Gangs in Memphis, Tennessee

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Memphis, Tennessee serves as the Southern headquarters for Tennessee based street organizations in the Southern United States. In 2021, there were approximately 102 gangs with 13,400 gang members in the city. [1] [2]

Contents

Gangs in the Memphis area are concentrated in high crime black neighborhoods like College Park, Hollywood, Hickory Hill, Parkway Village, Westwood, Raleigh, Frayser, Orange Mound, Whitehaven, Binghampton, Klondike and Smokey City; their presence is also felt in the suburbs of Tipton County, Tennessee. [3] [4]

After a series of gang related robberies at Tom Lee Park on the river bluff in downtown Memphis, the Memphis Police Department said that "they often feel powerless to control these out-of-control teens." [5] In May 2013, high school students warned Memphis City Schools against a proposed school merger of Booker T. Washington High School and Carver High school. "It's like putting the Crips and Bloods together in a national convention." [6]

In 2013, Memphis City Council and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton cut funding for Blue CRUSH, the gang division of the Memphis Police Department. [7]

Sex trafficking

In 2013, the FBI arrested Gangster Disciples Folk Nation members [8] on charges of sex trafficking and forced child prostitution. [9]

Neighborhoods

According to the Governor's Public Safety Forum on Tennessee Gangs, gangs operate in Memphis' rural communities like Millington, Mason, and, Northaven, and in low income neighborhoods of North Memphis, South Memphis, Raleigh, Frayser, Whitehaven, Binghampton, Orange Mound, Hickory Hill and Riverside. [10]

Infamous Memphis gang activity

In mainstream culture

Music styles that originated from Memphis gangsta rap culture include Young Dolph, Moneybagg Yo, Pooh Shiesty, Big30, Southern hip hop and crunk, made famous by Skinny Pimp, 8 Ball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, and Hypnotize Minds. In the 2000s, the music genre gained acceptance after winning an Academy Award for the song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow .

See also

Related Research Articles

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloods</span> Street gang founded in Los Angeles, California, US

The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Washington</span> American gangster

Raymond Lee Washington was an American gangster, known as the founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Washington formed the Crips as a minor street gang in the late 1960s in South Los Angeles, becoming a prominent local crime boss. In 1971, Washington formed an alliance with Stanley "Tookie" Williams, establishing the Crips as the first major African-American street gang in Los Angeles, and served as one of the co-leaders. In 1974, Washington was convicted of robbery and received a five-year prison sentence, during which his leadership and influence in the Crips declined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gangster Disciples</span> American Street Gang

The Gangster Disciple Nation, also known as Growth & Development, are an African American street and prison gang which was formed in 1968 by Larry Hoover and David Barksdale. The two rival gangsters united together to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN). Since 1989, after a decline in leadership caused friction between the two gangs, the BGDN has divided into different factions known today as the Gangster Disciple Nation and the other being the Black Disciple Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crips</span> Street gang from Los Angeles, California

The Crips are an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance between two autonomous gangs; it is now a loosely connected network of individual "sets", often engaged in open warfare with one another. Traditionally, since around 1973, its members have worn blue clothing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee</span> Place in Tennessee, United States

North Memphis is one of the five defined districts of Memphis, Tennessee. It includes smaller neighborhoods such as Klondike, New Chicago, Douglass, Hyde Park, Hollywood, Nutbush, Binghampton, Smokey City, Scutterfeld, Frayser, and Raleigh.

<i>American Gangster</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

American Gangster is a documentary television series, which airs on BET. The show features some of black America's most infamous and powerful gangsters and is narrated by Ving Rhames. The series premiere, on November 28, 2006, amassed around one million viewers. The first season ended on January 9, 2007, and comprised 6 episodes; a season 1 DVD was released on October 23, 2007. The second season aired October 3, 2007; a season 2 DVD was released on June 10, 2008. In April 2009, A&E Networks purchased the rights to air seasons 1–3 on their networks. They can be seen primarily on the Bio Channel and the flagship A&E Channel. They can also be seen on A&E's Crime and Investigation Network.

The Maniac Latin Disciples Nation is a Hispanic street gang in Chicago and one of the largest in the Folks Nation alliance. Originally known as the Latin Scorpions, the gang was founded by Albert "Hitler" Hernandez and other Puerto Rican teenagers in the Humboldt Park community in approximately 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binghampton, Memphis</span> Human settlement in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

Binghampton is a neighborhood on an edge of Midtown in Memphis, Tennessee. It is named after W. H. Bingham, an Irish immigrant, hotelier, planter, magistrate, politician, and entrepreneur who founded a town to the east and slightly north of the Memphis city limits in 1893.

The US state of Georgia has seen a rise in the number of gangs over recent years, in the main focused on the illegal drug trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenian Power</span> Armenian-American crime syndicate

Armenian Power 13, also known as AP, the Armenian Mob, or Armenian Mafia is an Armenian criminal organization and street gang founded and currently based in Los Angeles County, California. They are involved in drug trafficking, murder, assault, fraud, identity theft, illegal gambling, kidnapping, racketeering, robbery and extortion. They are believed to have around 200 members and hundreds of associates, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. They are also well known for their connections with the Mexican Mafia.

In 2014, the city of Memphis ranked eleventh in violent crimes for major cities around the U.S. In 2006, Memphis led the nation in number of violent crimes. In 2001, 2005, and 2007, Memphis ranked second most dangerous in the nation among cities with a population over 500,000. It also ranked as most dangerous in 2002. There are approximately 182 gangs in Memphis, Tennessee with 8,400 gang members in the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Wildfire</span>

Project Wildfire was a nationwide, multi-agency investigation of various transnational criminal gangs in 2015 that resulted in the arrests of 976 individuals, representing 239 different organizations, in 282 cities in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Eighty-two firearms, 5.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7.8 kilograms of marijuana, 5.6 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of heroin, US$379,399, counterfeit merchandise with a suggested retail price of US$547,534 and five vehicles were also seized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gangs in Chicago</span> Gang activities in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Chicago is considered the most gang-occupied city in the United States, with 150,000 gang-affiliated denizens, representing more than 100 gangs. Gang warfare and retaliation is common in Chicago. Gangs were responsible for 61% of the homicides in Chicago in 2011.

Craig Petties is an American convicted drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis, Tennessee, from the mid-1990s to 2008, and for his connections to the Mexican drug cartel. The organization's prosecution would later be described as the largest drug case in Memphis federal court history. Petties was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 at the age of 36.

References

  1. ↑ Ludlow, Candice (November 2, 2011). "Think Gangs Are Only In Memphis' Poorest Neighborhoods? Think Again". WKNO FM. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "ICE works with local law enforcement to arrest 26 gang members in Memphis". Ice.gov. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Gangs are making their way to the suburbs". America Now News. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Mississippi School District To Clarify Gang Policy As Part Of Settlement Of ACLU Lawsuit". American Civil Liberties Union. February 9, 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Hall, Sabrina (April 23, 2013). "Police Say Teens Hard to Control In Mob Robberies". WREG.com. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Orozco, Jackie (May 1, 2013). "Fear of Gang Wars if Memphis High Schools Merge". LocalMemphis. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Dries, Bill (January 10, 2013). "Blue CRUSH Cuts Point to Larger Divide". Memphis Daily News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  8. ↑ Warren, Beth (August 13, 2013). "Prosecutors: Female defendant bit, punched, scratched and spit at Memphis guards". Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Three Charged with Forcing Child into Prostitution". Wreg.com. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Goggans, Louis. "Memphis' Gang Problem". Memphis Flyer. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Sentencing set for Craig Petties, head of Memphis-based drug gang with ties to Mexican cartel". Associated Press. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  12. ↑ Grouchy Greg, Grandmaster (February 23, 2012). "DJ Paul's Half Brother Craig Petties Linked To BMF". All HipHop News. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Cousins on trial in Memphis as hit men for Sinaloa Cartel and Craig Petties". Borderlandbeat.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  14. ↑ Connolly, Daniel (June 27, 2010). "Blood Trade: The Story of Craig Petties". Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  15. ↑ "TN Court of Appeals" (PDF). Tsc.state.tn.us. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Ex-NBA player Wright's death remains mystery". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  17. ↑ Holliday, Marcus (February 25, 2013). "Gang Member Teams with Klansman to Protest Memphis KKK Rally". LocalMemphis. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  18. ↑ "Mob of Teens Knockouts Three In Kroger Parking Lot". Uptownmagazine.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  19. ↑ Goggans, Louis. "Three People Beaten by Mob of Teens in Kroger Parking Lot". Memphisflyer.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  20. ↑ 10 teens, 1 adult charged in brutal Kroger parking lot attack
  21. ↑ "Forty-Eight Alleged Members of Gangster Disciples Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges". Justice.gov. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
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