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Guns and gang activity seem to plague pockets of Chicago and tarnish the city’s name. But what are we doing differently in the year 2014 and what can be learned from history?

Billy Mokstad and his partner Greg Zito, were the first gang crimes specialists assigned to Cabrini Green in 1978.

Months later, Jack Dugan joined the gang crime specialists and together, roughly 10 men were assigned to monitor and investigate four gangs that ran the place.

The former undercover cops suggest the frustrations are the same but the circumstances are different. They feel sorry for officers fighting the good fight today. They all agree having gangs confined to the 70 acres making up Cabrini helped them police better.

They say their cars were targets, but they didn`t think they were being hunted down, just fought against. And the hierarchy within Cabrini gangs meant each shot had permission from above and it had purpose, which is not the case today.

The three retired Chicago police officers who have seen it all gave their perspective about gun violence then and now to WGN’s Julie Unruh.