verb (used with object) 1. to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing: to mend old clothes; to mend a broken toy. 2. to remove or correct defects or errors in.
Today, the Chicago Police Department is doing something similar with gangs. Using a tool academics call ânetwork analysis,â the CPD is mapping the relationships among Chicagoâs 14,000 most active gang members. Itâs also ranking how likely those people are to be involved in a homicide, either as victims or offenders.
In the early 1960s this gang known as the Devils Disciples became the Black Disciples (see Explosion of Chicago's Black Street Gangs: 1900 to Present, 1990, by Useni Perkins). The three major players in the Devils Disciples were David Barksdale, Shorty Freeman, and Don Derky.