How do gangs work?

[TheMainEvent]

I've always wondered about famous gangs like bloods, crips, etc. What is the "infrastructure" of a gang that is spread across the country? How is the leadership set up? What exactly is it that links sub-groups around the country together? Anyone have any info? I read some about these gangs but I don't really get how they are organized on a national level, if at all.

[istewart]

lol

[SackUp]

They all have websites nowadays. Signing up is as easy as signing up for 2+2. Though OOT is more stringent on retaining membership.

[istewart]

[siccjay]

They mostly aren't.

[PoBoy321]

My understanding was that gangs actually generally do have a fairly intricate infrastructure, set up much like a corporation.

On the ground, you have your soldiers (like McDonalds fry cooks), then you have your dealers (cashier), gang leaders (managers), etc., etc. going all the way up from the local to state, regional and even national levels (although most of the high ranking officials are in prisons, they have extensive networks of communication to manage the gangs). I remember an article in Maxim a while back about a Mexican gang (18th Street Gangsters, I think?) and it had a detailed map of how it was all laid out.

[raisins]

The best example of a huge gang that is set up like a corporation is the Black Gangster Disciples. Do a search on Larry Hoover and you will find plenty. This is not a national gang though, just a very large and at one time powerful regional one. Some of the gangs that are supposedly national, bloods, crips, etc. don't have any central leadership just different groups sharing the same name and maybe some contact.

raisins

[JaBlue]

they sell drugs to make money to buy guns to sell to terrorists

[PoBoy321]

[ QUOTE ]

they sell drugs to make money to buy guns to sell to terrorists

[/ QUOTE ]

That's wrong. They buy crack from the CIA who then takes that drug money to fund guerilla warfare in South America.

[Landon_McFly]

Gangs aren't as near as intricate as you think.

The problem is that the average gang member isn't near as loyal to his gang as the average mafia member was back in the day.

Larry Hoover though... well that's a different story.

Look up larry chambers.

Half of the people I grew up with are in a gang. They are nothing like in movies or on TV. Nobody was "jumped in". Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's just cliche.

Most gang members are either family or lifelong friends. I'm a middle class college student, but I've hung around them so long that I guarantee there's some people that think I'm in the gang.

I think it's kinda stupid.

I'm not sure, but I've always been under the impression that LA, and Chicago had the most gang activity. I also assumed that the whole point of a gang was about organized crime, but if that's the case it doesn't make sense because most hustlers that made the most money in the 80's were street entrpreneurs who weren't directly affilliated with any gangs.

So basically a gang is a pyramid scheme where everyone goes to prison. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]