Gangs in the United Kingdom are gangs which are or were active in the cities and towns of the United Kingdom. The true definition of the word gang in the UK is somewhat ambiguous but is usually used by the British media as a comparison to the street gangs of the United States.
Almost three quarters of all gang related organised crime in England alone, particularly gun crime is allegedly centred around London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester.
On 28 November, 2007, more than 100 arrests and more than 1,300 weapons were seized in a major offensive against gun crime by gangs in Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester which led to 118 arrests, more than 1000 police officers were involved in the raids. Not all of the 118 arrests were gun related; others were linked to drugs, prostitution and other crimes. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said it showed the police could "fight back against gangs".
Leicester has had a rapidly developing gang culture, particularly in recent years. The areas most badly affected including Highfields, Beaumont Leys, Anstey, Thurmaston and in New Parks - all of which are comparatively poor areas of the city.
Birmingham
The 1980s saw gang culture grow in Birmingham, which came about mainly in the late 1970s. Most of the gangs in Birmingham are ethnic gangs which came about to protect their communities against far-right parties such as the National Front, but as multiculturalism in the city grew rapidly and far-right parties subsided the gangs turned to crime and deviance. Although the Birmingham gangs have a history dating back to the 1970s, most were not brought to the public's attention until New Years Eve, 2003, when a high-profile drive-by shooting in the Birchfield area (in the Aston ward of Birmingham) claimed the lives of two teenage girls, Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis.The violent crime rate in Birmingham has risen dramatically in recent years to the growth of gangs in the city, in 2006 six out of the ten most gun crime affected area's in the UK were in Birmingham.
The riot in the Lozells area of Birmingham October 2005 saw black and Asian gangs clash on a large scale. This was due to an unfounded rumor that several Asian men had gang raped a black girl which sparked the violence. The violent clashes in the volatile area of Lozells claimed three lives and scores of injuries, the riots brought about alliances between gangs of the same ethnicity which were previously unthinkable, such as the alliance between the Burger Bar Boys and Johnson Crew. Also
Bristol
During the 1990s the Bristol illegal drug trade was predominantly run by a local gang known as the Aggi Crew. In 1998, six members of the Aggi Crew were imprisoned after being found in possession of over £1 million worth of crack-cocaine.There were raids across the city which was the latest phase of Operation Atrium, launched in 2001 to clamp down on drug-related crime in Bristol by disrupting organised gangs. More than 960 people have been arrested in the past 18 months.
Liverpool
Street gangs in Liverpool have been in existence since the mid-19th century. There were also various sectarian 'political' gangs based in and around Liverpool during this period. Dr Michael Macilwee of Liverpool John Moores University and author of The Gangs of Liverpool states, "You can learn lessons from the past and it's fascinating to compare the newspaper headlines of today with those from the late 1800s. The issues are exactly the same. People were worried about rising youth crime and the influence of 'penny dreadfuls' on people's behaviour. Like today, some commentators demanded longer prison sentences and even flogging while others called for better education and more youth clubs."In the early 1980s Liverpool was tagged by the media as 'Smack City' or 'Skag City' after it experienced an explosion in organised gang crime and heroin abuse, especially within the city's more deprived areas. It has also been suggested that distribution networks for illicit drugs within the UK and the Republic of Ireland, even allegedly some Mediterranean holiday resorts are today controlled by various Liverpool gangs.
A report in the Observer newspaper written by journalist Peter Beaumont entitled Gangsters put Liverpool top of gun league (28 May 1995), observed that turf wars had erupted within Liverpool. Official Home Office statistics revealed a total of 3,387 offences involving firearms had occurred in the Merseyside region during a four year period between 1997 and 2001. It was revealed that Liverpool was the main centre for organised crime in the North of England
In August 2007 the ongoing war between two rival gangs caused nation-wide outrage, when innocent 11 year old Rhys Jones was shot in the neck and died in his mother's arms in the car park of the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth Liverpool. . Police have still to bring the 'teenaged' shooter to justice.
London
On 21 February 2007, the BBC reported on an unpublished Metropolitan Police report on London's gang culture, identifying 169 separate groups, with more than a quarter said to have been involved in murders . The report stated that "the largest number of gangs are in Hackney, east London (22 gangs); Enfield in north London (13); Lambeth and Merton in south London (12 gangs each); Waltham Forest in north east London (11) and Brent in north west London (11). Criminologist Dr John Pitts, from the University of Bedfordshire, said: "There are probably no more than 1,500 to 2,000 young people in gangs in all of London, but their impact is enormous." The figure quoted by Professor John Pitts has no method and it is not known whether he did actually say this as its source is a BBC news article. In 2002 the Guardian estimated that there were 30,000 gang members in England although again there was no method behind the figure. A detailed report into gangs conducted by the Home Office estimated that 2% of 10-19 year olds were involved in gangs, this would suggest a figure of 17,044 for Greater London based on the 2001 Census.Modern street gangs have been in existence in London as far back as the 1980s although at first they were seen as a sub-culture much like others at the time which included punks, Rastas and football hooligans. It is increasingly likely that most gang members in London will come from ethnic minority communities as the youth population is increasingly diverse with only 1 in 5 school pupils across London being defined as white British .
Manchester
In the mid 1980s, a growth in violence amongst Black British youths from the west side of the Alexandra Park Estate in South Manchester and their rivals, West Indians living to the north of the city, in Cheetham Hill began to gain media attention. The city has sometimes been dubbed in the media as 'Gangchester' and 'Gunchester'.The gang wars in Manchester first gained national media attention in the Guardian newspaper on 7 June 1988. In the article, Clive Atkinson, deputy head of Greater Manchester Police CID said, "We are dealing with a black mafia which is a threat to the whole community
The gang culture has spread into many deprived areas in South Manchester in recent years. A gang-related crime occurred on 9 September, 2006, in Moss Side, where Jessie James, a 15-year old schoolboy was shot dead in the early hours of the morning. His shooting is said to have been the result of a mistaken identity for a rival gang member. Up to this day his murderer has not been found.
References
External links
- BBC Guide to gangs in Manchester
- BBC News. Public meeting over turf war.
- BBC News. Residents react to armed patrols.
- BBC News. Armed police patrols withdrawn.
- BBC News. Shootings were gang related.
- BBC News. Man shot in contract killing.
- BBC News. Keighley Gangland Threat.
- BBC News Report. What can be done about gun crime?
- BBC News. Police to hold talks with gangs.
- Guide to gangs in London''
- Telegraph & Argus. Bradford gangland feuding.
- Merseyside Police Force. Anti-Gun/Anti-Crime, Matrix Unit.
- Liverpool gang kids told: "You are wasting your life".
- Liverpool Times.
- London Against Gun and Knife Crime website
- "BBC World Service - Girl Gangs"
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Last updated on Saturday July 26, 2008 at 13:12:46 PDT (GMT -0700)
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