Over the past few weeks we’ve talked a lot about the actual structure of some of today’s street gangs. Today we’ll wrap it up by talking about gang recruitment and gang activities.

Gang Recruitment

Some gangs are open to recruiting anyone who is willing to become a member. Others are more ethnic in their choices based on their activities. Today’s gangs are organizing their operations to mimic the old mafia structure. The greatest draw is thepropensity for easy money through drug distribution, smugglig, gambling, guns, and prostitution – amongst other things.

Most gangs have special handshakes and signs, wear specific colors, and have cartoons, branding, tattoos, and clothing styles that help them to identify each other. Today’s gangs tend to minimize their outer trappings in order to avoid investigative attention.

Gang Activities

There is a definitive difference between the activities of a retail (street sale) gang and a wholesale (distribution, smuggling, transportation) gang. The strongest gangs have a very strong presence both in and out of the prison system.

People and folk gangs often show their colors, paint graffiti, claim turf, and use specific signs and symbols to represent themselves.

Covert gangs like the Chaldean Mafia or the Aryan Brotherhood keep a lower profile. They use symbols like 313 (representing the 3rd and 13th letters of the alphabet), which equals “C.M.” The number 74 stands for G.P. or Gangster Mafia.

Dog and other animal fighting operations are often run by gangs. Many killings occur over what are perceived to be drug rip offs. Some are retaliations for drug deals gone bad. For example, Gang A buys drugs from Gang B. Gang B gets pulled over and busted by the cops while in transport. Gang B claims that they did not have possession and asks for a free “do over” which is refused. Gang B then retaliates.

I hope you found this mini-series on gangs informative. If you missed the first three parts you can find them here:

• The Structure of a Street Gang: P1
• The Structure of a Street Gang: P2
• The Structure of a Street Gang: P3

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