Insight on the News, Sept 28, 1998 by Tiffany Danitz
Prison gangs are flourishing across the country. Organized, stealthy and deadly, they are reaching out from their cells to organize and control crime in America's streets.
A 40-year-old gang leader uses his cellular phone to organize an elaborate drug ring and order hits. He commands respect. He wears gang-banger clothing and drapes himself with gold chains. This man is responsible for an entire network of gang members across the state of Illinois. He is Gino Colon, the mastermind behind the Latin Kings. When prosecutors finally caught up with him last August, Colon was indicted for running the Latin Kings' drug-dealing operation from behind prison walls--the state penitentiary in Menard.
"People in society and correctional officers need to understand that immediate control over the prison system is often an illusion at any time," says Cory Godwin, president of the gang-investigators association for the Florida Department of Corrections, or DC. "Contraband equals power."
Prison gangs are flourishing from California to Massachusetts. In 1996, the Federal Bureau of Prisons found that prison disturbances soared by about 400 percent in the early nineties, which authorities say indicated that gangs were becoming more active. In states such as Illinois, as much as 60 percent of the prison population belong to gangs, Godwin says. The Florida DC has identified 240 street gangs operating in their prisons. Street gangs, as opposed to gangs originating in prisons, are emerging as a larger problem on the East Coast.
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Of the 143,000 inmates Texas houses in state pens, 5,000 have been identified as gang members and another 10,000 are under suspicion. Texas prison-gang expert Sammy Buentello says the state's prisons are not infested with gangs, but those that have set up shop are highly organized. "They have a paramilitary type structure;' he says. "A majority of the people that come in have had experience with street-gang membership and have been brought up in that environment accepting it as the norm. But some join for survival."
After James Byrd Jr. was dragged to death in Jasper last June, rumors spread throughout Texas linking two of the suspected assailants to racially charged prison gangs. While authorities and inmates dismiss these rumors, the Jasper murder occurred only weeks after a San Antonio grand jury indicted 16 members of the Mexican Mafia, one of the state's largest and most lethal prison gangs, for ordering the deaths of five people in San Antonio from within prison walls.
"As they are being released into the community on parole, these people are becoming involved in actions related to prison-gang business. Consequently, it is no longer just a corrections problem--it is also a community problem," Buentello tells Insight.
According to gang investigators, the gang leaders communicate orders through letters. Where mail is monitored they may use a code--for instance, making every 12th word of a seemingly benign letter significant. They use visits, they put messages into their artwork and in some states they use the telephone. "It is a misnomer that when you lock a gang member up they fall off to Calcutta. They continue their activity," Godwin emphasizes. "It has only been in the last five years that law enforcement has realized that what happens on the inside can affect what happens on the outside and vice versa."
Of the two kinds of gangs, prison gangs and street gangs, the prison gangs are better organized, according to gang investigators. They developed within the prison system in California, Texas and Illinois in the 1940s and are low-key, discreet--even stealthy. They monitor members and dictate how they behave and treat each other. A serious violation means death, say investigators.
The street gangs are more flagrant. "Their members are going into the prisons and realizing that one of the reasons they are in prison is that they kept such a high profile" making it easier for the police to catch them, says Buentello. "So, they are coming out more sophisticated and more dangerous because they aren't as easily detected. They also network and keep track of who is out and so forth."
According to gang investigators and prisoners, the prison gangs were formed for protection against predatory inmates, but racketeering, black markets and racism became factors.
Godwin says Texas should never have outlawed smoking in the prisons, adding cigarettes as trade-goods contraband to the prohibited list. "If you go back to the Civil War era, to Andersonville prison," Godwin says of the prisoner-of-war facility for Union soldiers, "you will see that the first thing that developed was a gang because someone had to control the contraband--that is power. I'm convinced that if you put three people on an island somewhere, two would clique up and become predatory against the other at some point."
But protection remains an important factor. When a new inmate enters the prison system he is challenged to a fight, according to a Texas state-pen prisoner. The outcome determines who can fight, who will be extorted for protection money and who will become a servant to other prisoners. Those who can't join a gang or afford to spend $5 a week in commissary items for protection are destined to be servants. Godwin explains: "The environment is set up so that when you put that many people with antisocial behavior and criminal history together, someone is going to be the predator and someone the prey, and that is reality."
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Central America Seeks Partnership With L.A. in Fight Against Gangs
By ANDREW GLAZER, The Associated Press
Feb 6, 2007 8:14 PM (3 days ago)
LOS ANGELES - Not long ago, the U.S. regularly deported convicted gang members to their home countries in Central America without tipping off local police of their criminal past, the director of El Salvador's national police said Tuesday on the eve of an international summit on gangs.
Los Angeles' pervasive and violent street gangs were seen as a local problem and not part of an international criminal web, even as some gangs such as MS-13 and 18th Street, oozed across borders into Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The three-day summit beginning Wednesday in Los Angeles reflects a recent shift in that philosophy. It features top officials from several Central American and local U.S. police departments, along with the FBI.
Seminar participants said gang members have been taking advantage of the lack of information sharing to cross borders unidentified by local police - bringing weapons, ideas for criminal enterprise and rivalries.
"Now it is most important to take advantage of technology, of our shared economic interests and of our information to find new ways to make sure these violent gangs don't continue to find ways of staying in the dark," said Rodrigo Avila Avilez, director general of El Salvador's national police.
Earlier this week in El Salvador, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced an initiative to improve anti-gang cooperation between the two countries that will ease the arrest of fugitives, coordinate training and improve information sharing and gang intelligence gathering.
Avila Avilez estimated there were as many as 15,000 gang members in El Salvador, a country of about 6.8 million. There are about 6,000 gang members in Guatemala, a country of 12.3 million, said Ervin Johann Sperisen Vernon, director general of Guatemala's national police.
By comparison, police estimate Los Angeles County has about 40,000 gang members.
The spread of Los Angeles-style gangs to Central America is in part the result of mass deportations of young men indoctrinated in the city's violent streets after fleeing their home countries during the civil wars of the 1970s and 80s. In many cases, gang members raised in Los Angeles have more in common culturally with the city than their home countries, police officials said.
"In El Salvador, they speak Spanglish, or Spanish with a Mexican accent," Avila Avilez said. "It gives them a privileged status among fellow gang members."
Robert B. Loosle, who oversees the FBI's gang investigations in Los Angeles, said crimes committed by gangs in Central America serve as a bellwether for potential criminal enterprises in the U.S.
Particularly noteworthy, Loosle said, was a spike in extortion rackets committed by gangs in El Salvador. Armed members of MS-13 regularly shake down neighborhoods for protection money and demand taxes from bus and truck drivers passing through their turf.
"Since members of gangs travel freely across borders, we need to pay attention to new trends they bring with them," Loosle said.
Sperisen Vernon said gangs in Guatemala are increasingly recruiting young children to deal drugs, stash dirty money and even kill rivals.
"It's much more complicated to jail minors," he said.
He and Avila Avilez both mentioned another disturbing trend: the spread of gang recruitment from the disillusioned poor to children from good homes who are too afraid to remain unaffiliated.
"There is a saying in some El Salvador neighborhoods," Avila Avilez said. "It is, 'If you're not in a gang, then you're against gangs.'"
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Feb 6, 2007 8:14 PM (3 days ago)
LOS ANGELES - Not long ago, the U.S. regularly deported convicted gang members to their home countries in Central America without tipping off local police of their criminal past, the director of El Salvador's national police said Tuesday on the eve of an international summit on gangs.
Los Angeles' pervasive and violent street gangs were seen as a local problem and not part of an international criminal web, even as some gangs such as MS-13 and 18th Street, oozed across borders into Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The three-day summit beginning Wednesday in Los Angeles reflects a recent shift in that philosophy. It features top officials from several Central American and local U.S. police departments, along with the FBI.
Seminar participants said gang members have been taking advantage of the lack of information sharing to cross borders unidentified by local police - bringing weapons, ideas for criminal enterprise and rivalries.
"Now it is most important to take advantage of technology, of our shared economic interests and of our information to find new ways to make sure these violent gangs don't continue to find ways of staying in the dark," said Rodrigo Avila Avilez, director general of El Salvador's national police.
Earlier this week in El Salvador, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced an initiative to improve anti-gang cooperation between the two countries that will ease the arrest of fugitives, coordinate training and improve information sharing and gang intelligence gathering.
Avila Avilez estimated there were as many as 15,000 gang members in El Salvador, a country of about 6.8 million. There are about 6,000 gang members in Guatemala, a country of 12.3 million, said Ervin Johann Sperisen Vernon, director general of Guatemala's national police.
By comparison, police estimate Los Angeles County has about 40,000 gang members.
The spread of Los Angeles-style gangs to Central America is in part the result of mass deportations of young men indoctrinated in the city's violent streets after fleeing their home countries during the civil wars of the 1970s and 80s. In many cases, gang members raised in Los Angeles have more in common culturally with the city than their home countries, police officials said.
"In El Salvador, they speak Spanglish, or Spanish with a Mexican accent," Avila Avilez said. "It gives them a privileged status among fellow gang members."
Robert B. Loosle, who oversees the FBI's gang investigations in Los Angeles, said crimes committed by gangs in Central America serve as a bellwether for potential criminal enterprises in the U.S.
Particularly noteworthy, Loosle said, was a spike in extortion rackets committed by gangs in El Salvador. Armed members of MS-13 regularly shake down neighborhoods for protection money and demand taxes from bus and truck drivers passing through their turf.
"Since members of gangs travel freely across borders, we need to pay attention to new trends they bring with them," Loosle said.
Sperisen Vernon said gangs in Guatemala are increasingly recruiting young children to deal drugs, stash dirty money and even kill rivals.
"It's much more complicated to jail minors," he said.
He and Avila Avilez both mentioned another disturbing trend: the spread of gang recruitment from the disillusioned poor to children from good homes who are too afraid to remain unaffiliated.
"There is a saying in some El Salvador neighborhoods," Avila Avilez said. "It is, 'If you're not in a gang, then you're against gangs.'"
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
International Summit on Gangs Hosted in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Summit Tackles International Gang Problem
By Mike O'Sullivan (Voice of America)
Los Angeles
08 February 2007
O'Sullivan report - Download 382k
Listen to O'Sullivan report
International law enforcement authorities now meeting in Los Angeles say the problem of violent street gangs crosses borders. VOA's Mike O'Sullivan reports, officials from Canada, Mexico, and Central America have joined their U.S. counterparts in a three-day gang summit ending Friday.
Authorities from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize are contending with street gangs that started in ethnic neighborhoods in Los Angeles, then expanded as criminal enterprises after convicted felons were deported to their home countries. Today, violent groups with names like MS-13 and the18th Street gang straddle the borders.
Stephen Tidwell runs the Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and says gangs are extending their reach in troubling ways.
"It is not so much new, as now that we have reached a point that there is such volume to it, and they have grown in their sophistication in how they are now running themselves," he said. "Their capacity to control areas, whether it be neighborhoods here or portions of neighborhoods and cities in Central and South America, they are learning every day how to do that better."
This week, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca announced cooperative efforts aimed at sharing intelligence, coordinating training and apprehending fugitive gang members.
Law enforcement officials who are meeting in Los Angeles hope to develop strategies to target the gang problem, which they say is pressing. In Central America, thousands of gang members engage in extortion and murder.
Antonio Villaraigosa
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says gangs are responsible for most murders in his city, and more than two-thirds of its shootings.
As part of its new strategy, Los Angeles will publicize the names of the worst gangs that officials hope to dismantle. The approach has its critics, however, who worry the publicity will only glamorize the gangs.
The mayor believes, however, that a comprehensive strategy will make inroads with a problem that has plagued his city for decades.
"It is not a problem that we are going to address overnight," he said. "But if we address it comprehensively, if we address it local, state, and federal and even internationally, if we look at prevention, intervention, enforcement, as one continuum, we can address this issue."
He says gangs operate in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods, and that intensified law enforcement must be combined with job training and efforts to keep students in school.
Rocky Delgadillo
Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood, but sees progress in the city's battle against gangs.
"Over the last five years here in Los Angeles, we have gone from 57,000 gang members, which is a huge number, down to 39,000," he said. "It is still way too many, but we have seen a 33 percent reduction in gang membership in LA. Some of the things that we are doing are working, so it gives me some hope that if we scale them up to the size of the problem, we might actually start to dismantle and disrupt the gangs."
He says in addition to stepped-up enforcement both in the United States and south of the border, the effort should target recruiters who try to bring young people into gangs, and offer alternatives to gangs for inner-city youngsters.
By Mike O'Sullivan (Voice of America)
Los Angeles
08 February 2007
O'Sullivan report - Download 382k
Listen to O'Sullivan report
International law enforcement authorities now meeting in Los Angeles say the problem of violent street gangs crosses borders. VOA's Mike O'Sullivan reports, officials from Canada, Mexico, and Central America have joined their U.S. counterparts in a three-day gang summit ending Friday.
Authorities from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize are contending with street gangs that started in ethnic neighborhoods in Los Angeles, then expanded as criminal enterprises after convicted felons were deported to their home countries. Today, violent groups with names like MS-13 and the18th Street gang straddle the borders.
Stephen Tidwell runs the Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and says gangs are extending their reach in troubling ways.
"It is not so much new, as now that we have reached a point that there is such volume to it, and they have grown in their sophistication in how they are now running themselves," he said. "Their capacity to control areas, whether it be neighborhoods here or portions of neighborhoods and cities in Central and South America, they are learning every day how to do that better."
This week, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca announced cooperative efforts aimed at sharing intelligence, coordinating training and apprehending fugitive gang members.
Law enforcement officials who are meeting in Los Angeles hope to develop strategies to target the gang problem, which they say is pressing. In Central America, thousands of gang members engage in extortion and murder.
Antonio Villaraigosa
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says gangs are responsible for most murders in his city, and more than two-thirds of its shootings.
As part of its new strategy, Los Angeles will publicize the names of the worst gangs that officials hope to dismantle. The approach has its critics, however, who worry the publicity will only glamorize the gangs.
The mayor believes, however, that a comprehensive strategy will make inroads with a problem that has plagued his city for decades.
"It is not a problem that we are going to address overnight," he said. "But if we address it comprehensively, if we address it local, state, and federal and even internationally, if we look at prevention, intervention, enforcement, as one continuum, we can address this issue."
He says gangs operate in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods, and that intensified law enforcement must be combined with job training and efforts to keep students in school.
Rocky Delgadillo
Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood, but sees progress in the city's battle against gangs.
"Over the last five years here in Los Angeles, we have gone from 57,000 gang members, which is a huge number, down to 39,000," he said. "It is still way too many, but we have seen a 33 percent reduction in gang membership in LA. Some of the things that we are doing are working, so it gives me some hope that if we scale them up to the size of the problem, we might actually start to dismantle and disrupt the gangs."
He says in addition to stepped-up enforcement both in the United States and south of the border, the effort should target recruiters who try to bring young people into gangs, and offer alternatives to gangs for inner-city youngsters.
How Much Do You Know About Gangs?: Take This Test
Why did your state legislature address the criminal street gang issue?
To maintain public order and safety.
To respond to the ever increasing crime caused by street gangs that threatens and terrorizes peaceful citizens.
To stop this mounting criminal activity.
To provide for increased penalties for those found guilty of criminal gang involvement and eliminate the patterns, profits, and property helping criminal street gang activity, including street gang recruitment.
What is a criminal gang?
It is a formal or informal ongoing organization, association, or group that has as one of its primary activities the committing of criminal or delinquent acts.
Who is a criminal gang member?
A person who meets two or more of these criteria:
Admits to criminal street gang membership;
Is identified as a gang member by a parent/guardian;
Is identified as a gang member by a documented reliable informant;
Reside/frequents a gang's area, adopts their style of dress, hand signs, or tattoos, and associates with known gang members;
Is identified as a gang member by an informant of previously untested reliability and such identification is corroborated by independent information;
Was arrested more than once in the company of identified gang member for offenses which are consistent with usual criminal street gang activity;
Is identified as a criminal street gang member by physical evidence such as photographs or other documentation;
Was stopped in the company of known criminal street gang members four or more times.
When we talk about the gang and security threat group subculture, what are the main gang categories or influences?
The world of gangs and threat groups can become very complex. Knowing this, it helps to divide these groups into some basic categories that will form a firm foundation to learning and understanding. Most gangs or STGs you will encounter will fall into one of these basic categories:
Street Gangs
Prison Gangs
White Supremacy Groups
Motorcycle/Biker Gangs
Subversive Groups
Cult Groups
Why is there a Security Threat Group Management program in the Department of Corrections?
To ensure the safe, secure, and orderly operations for staff, visitors, and inmate/offenders throughout the department by identifying, validating, and certifying STGs and their members and monitoring STG activities.
What is a Security Threat Group (STG)?
Formal or informal ongoing groups, gangs, organization or associations consisting of three or more members who have a common name or common identifying signs, colors, or symbols. A group whose members/associates engage in a pattern of gang activity or department rule violation.
What is a certified STG?
Inmate/offender groups, gangs, or organizations that are certified by the Threat Assessment Review Committee (TARC). Any group that presents a threat to the security and orderly operations of department facilities based on the group's activities, propensity for violence, documented acts, organizational structure, philosophy, and/or historical data from other jurisdictions or prison systems is designated as a certified STG.
Why do we call them STGs?
To eliminate any recognition these criminals may draw from publicity about their gang or its activities. Also, STG accurately describes how these groups can impact the security of institutional operations.
How does the STG member certification process work?
The STG validation process involves, but is not limited to:
Identifying individual gang members, not gangs themselves;
Observing behavior;
Locating graffiti;
Observing body markings;
Noticing certain clothing arrangements; and
Gathering intelligence from reliable sources.
Information collected is then assigned a point value through a validation work sheet. When a suspect reaches a certain point value, he/she is certified as either a suspect member or confirmed member based on their accumulated point value.
Can I get information about a specific inmate's gang involvement?
No. Although we are committed to sharing information related to gangs that are active within our state, specific intelligence related to a particular inmate's involvement is confidential and for law enforcement use only.
To maintain public order and safety.
To respond to the ever increasing crime caused by street gangs that threatens and terrorizes peaceful citizens.
To stop this mounting criminal activity.
To provide for increased penalties for those found guilty of criminal gang involvement and eliminate the patterns, profits, and property helping criminal street gang activity, including street gang recruitment.
What is a criminal gang?
It is a formal or informal ongoing organization, association, or group that has as one of its primary activities the committing of criminal or delinquent acts.
Who is a criminal gang member?
A person who meets two or more of these criteria:
Admits to criminal street gang membership;
Is identified as a gang member by a parent/guardian;
Is identified as a gang member by a documented reliable informant;
Reside/frequents a gang's area, adopts their style of dress, hand signs, or tattoos, and associates with known gang members;
Is identified as a gang member by an informant of previously untested reliability and such identification is corroborated by independent information;
Was arrested more than once in the company of identified gang member for offenses which are consistent with usual criminal street gang activity;
Is identified as a criminal street gang member by physical evidence such as photographs or other documentation;
Was stopped in the company of known criminal street gang members four or more times.
When we talk about the gang and security threat group subculture, what are the main gang categories or influences?
The world of gangs and threat groups can become very complex. Knowing this, it helps to divide these groups into some basic categories that will form a firm foundation to learning and understanding. Most gangs or STGs you will encounter will fall into one of these basic categories:
Street Gangs
Prison Gangs
White Supremacy Groups
Motorcycle/Biker Gangs
Subversive Groups
Cult Groups
Why is there a Security Threat Group Management program in the Department of Corrections?
To ensure the safe, secure, and orderly operations for staff, visitors, and inmate/offenders throughout the department by identifying, validating, and certifying STGs and their members and monitoring STG activities.
What is a Security Threat Group (STG)?
Formal or informal ongoing groups, gangs, organization or associations consisting of three or more members who have a common name or common identifying signs, colors, or symbols. A group whose members/associates engage in a pattern of gang activity or department rule violation.
What is a certified STG?
Inmate/offender groups, gangs, or organizations that are certified by the Threat Assessment Review Committee (TARC). Any group that presents a threat to the security and orderly operations of department facilities based on the group's activities, propensity for violence, documented acts, organizational structure, philosophy, and/or historical data from other jurisdictions or prison systems is designated as a certified STG.
Why do we call them STGs?
To eliminate any recognition these criminals may draw from publicity about their gang or its activities. Also, STG accurately describes how these groups can impact the security of institutional operations.
How does the STG member certification process work?
The STG validation process involves, but is not limited to:
Identifying individual gang members, not gangs themselves;
Observing behavior;
Locating graffiti;
Observing body markings;
Noticing certain clothing arrangements; and
Gathering intelligence from reliable sources.
Information collected is then assigned a point value through a validation work sheet. When a suspect reaches a certain point value, he/she is certified as either a suspect member or confirmed member based on their accumulated point value.
Can I get information about a specific inmate's gang involvement?
No. Although we are committed to sharing information related to gangs that are active within our state, specific intelligence related to a particular inmate's involvement is confidential and for law enforcement use only.
International Terrorism and U.S. Street Gangs: What Links Them?
Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia
Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s
National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC04-94-AL85000
21 November 2002
Advanced Concepts Group
Sandia National Laboratories
SAND 2004-1104P
Unlimited Release
Terrorist Organizations
And Criminal Street Gangs
An argument for an analogy
Contacts:
Jessica Glicken Turnley (jgturnley@aol.com)
Julienne Smrcka (jsmrcka@salud.unm.edu)
Page Intentionally Blank
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
1
Introduction
The events of September 11, 2001, were horrific not just in the number of lives lost but in, the loss
of our sense of security as a nation. As one observer said, our failure was not an intelligence failure
but a failure of imagination. It seemed at the time inconceivable that such an attack could be made
on such powerful symbols.
Our efforts to understand what prompted the violence are hampered by a lack of knowledge about
terrorists, their motivations, and their potential for action. This lack of knowledge, to a large degree,
stems from a lack of data on terrorists. Such primary data that we have generally comes from
interviews of terrorists conducted under conditions of significant power imbalance (they are
prisoners). As a result, the results are highly suspect. Intelligence data, another important source,
generally is highly indirect and requires conclusion by inference.
To address the absence of data as we move forward with efforts to model terrorist groups and
activities, we have turned to the literature on criminal street gangs as an analog. Street gangs have
been studied for years by the behavioral and social science communities. There is much empirical
data available. Furthermore, the violence of the battles between gangs such as the Crips and the
Bloods in Los Angeles, for example, combined with the lessons learned from much of the empirically
based research, has led to successful trust-building campaigns and significant reductions in violent
behavior.
This essay is an exploration of the validity of the analogy between street gangs and terrorists. We
explore the theoretical approaches that have emerged from the data on gangs, and note similarities
to work done in the field of terrorism which has been developing theories based on little empirical
data. We conclude with a short position statement, stating our belief in the validity of the analogy
and describing a theoretical approach for our work.
General Background
Both street gangs and terrorist groups are non-corporate groups. They are not organized as formal
(legal) entities, so group leaders operate in different environments and with different kinds of
authority than do those in charge of corporate legal actor. As a different type of actor, street gangs
and terrorists also have different sets of actions available to them. Both terrorist groups and street
gangs often are self-identified, that is, legitimacy and identity are not conferred upon them by some
external body (they do not need to be ‘recognized’ by a larger community in order to act) but rather
are self-proclaimed. Membership in both gangs and terrorist organizations is an active proposition.
One does not become a member by virtue of (e.g.) birth, ethnicity, or residency, although there may
be exclusionary criteria (that is, there may be criteria which determine [in]eligibility for membership).
Rather, one becomes a member through some voluntary act, some act of choice. Both types of
groups (gangs and terrorist organizations) engage in criminal and, often, violent behavior. They thus
operate in an extra-legal environment and maintain an adversarial relationship with peace-keeping
interests.
Four general theoretical explanatory frameworks have emerged from empirical studies of gangs.
These theoretical frames also appear within the literature on terrorists and terrorist groups. They
have been applied to the more anecdotal and sparse body of data on terrorists and terrorist
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
2
organizations in ways similar to their application to the more empirical data found underpinning the
research on gangs. This discussion will review the approaches from the standpoint of the research
on gangs, and then reference leading writings in the field of terrorist research that correspond to
each set of groups.
We label our four approaches psychological, sociological, communicative, and power-based. The
later two (communicative and power-based) are instrumental in nature, that is, they see gangs as a
means to an end. The two former approaches (psychological and sociological) are causal and
explanatory frames, seeking to understand why these types of groups emerge and the forces that
keep them functioning as groups. It is important to realize that the more powerful treatments of
gangs use elements from both the instrumental and causal camps, and from both approaches within
each.
Psychological approach
The psychological approach focuses on the individual (the gang member). The research has looked
for a particular personality constellation or composite of psychological factors that characterize the
gang member such as self-esteem, family constellation, level of aggression, level of depression, and
level of impulse control. The underlying hypothesis is that gang members are psychologically
deviant, and exhibit psychopathological or sociopathological tendencies which cause them to join
these extra-legal, violent groups.
There has been a great deal of work in this arena, comparing early initiates in gangs to their nongang
peer groups. The research generally concludes that potential gang members do not differ in
significant ways from their peers in terms of psychological makeup. The percent of pathological
individuals in gangs seems to be roughly similar to that in the general population. It is important to
note, however, that psychological profiles will change with tenure in a gang. Long-term members
show greater tendencies toward pathologies.
Motivations for joining gangs often involve the development and/or expression of primary selfidentification.
Gang members usually do not belong to ‘mainstream society’ but rather to socially
marginal or economically disadvantaged groups. These marginal and/or disadvantaged groups are
usually defined by race or ethnicity, and occasionally by religion. As social success or ‘the good life’
is generally defined in terms of the dominant society rather than marginal groups, access to rewards
and the positive self-identification that comes with them is missing for the disadvantaged groups.
Potential gang members have few legitimate sources for positive self-validation and self-definition.
The gang, through its development of measures of success that are attainable for these individuals,
provides these opportunities. The gang also provides members with a sense of both individual
power and protection that is otherwise missing for them. It also provides members with a strong
code of morals. This is particularly apparent in gangs defined by religion or strongly identified with
religion that are characterized by religious iconography and rituals; however, the moral code is
present in all gangs and is often verbally affirmed by members. Note that these complexes of
behavior described above are particularly important for adolescents and young adults who are at a
stage where identity formation occurs.
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
3
In this explanatory frame, a gang member trades loyalty to the group for social and moral security
and the chance of success. His membership in the group is communicated by tangible marks such as
clothes, tattoos, and jewelry, and by performance marks such as vocabulary or speaking style,
participation in various rituals, and adherence to clearly defined and morally grounded codes of
behavior. Rites of passage provide explicit markers of status.
The terrorist literature parallels the street gang findings. The few interviews that have been
conducted with terrorists show that the terrorists also are low on the psychopathology scale. In the
rare cases where interviews have been conducted, terrorists state that their membership in the
terrorist group represented the first time in their lives that they have experienced a sense of
belonging. Literature on fundamentalist religious movements (the basis of the Middle Eastern
groups) supports this finding, suggesting that these types of fundamentalist movements gain
adherents in situations of rapid social change in which moral structures become unclear or
ambiguous, and the sense of community and the behavioral codes communities provide tends to
disintegrate. Terrorist interviews also reveal a propensity for the same type of black-and-white
thinking that characterizes the (usually adolescent) members of gangs.
Jerrold Post has been one of the strongest proponents of the psychological approaches to terrorism.
He has worked over many years to develop a complex of traits to characterize the terrorist, and in
particular, the terrorist leader. While there appears to be forensic value in this approach, there is a
great deal of dispute over the claim that he has developed anything that can be broadly applied in
the explanatory or causal arena.
Sociological approach
This moves us to the second theoretical frame, the sociological. This approach considers gangs as
social phenomena, and focuses not on individual members but on groups. It investigates the
environment from which members are recruited, looking for differences between that social milieu
and those which do not spawn gangs. It also is interested in the organization and structure of the
groups themselves. This research again is concerned with the marginalized or disadvantaged nature
of the populations from which gangs emerge. It is primarily concerned with understanding that
milieu and its effects on organization formation and operation.
Research on gangs has identified dysfunctional families, failed schools, and non-existent community
structures as hallmarks of the milieu in which gangs are found. This research reinforces the
importance of the marginal or disadvantaged nature of the populations from which gang members
are drawn. In this case, the interest is in the influence of these social environments on the formation
of groups rather than individual psyches. These social environments communicate messages of
success in terms that are inaccessible to the populations in these environments. This integrates well
with the psychological approach described above. If the macro-community marginalizes a group of
individuals or causes them to feel powerless, they will seek structures within which they can exercise
power and create such structures if they do not exist. If mainstream society offers no road to
success, it will be sought (or created) through alternative communities such as gangs.
This approach also offers some explanations for the use of violence by these groups. Law
enforcement or peace-keeping groups are often the most tangible representation of the forbidden
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
4
society with which gang members deal. They thus become a threat rather than a source of
reassurance, stability, or structure, hence the criminal or extra-legal nature of gangs. Furthermore,
gang members often come from environments where they have witnessed a high level of violence
(families and/or communities) and seen the success of violence as a coping strategy. Research has
also shown that access to weapons or the means of violence will increase the propensity for
violence.
This explanatory frame translates well to the Middle Eastern terrorist groups. The macroenvironment,
defined in this case by the ‘failed states’ of the Middle East, is unable to provide many
social services, including law and order, or physical or social infrastructures such as communications
or banking. However, opportunity is defined in Western terms (which require these services and
infrastructures) and is achieved through participation in a global community. Individuals feel set up
for failure. Islam (particularly fundamentalist Islam) and associated groups provide an alternative
vocabulary for success and an alternative mechanism for achieving it. Recall that religious
fundamentalism tends to arise among dislocated populations, offering community and structure in
an otherwise chaotic and animistic world. The integration of church and state offered by Islam
allows Islamic fundamentalism to attract members with the additional promise of a world more
amenable to social/political self-actualization than that offered by the current political regime. Note
that the mechanisms for social actualization offered by these types of groups are explicitly counter to
those offered by the ‘failed state,’ and hence are extra-legal and therefore deemed criminal.
Instrumental approaches
Instrumental approaches also focus on the group rather than the individual as the primary actor.
Both communicative explanations and power-oriented instrumentalism seek to explain why groups
use violence to achieve certain ends. Both approaches argue that individuals join groups such as
gangs because they feel that they are unheard as single voices, or lack the power as individuals to
achieve certain ends. To some extent, this does take us back to the individual actor and does engage
the psychological approach—but the primary explanatory power of these approaches is focused on
the power of the group vis-à-vis individuals, rather than on the type of individual that seeks to fill
some specified need or resource requirement. The instrumental approaches also draw heavily on the
sociological approach, for they begin from the premise that the group has no legal or legitimate
means to achieve its end and so must resort to extra-legal activities.
Communicative approach
Communicative explanations see violence as ‘theater.’ This approach is also called ‘performance
violence,’ where the goal is as much to have the act witnessed as it is to harm the victim. These types
of violent acts on the part of gangs often are scripted, and are carefully planned. The audience may
be other members of the perpetrator’s gang, members of a rival gang, or non-gang members of
society. Explanatory deconstructions of these types focus on discovering the ‘message’ behind the
performance. Note, again, that while the act may be performed by an individual, it is always
performed within the context of the group. It uses group-defined symbology, may be scripted, and is
always acknowledged. Mark Juergensmeyer and others have adopted similar approaches with
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
5
reference to terrorism, noting that the goal is not to harm the greatest number of individuals but to
have the violence witnessed by the greatest number. The media has become a key actor in these
scenarios
Power-oriented instrumentalism
Power-oriented instrumentalism grows out of the world of realpolitik, or realist politics. In this
environment, the world is seen as a collection of actors (which historically have been nation-states)
engaged in struggles for power. In a realm of failed communities (whether they be states or the city
of Los Angeles), there emerges a whole class of people who feel that they have no voice or power in
the competition for resources, however large or small the terms of that competition are written. In
those instances, non-corporate actors emerge…gangs, or terrorist organizations, which act on behalf
of these non-represented people. They use various tools, including violence, to attempt to redress
real or perceived grievances. Performance violence has an obvious role here. Martha Crenshaw has
made strong contributions to this approach.
Power-oriented instrumentalism takes us quickly back to the sociological approach. We need to
understand the environments that spawn large groups of disenfranchised peoples and how these
people get together to seek access to resources and so become players in the games of power.
Conclusions
Given the above similarities between the environments within which they arise, the structure of
organizations, and the motivations of individuals to join them, we argue that gangs are a legitimate
analog for terrorist and terrorist-like groups. The formation of both of these groups is stimulated by
the belief in a lack of opportunity for self-realization, a search for structure and moral order in what
appears to be a chaotic world, and the associated felt devaluation of self-identity. The groups
become a means to define that self, and to provide the resources and share the responsibility for acts
that will create a world within which these individuals can see hope and opportunity. In order for
that world to be created, the creators (the groups) must speak to someone, must have an audience
for their cause. Hence, violence as theater. Furthermore, because the individual is disenfranchised
and powerless in the world of the dominant culture, and because participation in the group allows
for the diffusion of responsibility for extra-legal acts, it is groups, not individuals, that wield power
and have legitimacy.
We believe that the most robust approach is one which combines elements from both types of
approaches (explanatory/causal and instrumental) and all dimensions of these. We thus subscribe
neither to ‘great man’ theories nor to ‘great times’ theories. Rather we are working with the concept
of socially embedded actors who use organizations as vehicles to achieve social and psychologically
driven ends. This is the approach that will be instantiated in the ‘Seldon’ computational model.
Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s
National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC04-94-AL85000
21 November 2002
Advanced Concepts Group
Sandia National Laboratories
SAND 2004-1104P
Unlimited Release
Terrorist Organizations
And Criminal Street Gangs
An argument for an analogy
Contacts:
Jessica Glicken Turnley (jgturnley@aol.com)
Julienne Smrcka (jsmrcka@salud.unm.edu)
Page Intentionally Blank
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
1
Introduction
The events of September 11, 2001, were horrific not just in the number of lives lost but in, the loss
of our sense of security as a nation. As one observer said, our failure was not an intelligence failure
but a failure of imagination. It seemed at the time inconceivable that such an attack could be made
on such powerful symbols.
Our efforts to understand what prompted the violence are hampered by a lack of knowledge about
terrorists, their motivations, and their potential for action. This lack of knowledge, to a large degree,
stems from a lack of data on terrorists. Such primary data that we have generally comes from
interviews of terrorists conducted under conditions of significant power imbalance (they are
prisoners). As a result, the results are highly suspect. Intelligence data, another important source,
generally is highly indirect and requires conclusion by inference.
To address the absence of data as we move forward with efforts to model terrorist groups and
activities, we have turned to the literature on criminal street gangs as an analog. Street gangs have
been studied for years by the behavioral and social science communities. There is much empirical
data available. Furthermore, the violence of the battles between gangs such as the Crips and the
Bloods in Los Angeles, for example, combined with the lessons learned from much of the empirically
based research, has led to successful trust-building campaigns and significant reductions in violent
behavior.
This essay is an exploration of the validity of the analogy between street gangs and terrorists. We
explore the theoretical approaches that have emerged from the data on gangs, and note similarities
to work done in the field of terrorism which has been developing theories based on little empirical
data. We conclude with a short position statement, stating our belief in the validity of the analogy
and describing a theoretical approach for our work.
General Background
Both street gangs and terrorist groups are non-corporate groups. They are not organized as formal
(legal) entities, so group leaders operate in different environments and with different kinds of
authority than do those in charge of corporate legal actor. As a different type of actor, street gangs
and terrorists also have different sets of actions available to them. Both terrorist groups and street
gangs often are self-identified, that is, legitimacy and identity are not conferred upon them by some
external body (they do not need to be ‘recognized’ by a larger community in order to act) but rather
are self-proclaimed. Membership in both gangs and terrorist organizations is an active proposition.
One does not become a member by virtue of (e.g.) birth, ethnicity, or residency, although there may
be exclusionary criteria (that is, there may be criteria which determine [in]eligibility for membership).
Rather, one becomes a member through some voluntary act, some act of choice. Both types of
groups (gangs and terrorist organizations) engage in criminal and, often, violent behavior. They thus
operate in an extra-legal environment and maintain an adversarial relationship with peace-keeping
interests.
Four general theoretical explanatory frameworks have emerged from empirical studies of gangs.
These theoretical frames also appear within the literature on terrorists and terrorist groups. They
have been applied to the more anecdotal and sparse body of data on terrorists and terrorist
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
2
organizations in ways similar to their application to the more empirical data found underpinning the
research on gangs. This discussion will review the approaches from the standpoint of the research
on gangs, and then reference leading writings in the field of terrorist research that correspond to
each set of groups.
We label our four approaches psychological, sociological, communicative, and power-based. The
later two (communicative and power-based) are instrumental in nature, that is, they see gangs as a
means to an end. The two former approaches (psychological and sociological) are causal and
explanatory frames, seeking to understand why these types of groups emerge and the forces that
keep them functioning as groups. It is important to realize that the more powerful treatments of
gangs use elements from both the instrumental and causal camps, and from both approaches within
each.
Psychological approach
The psychological approach focuses on the individual (the gang member). The research has looked
for a particular personality constellation or composite of psychological factors that characterize the
gang member such as self-esteem, family constellation, level of aggression, level of depression, and
level of impulse control. The underlying hypothesis is that gang members are psychologically
deviant, and exhibit psychopathological or sociopathological tendencies which cause them to join
these extra-legal, violent groups.
There has been a great deal of work in this arena, comparing early initiates in gangs to their nongang
peer groups. The research generally concludes that potential gang members do not differ in
significant ways from their peers in terms of psychological makeup. The percent of pathological
individuals in gangs seems to be roughly similar to that in the general population. It is important to
note, however, that psychological profiles will change with tenure in a gang. Long-term members
show greater tendencies toward pathologies.
Motivations for joining gangs often involve the development and/or expression of primary selfidentification.
Gang members usually do not belong to ‘mainstream society’ but rather to socially
marginal or economically disadvantaged groups. These marginal and/or disadvantaged groups are
usually defined by race or ethnicity, and occasionally by religion. As social success or ‘the good life’
is generally defined in terms of the dominant society rather than marginal groups, access to rewards
and the positive self-identification that comes with them is missing for the disadvantaged groups.
Potential gang members have few legitimate sources for positive self-validation and self-definition.
The gang, through its development of measures of success that are attainable for these individuals,
provides these opportunities. The gang also provides members with a sense of both individual
power and protection that is otherwise missing for them. It also provides members with a strong
code of morals. This is particularly apparent in gangs defined by religion or strongly identified with
religion that are characterized by religious iconography and rituals; however, the moral code is
present in all gangs and is often verbally affirmed by members. Note that these complexes of
behavior described above are particularly important for adolescents and young adults who are at a
stage where identity formation occurs.
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
3
In this explanatory frame, a gang member trades loyalty to the group for social and moral security
and the chance of success. His membership in the group is communicated by tangible marks such as
clothes, tattoos, and jewelry, and by performance marks such as vocabulary or speaking style,
participation in various rituals, and adherence to clearly defined and morally grounded codes of
behavior. Rites of passage provide explicit markers of status.
The terrorist literature parallels the street gang findings. The few interviews that have been
conducted with terrorists show that the terrorists also are low on the psychopathology scale. In the
rare cases where interviews have been conducted, terrorists state that their membership in the
terrorist group represented the first time in their lives that they have experienced a sense of
belonging. Literature on fundamentalist religious movements (the basis of the Middle Eastern
groups) supports this finding, suggesting that these types of fundamentalist movements gain
adherents in situations of rapid social change in which moral structures become unclear or
ambiguous, and the sense of community and the behavioral codes communities provide tends to
disintegrate. Terrorist interviews also reveal a propensity for the same type of black-and-white
thinking that characterizes the (usually adolescent) members of gangs.
Jerrold Post has been one of the strongest proponents of the psychological approaches to terrorism.
He has worked over many years to develop a complex of traits to characterize the terrorist, and in
particular, the terrorist leader. While there appears to be forensic value in this approach, there is a
great deal of dispute over the claim that he has developed anything that can be broadly applied in
the explanatory or causal arena.
Sociological approach
This moves us to the second theoretical frame, the sociological. This approach considers gangs as
social phenomena, and focuses not on individual members but on groups. It investigates the
environment from which members are recruited, looking for differences between that social milieu
and those which do not spawn gangs. It also is interested in the organization and structure of the
groups themselves. This research again is concerned with the marginalized or disadvantaged nature
of the populations from which gangs emerge. It is primarily concerned with understanding that
milieu and its effects on organization formation and operation.
Research on gangs has identified dysfunctional families, failed schools, and non-existent community
structures as hallmarks of the milieu in which gangs are found. This research reinforces the
importance of the marginal or disadvantaged nature of the populations from which gang members
are drawn. In this case, the interest is in the influence of these social environments on the formation
of groups rather than individual psyches. These social environments communicate messages of
success in terms that are inaccessible to the populations in these environments. This integrates well
with the psychological approach described above. If the macro-community marginalizes a group of
individuals or causes them to feel powerless, they will seek structures within which they can exercise
power and create such structures if they do not exist. If mainstream society offers no road to
success, it will be sought (or created) through alternative communities such as gangs.
This approach also offers some explanations for the use of violence by these groups. Law
enforcement or peace-keeping groups are often the most tangible representation of the forbidden
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
4
society with which gang members deal. They thus become a threat rather than a source of
reassurance, stability, or structure, hence the criminal or extra-legal nature of gangs. Furthermore,
gang members often come from environments where they have witnessed a high level of violence
(families and/or communities) and seen the success of violence as a coping strategy. Research has
also shown that access to weapons or the means of violence will increase the propensity for
violence.
This explanatory frame translates well to the Middle Eastern terrorist groups. The macroenvironment,
defined in this case by the ‘failed states’ of the Middle East, is unable to provide many
social services, including law and order, or physical or social infrastructures such as communications
or banking. However, opportunity is defined in Western terms (which require these services and
infrastructures) and is achieved through participation in a global community. Individuals feel set up
for failure. Islam (particularly fundamentalist Islam) and associated groups provide an alternative
vocabulary for success and an alternative mechanism for achieving it. Recall that religious
fundamentalism tends to arise among dislocated populations, offering community and structure in
an otherwise chaotic and animistic world. The integration of church and state offered by Islam
allows Islamic fundamentalism to attract members with the additional promise of a world more
amenable to social/political self-actualization than that offered by the current political regime. Note
that the mechanisms for social actualization offered by these types of groups are explicitly counter to
those offered by the ‘failed state,’ and hence are extra-legal and therefore deemed criminal.
Instrumental approaches
Instrumental approaches also focus on the group rather than the individual as the primary actor.
Both communicative explanations and power-oriented instrumentalism seek to explain why groups
use violence to achieve certain ends. Both approaches argue that individuals join groups such as
gangs because they feel that they are unheard as single voices, or lack the power as individuals to
achieve certain ends. To some extent, this does take us back to the individual actor and does engage
the psychological approach—but the primary explanatory power of these approaches is focused on
the power of the group vis-à-vis individuals, rather than on the type of individual that seeks to fill
some specified need or resource requirement. The instrumental approaches also draw heavily on the
sociological approach, for they begin from the premise that the group has no legal or legitimate
means to achieve its end and so must resort to extra-legal activities.
Communicative approach
Communicative explanations see violence as ‘theater.’ This approach is also called ‘performance
violence,’ where the goal is as much to have the act witnessed as it is to harm the victim. These types
of violent acts on the part of gangs often are scripted, and are carefully planned. The audience may
be other members of the perpetrator’s gang, members of a rival gang, or non-gang members of
society. Explanatory deconstructions of these types focus on discovering the ‘message’ behind the
performance. Note, again, that while the act may be performed by an individual, it is always
performed within the context of the group. It uses group-defined symbology, may be scripted, and is
always acknowledged. Mark Juergensmeyer and others have adopted similar approaches with
Terrorist Organizations and Criminal Street Gangs
An Argument for an Analogy
5
reference to terrorism, noting that the goal is not to harm the greatest number of individuals but to
have the violence witnessed by the greatest number. The media has become a key actor in these
scenarios
Power-oriented instrumentalism
Power-oriented instrumentalism grows out of the world of realpolitik, or realist politics. In this
environment, the world is seen as a collection of actors (which historically have been nation-states)
engaged in struggles for power. In a realm of failed communities (whether they be states or the city
of Los Angeles), there emerges a whole class of people who feel that they have no voice or power in
the competition for resources, however large or small the terms of that competition are written. In
those instances, non-corporate actors emerge…gangs, or terrorist organizations, which act on behalf
of these non-represented people. They use various tools, including violence, to attempt to redress
real or perceived grievances. Performance violence has an obvious role here. Martha Crenshaw has
made strong contributions to this approach.
Power-oriented instrumentalism takes us quickly back to the sociological approach. We need to
understand the environments that spawn large groups of disenfranchised peoples and how these
people get together to seek access to resources and so become players in the games of power.
Conclusions
Given the above similarities between the environments within which they arise, the structure of
organizations, and the motivations of individuals to join them, we argue that gangs are a legitimate
analog for terrorist and terrorist-like groups. The formation of both of these groups is stimulated by
the belief in a lack of opportunity for self-realization, a search for structure and moral order in what
appears to be a chaotic world, and the associated felt devaluation of self-identity. The groups
become a means to define that self, and to provide the resources and share the responsibility for acts
that will create a world within which these individuals can see hope and opportunity. In order for
that world to be created, the creators (the groups) must speak to someone, must have an audience
for their cause. Hence, violence as theater. Furthermore, because the individual is disenfranchised
and powerless in the world of the dominant culture, and because participation in the group allows
for the diffusion of responsibility for extra-legal acts, it is groups, not individuals, that wield power
and have legitimacy.
We believe that the most robust approach is one which combines elements from both types of
approaches (explanatory/causal and instrumental) and all dimensions of these. We thus subscribe
neither to ‘great man’ theories nor to ‘great times’ theories. Rather we are working with the concept
of socially embedded actors who use organizations as vehicles to achieve social and psychologically
driven ends. This is the approach that will be instantiated in the ‘Seldon’ computational model.
Legislation: What the States Are Doing
Gang Participation
(Top)
Arizona (view all subjects for this state)
Arizona 13-2308. Participating in or Assisting a Criminal Syndicate; Leading or Participating in a Criminal Street Gang
F. Assisting a criminal syndicate is a class 4 felony. If committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang with the intent to promote, further or assist any criminal conduct by the gang, assisting a criminal syndicate is a class 3 felony.
G. A person who violates subsection A, paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of this section for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with any criminal street gang, with the intent to promote, further or assist any criminal conduct by the gang, is guilty of a class 2 felony.
H. Use of a common name or common identifying sign or symbol shall be admissible and may be considered in proving the combination of persons or enterprises required by this section.
(Top)
California (view all subjects for this state)
California 186.22. Participation in a Criminal Street Gang; Punishment; Felony Conviction; Sentence Enhancement; Commission on or Near School Grounds; Pattern of Criminal Gang Activity
(a) Any person who actively participates in any criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years.
(Top)
Georgia (view all subjects for this state)
Georgia 16-15-4. Participation in Criminal Street Gang Activity Prohibited
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with a criminal street gang to conduct or participate in such criminal street gang through a pattern of criminal gang activity.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, through a pattern of criminal gang activity or proceeds derived there from any interest in or control of any real or personal property of any nature, including money.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person who occupies a position of organizer, supervisory position, or any other position of management with regard to a criminal street gang to engage in, directly or indirectly, or conspire to engage in a pattern of criminal gang activity.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to cause, encourage, solicit, or coerce another to participate in a criminal street gang.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person to communicate, directly or indirectly, with another any threat of injury or damage to the person or property of the other person or to any associate or relative of the other person with the intent to deter such person from assisting a member or associate of a criminal street gang to withdraw from such criminal street gang.
(f) It shall be unlawful for any person to communicate, directly or indirectly, with another any threat of injury or damage to the person or property of the other person or to any associate or relative of the other person with the intent to punish or retaliate against such person for having withdrawn from a criminal street gang.
(g)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) or (b) of this Code section shall, in addition to any other penalty imposed by law, be punished by imprisonment for not less than three nor more than 15 years or by a fine of not less than $5,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00, or both.
(2) Any person who violates subsection (c) of this Code section may, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be punished by imprisonment for an additional ten years which shall be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed on such person by law.
(3) Any person who violates subsection (d), (e), or (f) of this Code section shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.
(h) Any crime committed in violation of this Code section shall be considered a separate offense.
(Top)
Indiana (view all subjects for this state)
Indiana 31-30-1-4
(a) The juvenile court does not have jurisdiction over an individual for an alleged violation of:
(6) IC 35-42-5-2 (carjacking);
(7) IC 35-45-9-3 (criminal gang activity);
(8) IC 35-45-9-4 (criminal gang intimidation);
Indiana 35-45-9-3. Criminal Gang Activity
A person who knowingly or intentionally actively participates in a criminal gang commits criminal gang activity, a Class D felony.
(Top)
Iowa (view all subjects for this state)
Iowa 723A (723A.2). Criminal Gang Participation
A person who actively participates in or is a member of a criminal street gang and who willfully aids and abets any criminal act committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, commits a class "D" felony.
(Top)
Louisiana (view all subjects for this state)
Louisiana 15:1403. Criminal Street Gangs and Patterns of Criminal Street Gang Activity: Prohibitions and Criminal Penalties
A. Any person who intentionally directs, participates, conducts, furthers, or assists in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity as defined in this Chapter shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for an underlying offense committed in a pattern of criminal gang activity and may be fined an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars. Any sentence of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this Section shall be in addition and consecutive to any sentence imposed for an underlying offense committed in the pattern of criminal gang activity.
B. Any person who is convicted of a felony or an attempted felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the intent to promote, further, or assist in the affairs of a criminal gang, shall, upon conviction of that felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for that offense.
C. Any person who is convicted of an offense other than a felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct or enterprise by gang members, shall, in addition and consecutive to the penalty provided for that offense, be imprisoned for an additional period of six months.
D. The court may elect to suspend all or a part of any additional mandatory punishment or enhanced punishment provided for in this Chapter only in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served, and if the court specifies on the record and enters into the minutes the reasons that the interests of justice would best be served by that suspension of punishment.
(Top)
Minnesota (view all subjects for this state)
Minnesota 609.229. Crime Committed for Benefit of a Gang
Subd. 2. Crimes.
A person who commits a crime for the benefit of, at the direction of, in association with, or motivated by involvement with a criminal gang, with the intent to promote, further, or assist in criminal conduct by gang members is guilty of a crime and may be sentenced as provided in subdivision 3.
Subd. 3. Penalty.
(a) If the crime committed in violation of subdivision 2 is a felony, the statutory maximum for the crime is five years longer than the statutory maximum for the underlying crime.
(b) If the crime committed in violation of subdivision 2 is a misdemeanor, the person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(c) If the crime committed in violation of subdivision 2 is a gross misdemeanor, the person is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than three years or to payment of a fine of not more than $15,000, or both.
(Top)
Missouri (view all subjects for this state)
Missouri 578.423. Participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities, penalty-persons between ages of fourteen and seventeen participating to be transferred to courts of general jurisdiction
Any person who actively participates in any criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal street gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by gang members shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for one, two, or three years. For any person between the ages of fourteen and seventeen who is alleged to have violated the provisions of sections 578.421 to 578.437 the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney may move for dismissal of a petition and transfer to a court of general jurisdiction.
(Top)
Ohio (view all subjects for this state)
Ohio 2923.42. Participating in Criminal Gang
(A) No person who actively participates in a criminal gang, with knowledge that the criminal gang engages in or has engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, shall purposely promote, further, or assist any criminal conduct, as defined in division (C) of section 2923.41 of the Revised Code, or shall purposely commit or engage in any act that constitutes criminal conduct, as defined in division (C) of section 2923.41 of the Revised Code.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of participating in a criminal gang, a felony of the second degree.
(Top)
Texas (view all subjects for this state)
Texas 71-02. Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang, he commits or conspires to commit one or more of the following:
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, or forgery;
(2) any felony gambling offense;
(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation or distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;
(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale promote the same;
(7) any unlawful employment, authorization, or inducing of a child younger than 17 years of age in an obscene sexual performance;
(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32, Penal Code; or
(9) any offense under Chapter 36, Penal Code.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection c of this section, an offender under this section is one category higher than the most serious offense listed in Subdivision (1) through (9) of Subsection (a) of this section that was committed, and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the felony is an offense of the third degree, except that if the most serious offense is a felony of the first degree, the offense is a felony of the first degree.
(c) Conspiring to commit and offense under this section is of the same degree as the most serious offense listed in Subdivisions (1) through (9) of Subsection (a) of this section that the person conspired to commit.
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Arizona (view all subjects for this state)
Arizona 13-2308. Participating in or Assisting a Criminal Syndicate; Leading or Participating in a Criminal Street Gang
F. Assisting a criminal syndicate is a class 4 felony. If committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang with the intent to promote, further or assist any criminal conduct by the gang, assisting a criminal syndicate is a class 3 felony.
G. A person who violates subsection A, paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of this section for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with any criminal street gang, with the intent to promote, further or assist any criminal conduct by the gang, is guilty of a class 2 felony.
H. Use of a common name or common identifying sign or symbol shall be admissible and may be considered in proving the combination of persons or enterprises required by this section.
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California (view all subjects for this state)
California 186.22. Participation in a Criminal Street Gang; Punishment; Felony Conviction; Sentence Enhancement; Commission on or Near School Grounds; Pattern of Criminal Gang Activity
(a) Any person who actively participates in any criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years.
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Georgia (view all subjects for this state)
Georgia 16-15-4. Participation in Criminal Street Gang Activity Prohibited
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with a criminal street gang to conduct or participate in such criminal street gang through a pattern of criminal gang activity.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, through a pattern of criminal gang activity or proceeds derived there from any interest in or control of any real or personal property of any nature, including money.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person who occupies a position of organizer, supervisory position, or any other position of management with regard to a criminal street gang to engage in, directly or indirectly, or conspire to engage in a pattern of criminal gang activity.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to cause, encourage, solicit, or coerce another to participate in a criminal street gang.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person to communicate, directly or indirectly, with another any threat of injury or damage to the person or property of the other person or to any associate or relative of the other person with the intent to deter such person from assisting a member or associate of a criminal street gang to withdraw from such criminal street gang.
(f) It shall be unlawful for any person to communicate, directly or indirectly, with another any threat of injury or damage to the person or property of the other person or to any associate or relative of the other person with the intent to punish or retaliate against such person for having withdrawn from a criminal street gang.
(g)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) or (b) of this Code section shall, in addition to any other penalty imposed by law, be punished by imprisonment for not less than three nor more than 15 years or by a fine of not less than $5,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00, or both.
(2) Any person who violates subsection (c) of this Code section may, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be punished by imprisonment for an additional ten years which shall be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed on such person by law.
(3) Any person who violates subsection (d), (e), or (f) of this Code section shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.
(h) Any crime committed in violation of this Code section shall be considered a separate offense.
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Indiana (view all subjects for this state)
Indiana 31-30-1-4
(a) The juvenile court does not have jurisdiction over an individual for an alleged violation of:
(6) IC 35-42-5-2 (carjacking);
(7) IC 35-45-9-3 (criminal gang activity);
(8) IC 35-45-9-4 (criminal gang intimidation);
Indiana 35-45-9-3. Criminal Gang Activity
A person who knowingly or intentionally actively participates in a criminal gang commits criminal gang activity, a Class D felony.
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Iowa (view all subjects for this state)
Iowa 723A (723A.2). Criminal Gang Participation
A person who actively participates in or is a member of a criminal street gang and who willfully aids and abets any criminal act committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, commits a class "D" felony.
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Louisiana (view all subjects for this state)
Louisiana 15:1403. Criminal Street Gangs and Patterns of Criminal Street Gang Activity: Prohibitions and Criminal Penalties
A. Any person who intentionally directs, participates, conducts, furthers, or assists in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity as defined in this Chapter shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for an underlying offense committed in a pattern of criminal gang activity and may be fined an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars. Any sentence of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this Section shall be in addition and consecutive to any sentence imposed for an underlying offense committed in the pattern of criminal gang activity.
B. Any person who is convicted of a felony or an attempted felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the intent to promote, further, or assist in the affairs of a criminal gang, shall, upon conviction of that felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for that offense.
C. Any person who is convicted of an offense other than a felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct or enterprise by gang members, shall, in addition and consecutive to the penalty provided for that offense, be imprisoned for an additional period of six months.
D. The court may elect to suspend all or a part of any additional mandatory punishment or enhanced punishment provided for in this Chapter only in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served, and if the court specifies on the record and enters into the minutes the reasons that the interests of justice would best be served by that suspension of punishment.
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Minnesota (view all subjects for this state)
Minnesota 609.229. Crime Committed for Benefit of a Gang
Subd. 2. Crimes.
A person who commits a crime for the benefit of, at the direction of, in association with, or motivated by involvement with a criminal gang, with the intent to promote, further, or assist in criminal conduct by gang members is guilty of a crime and may be sentenced as provided in subdivision 3.
Subd. 3. Penalty.
(a) If the crime committed in violation of subdivision 2 is a felony, the statutory maximum for the crime is five years longer than the statutory maximum for the underlying crime.
(b) If the crime committed in violation of subdivision 2 is a misdemeanor, the person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(c) If the crime committed in violation of subdivision 2 is a gross misdemeanor, the person is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than three years or to payment of a fine of not more than $15,000, or both.
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Missouri (view all subjects for this state)
Missouri 578.423. Participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities, penalty-persons between ages of fourteen and seventeen participating to be transferred to courts of general jurisdiction
Any person who actively participates in any criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal street gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by gang members shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for one, two, or three years. For any person between the ages of fourteen and seventeen who is alleged to have violated the provisions of sections 578.421 to 578.437 the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney may move for dismissal of a petition and transfer to a court of general jurisdiction.
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Ohio (view all subjects for this state)
Ohio 2923.42. Participating in Criminal Gang
(A) No person who actively participates in a criminal gang, with knowledge that the criminal gang engages in or has engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, shall purposely promote, further, or assist any criminal conduct, as defined in division (C) of section 2923.41 of the Revised Code, or shall purposely commit or engage in any act that constitutes criminal conduct, as defined in division (C) of section 2923.41 of the Revised Code.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of participating in a criminal gang, a felony of the second degree.
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Texas (view all subjects for this state)
Texas 71-02. Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang, he commits or conspires to commit one or more of the following:
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, or forgery;
(2) any felony gambling offense;
(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation or distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;
(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale promote the same;
(7) any unlawful employment, authorization, or inducing of a child younger than 17 years of age in an obscene sexual performance;
(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32, Penal Code; or
(9) any offense under Chapter 36, Penal Code.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection c of this section, an offender under this section is one category higher than the most serious offense listed in Subdivision (1) through (9) of Subsection (a) of this section that was committed, and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the felony is an offense of the third degree, except that if the most serious offense is a felony of the first degree, the offense is a felony of the first degree.
(c) Conspiring to commit and offense under this section is of the same degree as the most serious offense listed in Subdivisions (1) through (9) of Subsection (a) of this section that the person conspired to commit.
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Los Angeles' Police Chief Takes Aim at Gangs
L.A. police chief takes aim at gang crime
By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer
February 6, 2007
Police Chief William J. Bratton said Monday he is putting the finishing touches on a plan to reverse the recent increases in gang-related crime in Los Angeles.
Gang crime climbed 14% last year.
The chief testified before a City Council panel Monday that he and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would announce a plan Thursday to crack down on the 10 to 20 worst gangs in the city.
"The initiative would include a cooperative effort with federal and local law enforcement and prosecutors," Bratton said.
"We believe that this level of coordination, some creativity and some of the activities we will engage in with the city attorney, district attorney and U.S. attorney will allow us to very quickly reverse the upward trend we saw last year, and at the end of 2007 see a decrease overall in that form of crime," Bratton said.
Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said he has already noticed changes in police deployment to deal with gang hot spots.
"You have been surging different sets of officers into different areas of the city," Weiss said.
Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger told the council he is focusing this year on reducing major traffic accidents and fatalities, especially in the San Fernando Valley, where they have reached unusually high levels.
Overall, Paysinger said the goal of the department is a 5% decline in serious crime this year. The city is off to good start, he said, noting that homicides are down 32% compared with a year ago.
By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer
February 6, 2007
Police Chief William J. Bratton said Monday he is putting the finishing touches on a plan to reverse the recent increases in gang-related crime in Los Angeles.
Gang crime climbed 14% last year.
The chief testified before a City Council panel Monday that he and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would announce a plan Thursday to crack down on the 10 to 20 worst gangs in the city.
"The initiative would include a cooperative effort with federal and local law enforcement and prosecutors," Bratton said.
"We believe that this level of coordination, some creativity and some of the activities we will engage in with the city attorney, district attorney and U.S. attorney will allow us to very quickly reverse the upward trend we saw last year, and at the end of 2007 see a decrease overall in that form of crime," Bratton said.
Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said he has already noticed changes in police deployment to deal with gang hot spots.
"You have been surging different sets of officers into different areas of the city," Weiss said.
Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger told the council he is focusing this year on reducing major traffic accidents and fatalities, especially in the San Fernando Valley, where they have reached unusually high levels.
Overall, Paysinger said the goal of the department is a 5% decline in serious crime this year. The city is off to good start, he said, noting that homicides are down 32% compared with a year ago.
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