Transcript Slide 1
Secretariat for Multidimensional Security
Department of Public Security
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION OF GANGS
DPS/SSM/OEA
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Source: Google archive search.
DPS/SSM/OEA
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1999
2004
Cumberland
2547
259
Wake
30
1753
%
Crime
index
Violent
crime
-89.8
+7.3
+ 17.6%
5743.3
-32.4
-21.3
Justice Policy Institute Report
July 2007
DPS/SSM/OEA
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• In 1927 Chicago had 1,313 gangs(1)
• Most of these were mixed (40%), Polish
(16%), Italian (11%), Irish (9%), or AfroAmerican (7%), and there were even 7
Swedish gangs.
• The link between gangs and organized crime
was already under study.
(1) F. Thrasher
DPS/SSM/OEA
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• In 2006, an ILO study on global youth
employment trends found that 21% of
young people (aged 16 to 29) in Latin
America neither attended school nor
worked.
• That same study showed that the
unemployment rate for young adults was
2.8.
DPS/SSM/OEA
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tensions
• People feel
insecure
• Prevention
• Investment in prevention
• Lack of security, safety
• Youth are more
exposed
• Police
• No quick solutions
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Law enforcement
Cost of Violence
Democratic stability
Fostered by environment
• Justice system ( % of
persons in pretrial
detention)
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the project…
• 7 consultants
• 7 countries (1st stage)
• Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, USA.
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How do the consultants view gangs?
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Basically urban,
A public security and safety issue
Linked to adolescents and youth, although they are a minority in i.e.
violent gangs or “maras”
Arise from conditions of poverty and exclusion
Linked to a lack of opportunities provided by the government, the
market, and the community
Originate among children or adolescents who come from
dysfunctional families and are looking for an identity, protection,
sense of belonging, and power,
With a clear gender bias towards male domination, ranging from
2.5 - 1 to 9 - 1
Ethnically heterogeneous, but Latin Americans and Afro-descendents
predominate over White Anglo-Saxons (in the case of the USA)
Linked to many national homicides
Linked increasingly to trafficking in drugs, arms, persons, and other
crimes related to organized crime.
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DEFINITION
“YOUTH GANGS represent a spontaneous effort by children and
young people to create, where it does not exist, an urban space in
society that is adapted to their needs, where they can exercise the
rights that their families, government, and communities do not offer
them. Arising out of extreme poverty, exclusion, and a lack of
opportunities, gangs try to gain their rights and meet their needs by
organizing themselves without supervision and developing their own
rules, and by securing for themselves a territory and a set of
symbols that gives meaning to their membership in the group. This
endeavor to exercise their citizenship is, in many cases, a violation
of their own and others’ rights, and frequently generates violence
and crime in a vicious circle that perpetuates their original exclusion.
This is why they cannot reverse the situation that they were born
into. Since it is primarily a male phenomenon, female gang members
suffer more intensively from gender discrimination and the
inequalities inherent in the dominant culture.“
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The path to adult gangs is
determined by :
- A gradual increase in the age of gang members within the
gangs
- The deportation of gang members
- Alliances with gangs in other countries
- Transnational adult gangs
DPS/SSM/OEA
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Categories
Based on structural criteria such as size, gender, ethnic composition
and ages, life span, territoriality, and criminality, as well as on criteria of
origin, objectives, operating methods, and evolution, the following
categories are proposed:
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Scavenger gangs
“Transgressor” gangs
Violent gangs
Criminal gangs
Female gangs
DPS/SSM/OEA
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Size
Gender
Composition Age
Territoriality
Criminality
Scavenger
(short-lived)
15–40
Male, with
reluctant
acceptanc
e of
female
members
Heterogeneous
13-18
Secondary
school and
neighborhood
Confrontations with other rival
school gangs outside the
schools and neighboring
streets, extortion, intimidation,
and other criminal acts, usually
minor offenses, within and
around their neighborhood and
school.
“Transgressor
”
40 –80
Male to
female
ratio: 5-1
Heterogeneous,
with mostly Latin
American and
Afro-descendents
(case of USA)
10-18
Neighborhood,
since no longer
in school
Constant protection and violent
defense against the rival gang.
They use violence to impose
control over the territory that
they claim as theirs. They are
involved in criminal activities
within and outside their
territory.
Violent
100 –
500
Male to
female
ratio: up to
9-1
Homogenous
(according to the
gang). Primarily
Hispanic. In USA,
also AfroAmericans and
Asians.
15-30
and
over
Neighborhoods
dominated by
cliques
The same as the previous
group, but with a greater
tendency towards
homicide.
Criminal
50 – 200
Made up
mostly of
males
Homogenous
(according to the
gang). Primarily
Hispanic. In USA,
also AfroAmericans and
Asians.
18-30
and
over
Their activities
are not limited
to territories
Various organized criminal
activities using sophisticated
weapons. Crimes include
trafficking in drugs, persons,
robbery, kidnapping, extortion,
pandering, and murder.
Origin
Objectives
Operation
Activities
Evolution
Scavenger
Rivalry among
schools
Not specified
Leadership, with no
organization or
structure, crime is
not part of their
reason for being
Sports,
dances,
movies.
Independent of
others, initial stage,
may evolve into
“transgressor”
gangs
“Transgressor”
They arise in
situations of
exclusion, are
organized
without
supervision,
develop their
own rules and
membership
criteria (RITES)
To give
meaning to a
life without
meaning
They have
standards, rules, a
ranking, and
initiation rites. They
use drugs and carry
arms
Defense of their
territory; they
sometimes get
involved in art
and music, and
may have a
website.
Secondary stage:
they use the streets
as a means of
survival, they are led
by members who
grew up in them.
Violent
They arise in a
similar context as
the previous
group, but are
more advanced
in committing
crimes
To give meaning
to a life without
meaning, and
look into the
possibility of
profitable illegal
activities
Same as previous
group but more
complex and with
connections with
other gangs
Virtually none
Third stage: These
are “transgressor”
gangs that do not
break up but
consolidate, and
they may use
various names.
Criminal
Adult
organization
linked to
ORGANIZED
CRIME
Money,
reputation, and a
power parallel to
the power that
excluded them
Same as previous
group, but with
training, discipline,
organization, and
logistics in their
criminal activities
Virtually none
Final stage: They
are on a
destructive path,
they end up in
prison or have a
violent end.
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Gang members violate the rights of third
parties at the same time that third parties
violate the gang members’ rights
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EL “COURSE” OF VIOLENCE
INTERVENTIONS
ORGANIZED
CRIME
GANGS
(JUVENILE)
CLIQUES
[“BARRAS”]
JUVENILE
GROUPS
FAMILY – SOCIOECONOMIC
SURROUNDING
LAW
(Concha-Eastman, 2001)
LEVEL OF VIOLENCE OR
CRIME
HOMICIDES
ROBBERIES (OF BANKS,
ETC...)
DRUG-TRAFFICKING
ROBBERIES
2ary-3aryRAPES HOMICIDES
2ary.
WOUNDS
“MINOR” OFFENSES
THEFTS
FIGHTS: ASSAULTS
PRIMARY
PRIMARY
DPS/SSM/OEA
SOCIAL
DISTURBANCE
CONFLICTSVIOLENCE
VICT./WITNESS
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ORGANIZED CRIME
CRIMINAL
TENDENCY TOWARD VIOLENT
CRIME
VIOLENT
PROTECTION AND DEFENSE
AGAINST RIVAL GANGS,
CONTROL OF TERRITORY,
INVOLVEMENT IN VIOLENT
ACTIVITIES
“TRANSGRESSOR”
Confrontations in
schools,
intimidation,
extortion, .
etc.
SCAVENGER
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INTERVENTIONS TO COUNTER GANGS
GANGS – INTERVENTIONS – CRIMINALITY
Criminal
CONTROL
CONTROLND
Y
SANCIÓN
PENAL
SANCTIONS
PENAL
ORGANIZED CRIME (TRAFFICKING IN DRUGS,
ARMS, AND PERSONS, ROBBERY,
KIDNAPPING, EXTORTION, PANDERING, AND
MURDER)
TERTIARY
PREVENTION
Violent
REHABILITATION
SAME AS “TRANSGRESSOR” GANGS, WITH A
GREATER TENDENCY TOWARD HOMICIDE
redress
“Transgressor”
Scavenger
Family – depressed
social and economic
situation
EARLY DETECTION
AND REINSERTION
PROMOTION OF
RIGHTS AND
VALUES, DELAYING
ENTRY INTO
GANGS, KEEPING
STUDENTS IN
SCHOOL
PROTECTION AND DEFENSE AGAINST
RIVAL GANGS, TERRITORIAL CONTROL,
INVOLVEMENT IN VIOLENT ACTIVITIES
SECONDARY
PREVENTION
detect
CONFRONTATION WITH OTHER SCHOOL
GANGS, EXTORTION, INTIMIDATION, AND
OTHER MINOR OFFENSES, WITHIN THEIR
SCHOOLS AND IN THE AREA AROUND
THEM
PROMOTION OF
SOCIAL
CONFIDENCE AND
SUPPORT
DPS/SSM/OEA
NETWORKS
OF
FRIENDS AND
NEIGHBORS
FAMILY AND SOCIAL
VIOLENCE EMANATING
FROM THE ENVIRONMENT
PRIMARY
PREVENTION
prevent
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INITIATIVES
FOR ALL CATEGORIES OF GANGS, IT IS NECESSARY TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT
TARGETED PUBLIC POLICIES, BASED ON:
- UP-TO-DATE LEGISLATION
-CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
- INFORMATION SYSTEM
- JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT ENSURES
PROMPT AND FAIR JUDICIAL
PROCEEDINGS
- LINK WITH PUBLIC POLICIES
- A GUIDING INTERSECTORAL
INSTITUTIONALITY ON THE
SUBJECT
- AN ETHICAL CONTEXT OF
RESPECT FOR, AND GUARANTEE
AND PROMOTION OF, HUMAN
RIGHTS
- MEASURES DESIGNED TO
ENHANCE SOCIAL CONFIDENCE IN
THE COMMUNITIES
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What does a gang offer me…? What should we do…?
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A space
Protection
Friendship
Running risks
Access to money
Sex
To be somebody
• Try to cover these spaces
• Invest heavily in youth
• Streamline judicial
processes
• Separate the approach of
adults and adolescents
• Work with the media
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Scavenger
gangs
prevention
rehabilitation
control
-Open school
-Workshops
-Self-management
movements
-Sports networks
-The media (videos, CE)
-Reinsertion and remedial
courses in school
-Workshops
-Job training
-Agreements with businesses
- Encourage alternatives to
deprival of freedom
-Presence of specialized
police
-Specialized training for police
officers in youth matters
-Appropriate records
-Formal education
-Workshops
-Job training
-Agreements with businesses
-Develop strategies for
deportees
--Encourage alternative
measures
-Workshops for judges,
prosecutors, and police
-Promote a balanced
treatment of the subject by
the media
-Different categories should not
be mixed among detainees
-Workshops
-Role of churches
-Police intelligence
-Workshops for judges,
prosecutors, and police
- Presence of specialized
police officers
- Create opportunities
“Transgressor”
gangs
Violent gangs
Criminal gangs
- Self-management
movements
- Workshops
-Evening and weekend
activities
-Develop public spaces
with artificial light
-Preventive police
-Police intelligence
-Campaigns
-Special detention centers
- Increased exchange of
-Workshops
information and
-Little contact with the outside
coordination among
world
countries
DPS/SSM/OEA
-Police intelligence
-Workshops for judges,
prosecutors, and police
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