DPS/SSM/OEA 1

Department of Public Security

Secretariat for Multidimensional Security

DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION OF GANGS

DPS/SSM/OEA 2

Source: Google archive search.

DPS/SSM/OEA 3Justice Policy Institute Report

July 2007

1999 2004 % Crime

index

Violent crime

Cumberland 2547 259 -89.8 +7.3 + 17.6%

Wake 30 1753 5743.3 -32.4 -21.3

DPS/SSM/OEA 4

• In 1927 Chicago had 1,313 gangs(1)

• Most of these were mixed (40%), Polish (16%), Italian (11%), Irish (9%), or Afro-American (7%), and there were even 7 Swedish gangs.

• The link between gangs and organized crime was already under study.

(1) F. Thrasher

DPS/SSM/OEA 5

• In 2006, an ILO study on global youth employment trends found that 21% of young people (aged 16 to 29) in Latin America neither attended school nor worked.

• That same study showed that the unemployment rate for young adults was 2.8.

DPS/SSM/OEA 6

tensions

• People feel

insecure• Prevention• Investment in prevention• Lack of security, safety• Youth are more

exposed• Police

• No quick solutions

• Law enforcement• Cost of Violence• Democratic stability• Fostered by environment

• Justice system ( % of persons in pretrial detention)

DPS/SSM/OEA 7

the project…

• 7 consultants

• 7 countries (1st stage)

• Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, USA.

DPS/SSM/OEA 8

How do the consultants view gangs?

• Basically urban,• A public security and safety issue• Linked to adolescents and youth, although they are a minority in i.e.

violent gangs or “maras” • Arise from conditions of poverty and exclusion• Linked to a lack of opportunities provided by the government, the

market, and the community• Originate among children or adolescents who come from

dysfunctional families and are looking for an identity, protection, sense of belonging, and power,

• With a clear gender bias towards male domination, ranging from • 2.5 - 1 to 9 - 1• Ethnically heterogeneous, but Latin Americans and Afro-descendents

predominate over White Anglo-Saxons (in the case of the USA)• Linked to many national homicides• Linked increasingly to trafficking in drugs, arms, persons, and other

crimes related to organized crime.

DPS/SSM/OEA 9

DEFINITION

“YOUTH GANGS represent a spontaneous effort by children and young people to create, where it does not exist, an urban space in society that is adapted to their needs, where they can exercise the rights that their families, government, and communities do not offer them. Arising out of extreme poverty, exclusion, and a lack of opportunities, gangs try to gain their rights and meet their needs by organizing themselves without supervision and developing their own rules, and by securing for themselves a territory and a set of symbols that gives meaning to their membership in the group. This endeavor to exercise their citizenship is, in many cases, a violation of their own and others’ rights, and frequently generates violence and crime in a vicious circle that perpetuates their original exclusion. This is why they cannot reverse the situation that they were born into. Since it is primarily a male phenomenon, female gang members suffer more intensively from gender discrimination and the inequalities inherent in the dominant culture.“

DPS/SSM/OEA 10

The path to adult gangs is determined by :

- A gradual increase in the age of gang members within the gangs

- The deportation of gang members - Alliances with gangs in other countries- Transnational adult gangs

DPS/SSM/OEA 11

Categories

Based on structural criteria such as size, gender, ethnic composition and ages, life span, territoriality, and criminality, as well as on criteria of

origin, objectives, operating methods, and evolution, the following categories are proposed:

• Scavenger gangs

• “Transgressor” gangs

• Violent gangs

• Criminal gangs

• Female gangs

DPS/SSM/OEA

Size Gender Composition Age Territoriality Criminality

Scavenger

(short-lived)

15–40 Male, with reluctant acceptance of female members

Heterogeneous 13-18 Secondary school and neighborhood

Confrontations with other rival school gangs outside the schools and neighboring streets, extortion, intimidation, and other criminal acts, usually minor offenses, within and around their neighborhood and school.

“Transgressor” 40 –80 Male to female ratio: 5-1

Heterogeneous, with mostly Latin American and Afro-descendents (case of USA)

10-18 Neighborhood, since no longer in school

Constant protection and violent defense against the rival gang. They use violence to impose control over the territory that they claim as theirs. They are involved in criminal activities within and outside their territory.

Violent 100 – 500

Male to female ratio: up to 9-1

Homogenous (according to the gang). Primarily Hispanic. In USA, also Afro-Americans and Asians.

15-30 and over

Neighborhoods dominated by cliques

The same as the previous group, but with a greater tendency towards homicide.

Criminal 50 – 200 Made up mostly of males

Homogenous (according to the gang). Primarily Hispanic. In USA, also Afro-Americans and Asians.

18-30 and over

Their activities are not limited to territories

Various organized criminal activities using sophisticated weapons. Crimes include trafficking in drugs, persons, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, pandering, and murder.

DPS/SSM/OEA 13

Origin Objectives Operation Activities Evolution

Scavenger Rivalry among schools

Not specified Leadership, with no organization or structure, crime is not part of their reason for being

Sports, dances, movies.

Independent of others, initial stage, may evolve into “transgressor” gangs

“Transgressor” They arise in situations of exclusion, are organized without supervision, develop their own rules and membership criteria (RITES)

To give meaning to a life without meaning

They have standards, rules, a ranking, and initiation rites. They use drugs and carry arms

Defense of their territory; they sometimes get involved in art and music, and may have a website.

Secondary stage: they use the streets as a means of survival, they are led by members who grew up in them.

Violent They arise in a similar context as the previous group, but are more advanced in committing crimes

To give meaning to a life without meaning, and look into the possibility of profitable illegal activities

Same as previous group but more complex and with connections with other gangs

Virtually none Third stage: These are “transgressor” gangs that do not break up but consolidate, and they may use various names.

Criminal Adult organization linked to ORGANIZED CRIME

Money, reputation, and a power parallel to the power that excluded them

Same as previous group, but with training, discipline, organization, and logistics in their criminal activities

Virtually none Final stage: They are on a destructive path, they end up in prison or have a violent end.

DPS/SSM/OEA 14

Gang members violate the rights of third parties at the same time that third parties violate the gang members’ rights

DPS/SSM/OEA 15

INTERVENTIONSLEVEL OF VIOLENCE OR

CRIME

HOMICIDESROBBERIES (OF BANKS,

ETC...)DRUG-TRAFFICKING

HOMICIDES

“MINOR” OFFENSES THEFTS

FIGHTS: ASSAULTS

SOCIAL DISTURBANCE

CONFLICTS-VIOLENCE

VICT./WITNESS

ORGANIZED CRIME

GANGS(JUVENILE)

CLIQUES[“BARRAS”]

JUVENILE GROUPS

FAMILY – SOCIO-ECONOMIC

SURROUNDING

EL “COURSE” OF VIOLENCE (Concha-Eastman, 2001)

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

2ary.

LAW

2ary-3aryRAPES ROBBERIES WOUNDS

DPS/SSM/OEA 16

SCAVENGER

“TRANSGRESSOR”

VIOLENT

CRIMINAL

Confrontations in schools,

intimidation, extortion, .

etc.

PROTECTION AND DEFENSE AGAINST RIVAL GANGS,

CONTROL OF TERRITORY, INVOLVEMENT IN VIOLENT

ACTIVITIES

TENDENCY TOWARD VIOLENT CRIME

ORGANIZED CRIME

DPS/SSM/OEA 17

prevent

detect

redress

GANGS – INTERVENTIONS – CRIMINALITY

ORGANIZED CRIME (TRAFFICKING IN DRUGS, ARMS, AND PERSONS, ROBBERY,

KIDNAPPING, EXTORTION, PANDERING, AND MURDER)

SAME AS “TRANSGRESSOR” GANGS, WITH A GREATER TENDENCY TOWARD HOMICIDE

PROTECTION AND DEFENSE AGAINST RIVAL GANGS, TERRITORIAL CONTROL, INVOLVEMENT IN VIOLENT ACTIVITIES

CONFRONTATION WITH OTHER SCHOOL GANGS, EXTORTION, INTIMIDATION, AND OTHER MINOR OFFENSES, WITHIN THEIR

SCHOOLS AND IN THE AREA AROUND THEM

FAMILY AND SOCIAL VIOLENCE EMANATING

FROM THE ENVIRONMENT

Criminal

Violent

Scavenger

INTERVENTIONS TO COUNTER GANGS

PROMOTION OF RIGHTS AND

VALUES, DELAYING ENTRY INTO

GANGS, KEEPING STUDENTS IN

SCHOOL

EARLY DETECTION AND REINSERTION

REHABILITATION

PROMOTION OF SOCIAL

CONFIDENCE AND SUPPORT

NETWORKS OF FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS

CONTROL Y SANCIÓN

PENAL

Family – depressed social and economic

situation

“Transgressor”

PRIMARY PREVENTION

SECONDARYPREVENTION

TERTIARY PREVENTION

CONTROL ND PENAL

SANCTIONS

DPS/SSM/OEA 18

INITIATIVES

FOR ALL CATEGORIES OF GANGS, IT IS NECESSARY TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT TARGETED PUBLIC POLICIES, BASED ON:

-CITIZEN PARTICIPATION

- JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT ENSURES PROMPT AND FAIR JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS

- MEASURES DESIGNED TO ENHANCE SOCIAL CONFIDENCE IN THE COMMUNITIES

- UP-TO-DATE LEGISLATION

- INFORMATION SYSTEM

- LINK WITH PUBLIC POLICIES

- A GUIDING INTERSECTORAL INSTITUTIONALITY ON THE SUBJECT

- AN ETHICAL CONTEXT OF RESPECT FOR, AND GUARANTEE AND PROMOTION OF, HUMAN RIGHTS

DPS/SSM/OEA 19

What does a gang offer me…? What should we do…?

• A space• Protection• Friendship• Running risks• Access to money• Sex• To be somebody

• Try to cover these spaces

• Invest heavily in youth• Streamline judicial

processes

• Separate the approach of adults and adolescents

• Work with the media

DPS/SSM/OEA 20

prevention rehabilitation control

Scavenger

gangs

-Open school-Workshops-Self-management movements-Sports networks-The media (videos, CE)

- Create opportunities

-Reinsertion and remedial courses in school-Workshops-Job training-Agreements with businesses

- Encourage alternatives to deprival of freedom

-Presence of specialized police

-Specialized training for police officers in youth matters-Appropriate records

“Transgressor” gangs

- Self-management movements- Workshops-Evening and weekend activities

-Formal education-Workshops-Job training-Agreements with businesses-Develop strategies for deportees--Encourage alternative measures

-Workshops for judges, prosecutors, and police

-Promote a balanced treatment of the subject by the media

Violent gangs-Develop public spaces with artificial light-Preventive police-Police intelligence

-Different categories should not be mixed among detainees -Workshops-Role of churches

-Police intelligence

-Workshops for judges, prosecutors, and police

- Presence of specialized police officers

Criminal gangs-Campaigns

- Increased exchange of information and coordination among countries

-Special detention centers-Workshops

-Little contact with the outside world

-Police intelligence

-Workshops for judges, prosecutors, and police