Reports on the number of people involved in criminal gangs, by locale.
Contents
- United States
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Latin America
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania
- Australia
- New Zealand
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Reports on the number of people involved in criminal gangs, by locale.
There were at least 30,000 gangs and 800,000 gang members active across the US in 2007, and an estimated 1.4 million in 33,000 gangs in 2011. [1] [2] [3] About 900,000 gang members lived "within local communities across the country", and about 147,000 were in U.S. prisons or jails in 2009. [4] By 1999, Hispanics accounted for 47% of all gang members, Blacks 31%, Whites 13%, and Asians 6%. [5]
The Latin Kings have organized chapters in over 41 US states, most notably Illinois, and several Latin American and European countries, including: Mexico, Spain, Dominican Republic, Canada, Italy, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Brazil, United Kingdom and others. [6] [7]
The Chicago Crime Commission publication "The Gang Book 1012" gave the statistic that Chicago has more gang members than any other city in the world with a reported population of 150,000. [8] The city had 532 murders in 2012, however, it saw a decrease to 403 murders in 2013, but up to 762 in 2016. [9] Not all murders are gang-related, but the Chicago Police Department states that 80% of all shootings and murders in the city are gang-related.[ citation needed ]
Los Angeles has held the nickname "gang capital America" since 1930 because approximately 120,000 gang members reside in the city, and tens of thousands more in surrounding Los Angeles County. [10]
There are between 25,000 and 50,000 gang members in Central America's El Salvador. [11]
The Mexican drug cartels have as many as 100,000 foot soldiers, many of them in the Los Angeles area. [12]
Gangs controlled approximately 40% of Haiti's Port-au-Prince in 2022. [13]
The Yakuza are among the largest organized crime organizations in the world. In Japan, as of 2005, there are some 86,300 known members. [14]
Hong Kong's Triads include up to 160,000 members in the 21st century. It was estimated that in the 1950s, there were 300,000 Triad members in Hong Kong. [15] The Chinese government claims that police have eliminated 1,221 triad-style gangs across China since a crackdown was launched in 2006. More than 87,300 suspects have been arrested. [16]
The FBI estimates the size of the four Italian organized crime groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide. [17]
In 2013, the Australian Crime Commission listed 4,483 outlaw motorcycle (OMC) gang members in 179 chapters of 44 OMC gangs. [18] An assessment by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission in September 2020 identified over 4,700 patched gang members and 1,000 prospects in 38 OMCGs. [19]
In June 2021 there were 8,061 gang members, across 25 gangs, according to information obtained from the New Zealand Gang Intelligence Centre, which holds the National Gang List. [20] This is figure is almost double the 4,420 gang members, of 24 gangs, on the list in 2016. [20] NZ Police attribute some of the increase to better methodology and recording processes but also noted that those who cease to be involved in a gang might not be removed from the list. [20] On February 25, 2021, the NZ Police commissioner, Andrew Coster, advised the Justice Select Committee that he considered gang membership numbers derived from the gang list were inaccurate because it was easy for someone to be added to the list but difficult for them to be removed, short of death. [21]
By country:
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior.
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster. Gangs provide a level of organization and resources that support much larger and more complex criminal transactions than an individual criminal could achieve. Gangsters have been active for many years in countries around the world. Gangsters are the subject of many novels, films, television series and video games.
Sun Yee On, or the New Righteousness and Peace Commercial and Industrial Guild, is one of the leading triads in Hong Kong and China. It has more than 25,000 members worldwide. It is also believed to be active in the UK, the United States, France, and Belgium.
Wo Shing Wo or WSW is the oldest of the Wo Group triad societies, and is the triad with the longest history in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong police, the triad is involved in extortion, drug trafficking, gambling and prostitution.
The United Bamboo Gang is the largest of Taiwan's three main criminal Triads. They are reported to have roughly 20,000 members. The membership consists largely of waishengren and has had historic ties to the Kuomintang; they are said to be motivated as much by political ideology as by profit. They are known to simply call themselves "businessmen", but in reality, are also involved in organized killings and drug trafficking. The gang gained global notoriety when it became directly involved in politics in the early 1980s.
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather,crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization.
The Flying Dragons, also known as FDS, was a Chinese American street gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Formed in 1967, by immigrants primarily from Hong Kong, they are affiliated with the Hip Sing Tong. Throughout the 1980s, the gang often engaged in bloody turf wars with the newer Ghost Shadows gang. Their activities have included extortion, kidnapping, murder, racketeering, and illegal gambling. The gang moved heavily into heroin trafficking after the Italian-American Mafia lost the trade as a result of the Pizza Connection prosecutions in the mid-1980s.
Albanian mafia or Albanian organized crime are the general terms used for criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Albanian organized crime is active in Europe, North America, South America, and various other parts of the world including the Middle East and Asia. The Albanian Mafia participates in a diverse range of criminal enterprises including trafficking in drugs, arms, and humans. Thanks to their close ties with the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria, they control a large part of the billion dollar wholesale cocaine market in Europe and appear to be the primary distributors of cocaine in various European drug hubs including London. Albanian organized crime is characterized by diversified criminal enterprises which, in their complexity, demonstrate a very high criminal capacity. In Albania, there are over 15 mafia families that control organized crime.
There are numerous gangs in New Zealand, of varying criminality, organisation and ethnicity, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, street gangs and ethnically based gangs. A chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club was formed in Auckland in 1961, the first Hells Angels chapter outside the US. Soon after, the Mongrel Mob formed in Hastings and Wellington, developing into a predominantly Māori and Pacific Islander gang, and having the largest membership in the country. Through the 1960s and 1970s, other outlaw motorcycle clubs and ethnically based gangs formed, including another predominantly Māori gang, Black Power, which grew to rival the Mongrel Mob.
Crime in Toronto has been relatively low in comparison to other major cities, but it saw a record number of shootings in 2019. In 2017, a ranking of 60 cities by The Economist ranked Toronto as the 24th safest major city in the world, behind Tokyo, London, Paris, and Seoul, but one of the safest major cities in North America. A CEOWORLD magazine ranked Toronto as the 95th safest city in the world for 2018, running behind several other major cities like Tokyo, London, Osaka, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taipei but safer than most cities in North America.
Approximately 1.4 million people in the United States were part of gangs as of 2011, and more than 33,000 gangs were active in the country. These include national street gangs, local street gangs, prison gangs, motorcycle clubs, and ethnic and organized crime gangs.
Gangs in Canada are mostly present in the major urban areas of Canada, although their activities are not confined to large cities.
The 14K (十四K) is a triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally. It is the second largest triad group in the world with around 20,000 members split into thirty subgroups. They are the main rival of the Sun Yee On, which is the largest triad.
The history of gangs in Australia goes back to the colonial era. Criminal gangs flourished in The Rocks district of Sydney in its early history in the 19th century. The Rocks Push was a notorious larrikin gang which dominated the area from the 1800s to the end of the 1900s. The gang was engaged in running warfare with other larrikin gangs of the time such as the Straw Hat Push, the Glebe Push, the Argyle Cut Push, the Forty Thieves from Surry Hills, and the Gibb Street Mob.
The Trinitarios is an Dominican American criminal organization founded by Dominicans in New York City, New York in 1993.
The Lone Legion Motorcycle Association was an outlaw motorcycle club located in Blenheim, New Zealand.
A triad is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant Chinese diaspora populations.
Crime in Hong Kong is generally low but is still present in various forms. The most common crimes are thefts, assaults, vandalism, burglaries, drug offenses, sex trafficking, and triad-related crimes. In 2015, Hong Kong had one of the lowest murder rates in the world, comparable to Japan but higher than Macao or Singapore.
25,000 latin kings in chicago.
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