this attitude but also, many times, people are afraid to come forward and speak about crimes that they witnessed because law enforcement simply does not provide adequate protection. These individuals who, often times, live in the same neighborhood with the criminal, have to choose between helping the cause of justice and looking out for their own safety. Obviously, the latter is the more popular option. Seeing that this problem is so complex, there is no simple solution. However, the dialogue must be opened among policymakers and citizens alike. We cannot continue to let this code of secrecy and fear cause justice to not be served in our communites.