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, with such behavior often constituting a form of organized crime.
A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the illegal drug trade and maintaining prices at a high level. The formations of drug cartels are common in Latin American countries. Rivalries between multiple drug cartels cause them to wage turf wars against each other.
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.
Like many other communities, the older Chinatowns face certain social problems. Although Chinatowns are now generally viewed and valued as tourist attractions, their earlier reputation was that of dangerous or dilapidated ghettos and slums, sites of brothels, opium dens, and gambling halls.
The United Bamboo Gang, also known as the Bamboo Union, is the largest of Taiwan's three main criminal Triads. They are reported to have roughly 200,000 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.
Wah Ching is a Chinese American criminal organization and street gang that was founded in San Francisco, California in 1964. The Wah Ching has been involved in crimes including narcotic sales, racketeering, and gambling.
Shui Fong, also known as the Wo On Lok (WOL), is one of the main Triad groups in Southern China, operating especially in Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese communities abroad.
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.
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 low in comparison to other major cities. In 2024, a ranking of 60 large cities by The Economist ranked Toronto as the 6th safest major city in the world, and the safest major city in North America. In the same year, CEOWORLD magazine, which includes some major medium-sized cities, ranked Toronto as the 160th safest city in the world, running behind several other major cities including Taipei, Munich, and Jerusalem, as well as, in Canada, Quebec City and Ottawa, but safer than most cities in the United States.
Organised Crime and Gangs in Australia refers to the activities of various groups of crime families, organised crime syndicates or underworld activities including drug trafficking, contract killing, racketeering and other crimes in Australia.
The 14K 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 a Dominican American criminal organization founded by Dominicans in New York City, New York in 1993.
A triad is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.
25,000 latin kings in chicago.
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