Gang population

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reports on the number of people involved in criminal gangs, by locale.

Mara Salvatrucha suspect bearing gang tattoos is handcuffed. In 2009; the FBI created the MS-13 National Gang Task Force to combat gang activity in the United States. A year later, the FBI helped create National Gang Intelligence Center.

United States[]

Further information: Gangs in the United States

There were at least 30,000 gangs and 800,000 gang members active across the US in 2007.[1][2] 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.[3] By 1999, Hispanics accounted for 47% of all gang members, Blacks 31%, Whites 13%, and Asians 6%.[4]

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.[5][6]

Chicago[]

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.[7] The city had 532 murders in 2012, however, it saw a decrease to 403 murders in 2013, but up to 762 in 2016.[8] 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.

Los Angeles[]

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.[9]

Latin America[]

There are between 25,000 and 50,000 gang members in Central America's El Salvador.[10]

The Mexican drug cartels have as many as 100,000 foot soldiers, many of them in the Los Angeles area.[11]

Asia[]

The Yakuza are among the largest organized crime organizations in the world. In Japan, as of 2005, there are some 86,300 known members.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

Europe[]

The FBI estimates the size of the four Italian organized crime groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide.[15]

See also[]

By country:

References[]

  1. ^ "COPS Office: Gangs". Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  2. ^ L.A. Gangs: Nine Miles and Spreading Archived 2008-04-16 at the Wayback Machine. Laweekly.com. December 13, 2007.
  3. ^ Report: Gang membership on the rise across U.S., by Kevin Johnson, USA Today, January 30, 2009
  4. ^ "Into the Abyss: The Racial and Ethnic Composition of Gangs". people.missouristate.edu.
  5. ^ Karen L. Kinnear (1996). Gangs: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 189. ISBN 9780874368215. 25,000 latin kings in chicago.
  6. ^ [1] Archived November 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Chicago Most Gang-Infested City in U.S., Officials Say".
  8. ^ Amanda Wills, Sergio Hernandez and Marlena Baldacci. "762 murders. 12 months. 1 American city". CNN.
  9. ^ Gang mayhem grips LA, The Observer, March 18, 2007
  10. ^ El Salvador's teenage beauty queens live and die by gang law, The Observer, November 10, 2002
  11. ^ 100,000 foot soldiers in Mexican cartels, Washington Times, March 3, 2009.
  12. ^ Criminal Investigation: Fight Against Organized Crime (1)[permanent dead link], Overview of Japanese Police, National Police Agency (June 2007).
  13. ^ Hong Kong's T-Shirt Contest. TIME. November 28, 2007.
  14. ^ Police chief and businessmen arrested in triad crackdown. Times Online. August 14, 2009.
  15. ^ Italian Organized Crime—Overview Archived October 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. FBI.gov.

Further reading[]

  • Frederick Thrasher, The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927 ASIN: B000IZWOBA
  • Varrio Warfare: Violence in the Latino Community, Gabriel C. Morales, 1998 ASIN: B0018HRNHM
  • Roberson, Cliff. "Exploring Juvenile Justice", California: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2000 ISBN 978-1-928916-09-3
  • Daniels, Peggy. ed. "Gangs", Michigan: The Gale Group, 2008
Retrieved from ""