Street gangs

Many of us think of street gangs when we think of organized crime. We most often hear and read about them in the press. There are more than 300 street gangs in Canada with about 11,000 members and followers. Most often, too, they’re the violent side of crime. They fight other street gangs for turf; attack small business people in hold-ups and use violence or threat of violence to intimidate. Often, it is an innocent bystander who suffers from this violence.

Here is what you need to understand about street gangs:

• Generally, gang members are young men in their twenties. Although they are few, there are some under the age of 18 and there are some young women.
• Some gangs are multicultural and others come from a single ethnic group.
• They gather around a strong leader and there is a definite chain of command.
• In the past, street gangs were mainly concentrated in large cities, but now they are spreading to smaller communities, rural areas and Aboriginal reserves.
• Mostly, street gangs focus on local crime such as drug dealing, robbery, stealing and selling guns or cars. As well, these gangs are often involved in the sex trade – street level prostitution and exotic dancing clubs. Some gangs will recruit women and children into the sex trade and ship them across the country, often using intimidation and abuse.
• Some street gangs go into more sophisticated crime, such as producing counterfeit goods and marihuana and other illegal drugs.

In essence, street gangs are the foot-soldiers of organized crime. National and international gangs depend on them to do their dirty work at the local level.