Gangs in America
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Why do people join gangs
What was the RICO act
What is prohibition
What is organized crime
Explain “blood in blood out”
What is racketeering
What is embezzlement
What is money laundering
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Northeast Region (Mainly New York)
First period of Gang Growth (1783-1850’s)
 First gang-like groups emerged immediately after
the American revolution ended (1783) Made up of
white European immigrants
 The first real gang (forty thieves) formed in 1826
in the back room of Rosanna Peers’s greengrocery
in New York Five points district
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 Gangs also developed in Philadelphia and Boston
but not to the extent of New York
 Three developments that contributed to gang
development
▪ Social disorganization in slum areas
▪ The establishment of greengrocery stores
▪ The involvement of politicians in street gangs
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Second period of Growth (1860-1920’s)
 The government center for New York (Tammany
Hall) grew more and more corrupt
 The influx of millions of immigrants created
deplorable conditions in the slums
 gang membership skyrocketed
 Police either could not fight the gangs or were so
corrupt they turned a blind eye
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By 1913 gang membership was at its highest
point in history
In 1916 a war on gangs was declared and the
police arrested more than 200 gang leaders
China town was established in New York city
and Chinese gangs controlled the opium,
gambling and political power
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Third period of growth (1930-1980)
 gang activity shifted from Downtown to Harlem
and the Bronx
 Immigrant groups started to come from Latin
America (Hispanics mostly from Puerto Rico) and
from the southern states (African Americans)
 Black Gangs appeared in 1950’s
 During the 1980’s new Asian and Non-Puerto
Rican Latino immigrants populated gangs
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Just after the civil war Chicago became a
magnet for eastern European immigrants
There was a great need for labor and ghettos
started to arise
They made up the early gangs (just like New
York)
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First period
 Many of the first gangs came from the volunteer
fire departments
 after the an official fire department was
established they emerged from the saloons
 Similar to New York the politicians became
involved
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Second period
 This period started in the 1930’s
 The immigrant population changed to Mexicans
and African Americans from the south
 They fought with the white gangs
 Between 1940 and 1960 three major street gangs
emerged: Devils Disciples, P-Stones, and the Vice
Lords
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Second period
 In 1960 the Latin Kings were formed
 Around this time 51 high rise housing projects had
been developed for low income people, these
became breeding grounds for gangs
 Black gangs fought with each other based on turf
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Modern day gangs
 From 1980 to 1990’s four gangs dominated: Black
Gangster Disciple Nation, the Latin Disciples, the
Latin Kings and the Vice Lords
 By 2006 Chicago had destroyed the high rises and
gangs started to spread out of the city
 Drugs and guns financed the gangs
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1930’s to the 1940’s Latino gangs dominated
They formed around barrios (neighborhoods)
As new immigrants came north from Mexico
they increased the size of the barrios
These gang members never fully acculturated
to the United States
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1940-1964 another 4 million Mexicans settled
in the United States, most settling in Los
Angeles
Two major events proved pivotal in the
forming of Los Angeles gangs
 The Sleepy Lagoon murder and the Zoot Suit riots
of the 1940’s
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Black gangs formed with the migration of
African Americans from the south to the
north
Social dysfunction led to the creation of
gangs (as in New York and Chicago)
Wars broke out between the Latino and black
gangs fighting over territory
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Violent crime
 Gang violence
▪ There are more than 24,000 gangs in the United States
▪ There are over 760,000 members
▪ Department of Justice survey, 20 percent of students
aged 12 through 18 had contact with street gangs
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More than a quarter (28%) of students in
urban schools reported a street gang
presence
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They fund their operations by selling guns,
drugs and human trafficking
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Why do people join gangs
 They want to feel accepted
 They are looking for power
 They are afraid
 Peer pressure
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Organized Crime: involves the criminal
activities of a group of people whose purpose
is economic gain
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The roots of organized crime can be found in
the political machines that operated in New
York (Tammany Hall) and Chicago
Gangs tended to organized by ethnicity
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The National Women's Temperance
Movement and the Anti-Saloon League
gathered support to pass prohibition into law
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The 18th amendment to the constitution was
passed in 1919
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The Volstead act gave power to the Internal
Revenue to enforce the law
Fines: possession $1000 and 1 year in prison If
you sold alcohol $2000 and 1 ½ years
a permit was issued for the possession of
alcohol for religious reasons and a
prescription for medical reasons
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Bootlegging: (smuggling illegal alcohol into the
United States) created great wealth for
gangsters
 Criminals filled this void and organized
around the sale of alcohol
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Violence became a way of life as the early
gangs ruled the streets
With the 21st amendment to the constitution
prohibition was repealed
They returned to prostitution and gambling
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Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO)
 Enacted October 1970 to put the mafia out of
business
 Under RICO any member of an enterprise that has
committed two of the 35 crimes within a 10 year
period can be charged with racketeering
 If found guilty they face a fine of $25,000 and 20
years for each charge
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They would also forfeit all money gained
from those illegal acts this includes any made
by the business
The act also allows any one who had been
hurt by the criminal actives to sue in civil
court for triple the damages suffered
When indicted on RICO charges all assets are
frozen
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Famous cases
 Hells Angels
 Gambino Crime family
 Latin Kings
 Winter Hill Gang (Whitey Bolger)
 Genovese crime family (first case where a mafia
don was convicted under RICO)
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