Gangs in America 1

 Why do people join gangs  What was the RICO act  What is prohibition  What is organized crime  Explain “blood in blood out”  What is racketeering  What is embezzlement  What is money laundering 2

 Northeast Region (Mainly New York)  First period of Gang Growth ( ’s)  First gang-like groups emerged immediately after the American revolution ended (1783) Made up of white European immigrants  The first real gang (forty thieves) formed in 1826 in the back room of Rosanna Peers’s greengrocery in New York Five points district 3

 Gangs also developed in Philadelphia and Boston but not to the extent of New York  Three developments that contributed to gang development ▪ Social disorganization in slum areas ▪ The establishment of greengrocery stores ▪ The involvement of politicians in street gangs 4

 Second period of Growth ( ’s)  The government center for New York (Tammany Hall) grew more and more corrupt  The influx of millions of immigrants created deplorable conditions in the slums  gang membership skyrocketed  Police either could not fight the gangs or were so corrupt they turned a blind eye 5

 By 1913 gang membership was at its highest point in history  In 1916 a war on gangs was declared and the police arrested more than 200 gang leaders  China town was established in New York city and Chinese gangs controlled the opium, gambling and political power 6

 Third period of growth ( )  gang activity shifted from Downtown to Harlem and the Bronx  Immigrant groups started to come from Latin America (Hispanics mostly from Puerto Rico) and from the southern states (African Americans)  Black Gangs appeared in 1950’s  During the 1980’s new Asian and Non-Puerto Rican Latino immigrants populated gangs 7

 Just after the civil war Chicago became a magnet for eastern European immigrants  There was a great need for labor and ghettos started to arise  They made up the early gangs (just like New York) 8

 First period  Many of the first gangs came from the volunteer fire departments  after the an official fire department was established they emerged from the saloons  Similar to New York the politicians became involved 9

 Second period  This period started in the 1930’s  The immigrant population changed to Mexicans and African Americans from the south  They fought with the white gangs  Between 1940 and 1960 three major street gangs emerged: Devils Disciples, P-Stones, and the Vice Lords 10

 Second period  In 1960 the Latin Kings were formed  Around this time 51 high rise housing projects had been developed for low income people, these became breeding grounds for gangs  Black gangs fought with each other based on turf 11

 Modern day gangs  From 1980 to 1990’s four gangs dominated: Black Gangster Disciple Nation, the Latin Disciples, the Latin Kings and the Vice Lords  By 2006 Chicago had destroyed the high rises and gangs started to spread out of the city  Drugs and guns financed the gangs 12

 1930’s to the 1940’s Latino gangs dominated They formed around barrios (neighborhoods)  As new immigrants came north from Mexico they increased the size of the barrios  These gang members never fully acculturated to the United States 13

 another 4 million Mexicans settled in the United States, most settling in Los Angeles  Two major events proved pivotal in the forming of Los Angeles gangs  The Sleepy Lagoon murder and the Zoot Suit riots of the 1940’s 14

 Black gangs formed with the migration of African Americans from the south to the north  Social dysfunction led to the creation of gangs (as in New York and Chicago)  Wars broke out between the Latino and black gangs fighting over territory 15

 Violent crime  Gang violence ▪ There are more than 24,000 gangs in the United States ▪ There are over 760,000 members ▪ Department of Justice survey, 20 percent of students aged 12 through 18 had contact with street gangs 16

 More than a quarter (28%) of students in urban schools reported a street gang presence  They fund their operations by selling guns, drugs and human trafficking 17

 Why do people join gangs  They want to feel accepted  They are looking for power  They are afraid  Peer pressure 18

 Organized Crime: involves the criminal activities of a group of people whose purpose is economic gain 19

 The roots of organized crime can be found in the political machines that operated in New York (Tammany Hall) and Chicago  Gangs tended to organized by ethnicity 20

 The National Women's Temperance Movement and the Anti-Saloon League gathered support to pass prohibition into law  The 18 th amendment to the constitution was passed in

 The Volstead act gave power to the Internal Revenue to enforce the law  Fines: possession $1000 and 1 year in prison If you sold alcohol $2000 and 1 ½ years  a permit was issued for the possession of alcohol for religious reasons and a prescription for medical reasons 22

Bootlegging: (smuggling illegal alcohol into the United States) created great wealth for gangsters  Criminals filled this void and organized around the sale of alcohol 23

 Violence became a way of life as the early gangs ruled the streets  With the 21 st amendment to the constitution prohibition was repealed  They returned to prostitution and gambling 24

 Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)  Enacted October 1970 to put the mafia out of business  Under RICO any member of an enterprise that has committed two of the 35 crimes within a 10 year period can be charged with racketeering  If found guilty they face a fine of $25,000 and 20 years for each charge 25

 They would also forfeit all money gained from those illegal acts this includes any made by the business  The act also allows any one who had been hurt by the criminal actives to sue in civil court for triple the damages suffered  When indicted on RICO charges all assets are frozen 26

 Famous cases  Hells Angels  Gambino Crime family  Latin Kings  Winter Hill Gang (Whitey Bolger)  Genovese crime family (first case where a mafia don was convicted under RICO) 27