Band of Brother
The streets have always been the epicenter for outlaws, gangs and illegal racing. But the most famous or maybe infamous law breakers on the streets and highway to date, is none other than outlaw bikers. Biker gangs or club are sub culture that are well-known in the United States; the place where it all began. But, some biker gangs or club which does not adhere to the American Motorcyclist Association’s (AMA) rules are considered as counter culture because of their violence, law breaking and reckless behavior. These counter culturing clubs are listed by the AMA as “outlaws” which is a word originated by the Riverside police chief when he blamed visiting outlaws were to be blame during the Riverside, California riot. On top of that list is the infamous Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club. I believe they are the most violent, bloody, wealthy influential and controversial outlaw bikers club even till today, they are still on top of their game. Doing anything they want whenever they want. The police don’t take them seriously or they are just too powerful and influential to handle. Just like the American Mob, where they are the ones who control the police and the law.
“They call themselves Hell's Angels. They ride, rape and raid like marauding cavalry -- and they boast that no police force can break up their criminal motorcycle fraternity.”
(True, The Man's Magazine, August 1965)
The roots and history of outlaw bikers club and gangs went all the way back to the post-World War II era. It is an era well-known for its outburst of sub cultures and counter culture such as illegal racing of cars known as hot rods and the age of the godfather which is when the New York mafia family reign over some of the country in America. This is...
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...nd murders. They even tried to assassinate Rolling Stone’s Mick Jagger when he commented on the Hell’s Angel one incident involving a member stabbing a spectator to death when he pulled a gun during the infamous 1969 riot at California's Altamont Speedway. In 2002, the Angels and their greatest rival club, The Mongols, had a massive fight in a casino at Las Vegas; three bikers ended up dead. But the latest and most ruthless act of violence that this immoral club did was in 2007, where a woman was found seriously beaten at the Angels clubhouse in New York City. These acts of violence certainly show how this club ruled the streets and countered the normal culture of a society. The Hell’s Angel is one of the infamous counter cultures in the world and is still on top of their game.
“The sun never sets on a Hells Angels’ patch.”
(Sonny Barger. 2001. Hell’s Angel)
Dismissed by the police as mere adjuncts to or gofers for male gangs, girl gang members are in fact often as emotionally closed off and dangerous as their male counterparts. Carrying razor blades in their mouths and guns in their jackets for defense, they initiate drive-by shootings, carry out car-jackings, stomp outsiders who stumble onto or dare to enter the neighborhood, viciously retaliate against other gangs and ferociously guard their home turf.
This can be connected to the Crips and the Bloods by the similar treatment the African Americans receive compared to the roughnecks. This recognition as being a roughneck makes it much more difficult to get a job, and escape the society they are currently in.... ... middle of paper ... ... Anderson discusses the code of the streets and how this set of rules and norms dictates how people behave in South Las Angeles and gives rise to organized gang violence.
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England were one of the most feared gangs. What draws juveniles to the gang lifestyle? Many people will say that most gang members are children from impoverished communities, single family homes where there was no father present, or maybe there is a more psychological/sociological answer? By appearance and presence most gangs cause fear, crime, and disillusionment in the communities they occupy. Throughout history joining a gang has been perceived as a life without any reward, yet by joining this lifestyle many juveniles are able to gain the needed stability and security in their lives.
As more and more immigrants began to spread throughout the US, more and more gangs of people began to emerge. Gangs were usually made up of people of a common ethnicity, whether it be Irish, Italian, or Hispanic. These gangs were usually victims of anti-immigrant policies and looked for strength in numbers. As gangs became more and more sophisticated they realized they could make profits from the power they were accumulating. One of the most recognizable examples is the bootlegging of alcohol during the Prohibition. When federal officials attempted to enforce legislation such as the Volstead Act, there was a surge of illegal sales and profits. In 1927, Al Capone and his gang racked up over $60 million from bootlegged alcohol. With all of this money came tons of violence, people were getting murdered in broad daylight just so others could have a sum of all of this wealth. Soon Mob families would own clubs or casinos to increase their wealth. The attendees weren’t only made up of rich mob bosses, the alcohol, dancing, and gambling attracted many ordinary
Several California cities recently moved forward with gang injunctions to reduce violent crime rates. Gang injunctions have become a distinct Californian approach to fight crimes since they were first introduced in the 1980s in Los Angeles. The injunctions that have been granted primarily affect impoverished, minority neighborhoods and may actually serve to further stigmatize and oppress innocent minority youth who also live in these communities. Cities have issued them to fight local gangs, and promise that gang injunctions will cut down violent crime rate, and make the neighborhoods more safer; ho...
The Aryan Brotherhood started in 1964 was founded by Tyler Bingham and Barry Mills who were white supremacists and Irish American bikers. It started at the San Quentin state prison. The prison group was created to protect white prisoners from the black inmates. The cause changed into revenue when the group gained power. This gang is the most violent white supremacists group, and over one hundred murders have been attributed to this gang during its existence. The gang has been listed for assaults and brutal murders on police officials. It is one of the largest prison gangs in United States with branches in Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi, Colorado, Kansas, and Ohio. It has formed an alliance with the Mexico Mafia. The Aryan Brothers have around 30,000 members. The prison gang has a structure of presidents, vice presidents, majors, captains and lieutenants. It has a committee of members of a council that govern its branches across the United States. Its official symbol is a three-leaf clover. In order to join the gang one has to assault or kill another prisoner, and if one tries to leave the gang he is killed by the members. This gang is known for extortion, organized crime, drug trafficking, inmate prostitution and murder. They live by the motto ‘in for life and out by death’. They strongly believe ...
In 1988, the California legislature enacted California Penal Code section 186.22, part of the Street Terrorism and Prevention Act.( Ludeke, 2007, 12). The Steep Act provides the criteria that group must meet to constitute a gang and fall under its purview. The Act requires a group of people with a common insignia or identifier that associates with the purpose of committing predicate acts set as forth in that statute. (Ludeke,2007,12). Majority of States clarifies that a gang should consist of at least three individuals, can have either a formal or informal organizational structure, and include members who have engaged in a pattern of criminal activity (Bjerregaard, 2003, 173). Under the STEP Act , gang membership is punishable up to three years(Anderson, 2013, slide 15). The sentence enhancement is 2,3, or 4 years for a felony, 5 for a serious felony and 10 years for a violent felony(Rios & Navarro,2010,22). By the year 2000, California voters passed Proposition 21, an initiative that extended the grip of STEP’s gang enhancement by applying it to juveniles and increasing gang-related crime sentences(Rios & Navarro, 2010,22).
The Bloods is a big time gang group that has over twenty-five different gangs in the city of Los Angeles. They are known for killing and murdering other people or other gang members. This gang is mostly an African American youth gang. they are not a normal gang because they promote themselves all over L.A.. This is not the only violent gang in the gang community gangs also consist of different races such as hispanic gang members and European American gang. These gang members are one of the biggest reasons that there is so much crime in the L.A. area. The gangs in L.A. are becoming more violent and causing more problems that and they are even getting into the illegal drug business.
There were groups such as the Black Panthers, and the US Organization, which were known to have been rivals due to false rumors that had been spread by the government and the media. Black Panthers were known to have offered a more reliable source of protection during this time than the police did for African Americans. Sloan interviews current and former gang members from a variety of gangs spread throughout Los Angeles. He gives us a different perspective on where gangs came from and why they formed. Although they were originally formed to protect African Americans, they have strayed far from where they started.
"Such ethical possibility is, however, founded on and coextensive with the subject's movement toward what Foucault calls 'care of the self,' the often very fragile concern to provide the self with pleasure and nourishment in an environment that is perceived not particularly to offer them." -Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
The Bloods and the Crips are the two well-known gang families that started in the 1940’s in Los Angeles as a defense approach by the blacks against the whites (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8). Gangs are most often visible in specific areas such as restaurants, bars, metro stations, etc.: “The appearance of street gangs in Quebec and Canada dates from the 1980’s, when these groups started to become larger, more visible, and more disruptive to authorities and residents (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8-9). There are six definable features that can be used to identify the presents of a gang: “ a structured or degree of organization, an identifiab...
A socially approved form of a gang is a club. Americans generally view clubs as character building leadership opportunities; whereas, individuals typecast into gangs are persecuted as criminals. Clubs are formed with constructive goals in mind, such as making it easier for its members to find parts for a particular brand of automobile. Socioeconomic class, academic achievement, or perceived roles in society for its members all play a part in the preferential treatment given to a group which a society deems a club rather than a gang. For instance, parts of the public anticipated that motorcycle riders would cause a massive rise in crime within the Hollister area during the motorcycle rally.
The first chapter of Policing Gangs in America is entitled, “Studying the Police Response to Gangs.” The primary purpose of the chapter is to establish how police agencies; Inglewood, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Phoenix in specific, respond to gang problems in their respective areas. This chapter served as an introduction, giving a brief history of gang-related policing, how the public and media see the gang problem, research studies done regarding gangs and the recent declaration to shift away from suppression-oriented strategies as a result of overly aggressive actions toward citizens. Examples of this misconduct are given in the forms of gang units from Las Vegas, Chicago and Houston.
The documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America, can be analyzed through three works: “Modern Theories of Criminality” by C.B. de Quirόs, “Broken Windows” by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling and “Social Structure and Anomie” by Robert K. Merton.
The prison gangs that exist in the United States are a major concern for all those involved in the criminal justice system. From the humble beginnings in 1950 with the Gypsy Jokers Gang, to modern day entities like the Aryan Brotherhood, gangs have grown to numbers in the tens of thousands and are at times out of control (Orlando-Morningstar, 1997) Through the use of assault, bribery, intimidation, and murder, the gangs have become a powerful force inside and outside of prison. Law enforcement officers today have the tremendous task of arresting and maintaining discipline of these offenders once locked away in jail or prison. It is paramount that the correctional officers that are in charge of overseeing these criminals maintain the standards and are strong willed and trustworthy. The gangs inside have their own rules and laws that they abide by. The correctional officers must use the rules and laws that govern the system to keep peace and order, because with this chaos and anarchy will reign supreme.