Understanding Gang Culture in the UK

Worse still, it is backed up by other statistics regarding gang-related crime in the UK that credibly attest to its accuracy. According to some studies, children as young as 6 are participating in gang-related activities.

What exactly constitutes ‘gang membership’ is notoriously hard to define. Of course, the common retort for any chest-thumping teenage would-be street thug is “I’m a gangster!”. Indeed, the word ‘gangster’ has become a synonym for ‘cool’ or ‘awesome’ – and it’s a word that most UK-based security workers will likely have heard in this, or a similar context, at one time or another.

Leaving aside the posturing of petty criminals and wannabe tough guys, the phrase ‘gang culture’ usually conjures up images, either of shadowy organised criminals operating everything from crooked sporting events and protection rackets, to drug dealing, prostitution, and human trafficking, or of young people fighting seemingly endless ‘turf wars’ armed with knives, acid, and bad attitudes. The truth is that both these types of gangsters exist, and that, as a security operative, you may encounter either of them at any time.

According to the terms of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, amended by the Serious Crime Act 2015, a gang related offence is an offence that is committed by at least 3 people that have 1 or more characteristics that make them identifiable as a group. Along with this definition, UK police define gangs as ‘a group of people who may commit crimes and hurt people’.

For the purposes of this guide, then, we’ll be considering ‘gang culture‘ as the practice of any group of people (especially young people) that come together to engage in criminal activity and/or violence, and work in tandem to do so. To meet our definition, these groups must also lay claim to a territory and possibly have some identifying feature (e.g., a group tattoo, colour, or item of clothing). It is also likely that they will violently clash with other gangs.

A group of young people who come together to commit small acts of vandalism, theft, or violence would not therefore be considered a ‘gang’ for our purposes (even though they may self-identify as such), since they do not operate or defend a territory.

We will also focus primarily on youth-based street gangs, as opposed to organised underworld groups.

We will try to take an even-handed approach to this subject, examining the often-overlooked reasons people join gangs, as well as the history of gang culture in the UK that laid the foundations for the current situation.

The History of Gangs in Britain

“Gangs have been around for centuries; they’re a part of youth culture. You’re not going to eradicate them.”

– Gwenton Sloley, former gang member who now works with vulnerable young people in Hackney, interviewed by Social Care Training Solutions.com.

“To me, everything was business. It didn’t matter whether I liked you or I didn’t like you. If someone said to me, ‘There’s X amount of pounds. We want him shot in the leg, I’m gonna look at you and think, ‘Right, if I shoot him and I get caught, I’m gonna do this much jail. If I’m clever, and I don’t get caught, that’s my money if I shoot him”.

– Bobby Cummings, former London gangster, interviewed by LADbible TV on YouTube.

Although organised violence and petty crime in the UK mostly pre-date the laws created to control them, a direct link between youth-based offences and an embryonic form of what could today be termed ‘gang culture’ can be found in 1833. This was the year that the government passed the Factory Act, which regulated child labour.

One result of this law was that children under 9 were no longer allowed to work. Although this saved children from terrible working conditions, exploitation, and constant danger, it also led them to spend their days outside with nothing to do (school would not become compulsory until the Education Act 1870).

Unfortunately, this resulted in rising numbers of juvenile pranks, petty crime, and other offences. Older children, unable to find work, often turned to stealing in a desperate attempt to feed themselves and their families. Many used skills they had learned during a childhood spent on the streets to accomplish this goal.

From here, family groups began to work in tandem, enabling people to commit crimes more efficiently and increase their takings. These groups eventually combined with friends and neighbours, operating under a loose system of ‘territories’ – a fact that would sometimes bring groups into conflict with one another. An early example would be the ‘Bengal Tigers’, who operated out of Bengal Street in Manchester.

During this time, gang members in Manchester, Salford, and other areas became known as ‘Scuttlers’, though ‘Hooligans’ was the more common term in the rest of the country. Gang members began to dress in a certain way that helped mark them out to other members or served as a warning to members of the public or rival gangs. Most wore thick leather belts that could be used as weapons, and, during conflicts, would disfigure one another with knives and other sharp objects.

In Birmingham, perhaps the most famous gang were the ‘Peaky Blinders’, who originally operated out of Adderley Street. Known for their tailored coats and fine clothing, as well as their distinctive flat caps (which sometimes contained razor blades for use as a covert weapon), The Blinders controlled local gambling, committed robberies, and frequently clashed with rival gangs, before eventually being subsumed by rivals ‘The Birmingham Boys’. The term ‘Peaky Blinders’ like ‘Scuttlers’, became a local ‘catch-all’ for any gang members or unruly youths, and was eventually used as the title for a popular BBC drama series fictionalising the original gang in 2013.

In Scotland, especially Glasgow, there were the Razor Gangs, named, like the Blinders, for their weapons of choice. Glasgow gangs sometimes fought along religious lines (e.g., Catholic Vs. Protestant), unlike their English counterparts, who largely battled over territory.

Gang violence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries increased as a social problem until living conditions improved and youth-friendly initiatives (such as youth clubs, and street football) were implemented.

London, for its part, was synonymous with gangs and violent crime since even before the early days of gang culture. In 1888, a list of gangs published by the Pall Mall Gazette included ‘The Fitzroy Place Gang’, ‘The Jovial Thirty-Two’, ‘The Black Gang’, ‘The New Cut Gang’, ‘The Greengate Gang’, and ‘The Gang of Roughs’. More famous was ‘The Skeleton Army’, a gang that violently opposed the Salvation Army’s stance against alcohol in the late 19th century. There was also the ‘Forty Elephants’, an all-female gang that existed in the city from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

Organised crime in London continued throughout the early 20th century and was particularly severe during the interwar years. During this time, gangs such as the Sabini family were principally involved with racecourses (a period known to some crime historians as ‘the racecourse wars’). In this era, gang crime became so bad that it was referred to as ‘the terror of the people‘ in some quarters.  

From the 1950s until the end of the 1960’s, groups such as ‘The Richardson Gang’ (more infamously known as ‘The Torture Gang’) and their rivals ‘The Firm’, run by the Kray twins, Ronnie, and Reggie (who attained considerable mainstream fame as well as notoriety), effectively ran underworld operations in the capital. Like Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, the Krays were seen as folk heroes by many local people.

As Ronnie put it in his 1993 autobiography, ‘My Story’, “They were the best years of our lives. They called them the swinging sixties. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were rulers of pop music, Carnaby Street ruled the fashion world… and me and my brother ruled London. We were f*cking untouchable”

In the 1970’s and beyond, a significant amount of gang-related activity in the UK emerged from football hooliganism, as well as youth subcultures such as punks, skinheads and rastas. With immigrant communities growing, some gangs, such as the primarily British-Bangladeshi ‘Brick Lane Massive’ were initially formed to protect immigrant communities from racist attacks.

In the 1980’s, the IRA were prominent among the British underworld, as they took advantage of long-established Irish criminal groups and families to fund their campaigns.

Today, some gangs are still formed along national, racial or religious lines. Examples include Tamil street gangs such as ‘The Wembley Boys’, or ‘The Tamil Snake Gang’, or Islamic groups such as ‘The Muslim Patrol’. This is nothing new, as historic examples such as ‘The Yiddishers’, an all-Jewish gang from the 19th century, will demonstrate.

These facts unfortunately fuel racist generalities in the media that gang violence only exists due to, or is significantly exacerbated by, multiculturalism, a view completely incongruous with history.

In 2018, it was reported that there are over 33,000 professional gangsters living and working in the UK, and that organised crime in the UK generates around £37Bn a year.

The social framework, perhaps even the need, for gangs and gang-related activities has existed in Britain for at least 200 years – probably a lot longer.

As we’ve seen, gangs can be formed in support of (or opposition to) certain issues, to defend a territory, to make money in lean times, to protect from attacks by the wider community, to propagate religious ideas, or any number of other reasons. Gangs can be based on geographic region, postcode, race, religion, and almost anything else.

Gang culture, as we’ve seen, is intimately linked to youth culture, and seems to disproportionately affect run down or poverty-stricken areas, as well as marginalised communities that feel forgotten or downtrodden by society at large.

Modern Gang Culture

“I think mainly social media [has worsened the problem of knife crime], Snapchat, Instagram. Certain people say things, and it just escalates the situation”

– Anonymous gang member, interviewed by Ross Kemp on ITV

“It’s not nice but at the same time you don’t say anything because you don’t want that to be you.”  

– ‘Lisa‘, an ex-gang member interviewed by The Guardian.

There are over 250 known gangs in London alone. Turf wars between these gangs account for half of all shootings, and a fifth of all stabbings in the capital.

A recent study showed that 1 in 4 young Londoners (not necessarily gang members themselves) have witnessed a killing, 1 in 5 have been stabbed or shot, and almost half have seen a stabbing or shooting take place in the last year.

Gang culture in the UK is also heavily influenced by American gang culture. Many British gangs, like Manchester’s ‘Old Trafford Crips’ and ‘Moss Side Bloods’ for example, are explicitly modelled after the famous ‘Bloods’ and ‘Crips’ from Los Angeles. British gangs will often adopt colours, hand signs, and other elements from American gang culture and integrate it into their own lifestyle and expression.

Presently, many far-right commentators in the media (especially on social media) are peddling the racially-loaded stereotype of Muslim ‘grooming gangs’ who groom children for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This is an issue that many British people are justifiably worried about. However, while such gangs unfortunately do exist, a 2020 Home Office report concluded that members of such groups are statistically far more likely to be white, and non-Muslim. A country plagued by Muslim grooming gangs is a modern racist myth, which sees an imagined ‘foreign menace’ preying on young white girls, and has taken root in the popular imagination like many similar narratives before it (one example being the stereotype that Gypsies steal children). This also has the effect of drawing much-needed attention away from poverty and deprivation and diverting it instead to racist rhetoric that does nothing but disempower already struggling people.

In the present day, a significant issue is the proliferation of ‘drill music’, wherein gang members will create music designed to taunt rivals and provoke a response. Drill music will often refer to recent incidents of violence, including murder, practically daring rivals to respond. This music (and similar, non-musical content) is quickly and widely disseminated via social media, exacerbating already tense and potentially explosive situations.

By far one of the biggest gang-related issues in the UK is that of knife crime. Gang members carry blades to protect themselves against members of rival gangs, who, in turn, carry blades for protection against them. The prevailing sentiment is that, if a gang member finds themself confronted by members of a rival gang (something that is highly likely to happen, as rival gangs often live in relatively close quarters to one another), they will almost certainly be maimed or killed. Gang members face a stark choice; go to prison for committing a violent crime or become a victim themselves.

In addition, carrying weapons produces a kind of confidence known as ‘the weapons effect‘, a psychological phenomenon first described by Leonard Berkowitz and Anthony LaPage in 1967. Essentially, the theory states that the presence of weaponry causes human beings to become more aggressive and violent, as they ready themselves to use the weapon if provoked. This is a sentiment we see expressed regularly from gang members and many people in possession of weapons. In short, people don’t feel safe on British streets, and joining a gang is seen as a viable method of protecting oneself and one’s family.

Gang-related offences are one of the major problems facing the country right now, particularly in the larger cities. History shows us that gang-related incidents frequently arise during stressful times and in poverty-stricken communities who often feel excluded or marginalised from the national discourse.

Social programs have successfully combated the worst excesses of gang crime in the past, and new approaches are being pioneered all the time. We will explore some of these later in this feature.

Causes of Gang Culture

“I’d rather be in jail than dead, that’s the reality.”

– ‘Yusef‘, a London-based gang member interviewed by BBC News.

“My childhood was just feral, I’d say. It was just a normal, average childhood. Being brought up, beaten, battered, abused, neglected, and abandoned, really. Sort of, opening fridges and cupboards and there’s no food, getting bread out of the thing and it’s all moldy, y’know? Thinking, why can’t my Mum be like everybody else? Why can’t we be like everybody else?”

– Reformed gang member Marvin Herbert, who now works to help young people escape gang life, interviewed by LADbible TV on YouTube.

People turn to gang crime for a multitude of reasons. As we’ve discussed throughout this feature, poverty, unemployment, and low quality of life rank highly among them. In places where unemployment is high, and the jobs that are available aren’t necessarily desirable or particularly well paying, people can lose hope for any kind of upward advancement, leading them to turn to crime, either through necessity or to enable them to afford a better quality of life.

In many cases, people turn to crime after losing faith in law enforcement. Former London gangster Bobby Cummings famously turned to a life of crime after police officers framed him for carrying a knife, making it exceptionally hard for him to find honest work.

Similarly, another famous London underworld figure, Linda Calvey, took over her husband’s criminal gang after his murder by armed police.

“I think, when Mickey died, it sounds strange, and I don’t know, I’ve always said that when I was told that he was shot, something happened to my brain, because I decided I’ve gotta avenge my husband, because they’ve done this to him. So, I decided I would become a bank robber, and I would take over from what he did. And I became the boss of the gang”

– Linda Calvey, AKA ‘The Black Widow’, reformed London gangster, interviewed by LADbible TV on YouTube.

In areas where police corruption is high, or police presence is seen as ineffective, many people lose faith in the wider society and begin to ‘make their own rules’, or at least adhere to the pre-existing ‘rules of the street’. The recent spike in gang violence is at least partly attributable to the government’s widespread reduction of police numbers.

Another key reason people join – or form – gangs is protection. In dangerous or violent areas, joining a gang can be the difference between being protected and being a target. Gang life offers safety in numbers. As we’ve seen, sometimes marginalised or persecuted groups will form gangs for protection from attacks by either the wider community, or else other gangs that may prey on them.

On a psychological level, many young people join gangs to bolster their sense of identity. Much like youth cultures such as ‘punk’, or ‘goth’ can offer young people a sense of stability in times of great personal change, so too can membership in a gang.

Joining a gang can also offer young people, especially those from broken or abusive homes, a sense of belonging, or family. A story that’s unearthed time and again with regards to gang members is a hard upbringing and a lack of parental figures, role models, or adult support. In such cases, the gang can become a kind of surrogate family, inspiring the same loyalty and love that one might have for a biological family or family of friends. This can be especially true for 1st generation immigrants, who often find themselves unable to bridge the culture gap between themselves and their parents/guardians.

Young people may also join a gang to earn respect or gain a reputation as someone not to mess with. This is an especially important factor for young men, who want to appear ‘tough’ or ‘cool’ to those around them.

Sometimes, people simply grow up around gangs, and don’t really know any other type of life. Those who have older siblings or relatives that are involved with gangs, or perhaps those with parents who made a name for themselves as prominent gang members, may feel pressured to become involved in a gang or may simply fall into it from a young age.

Peer pressure can also be a key cause. Sometimes, people are intimidated into joining or helping a gang, through the threat of physical violence to themselves or others close to them.

Boredom, sadly, can also be a cause. In areas where young people don’t have much to do, petty crime can become an exciting activity that often leads to the formation of gangs.

Poor mental health, coupled with a lack of help for it, should also not be overlooked as a cause of gang membership, nor should failures of the education system.

For many, gang life can be a pathway to otherwise unattainable wealth and prosperity. Gang membership and criminal activity can be very lucrative, and it’s not hard to see how a person on a minimum wage income, struggling to make rent, pay bills, or buy food might be sucked into a gang.

What the Law Says

“I’m looking at up to 10 years in prison for a robbery charge. My own friends were sat in the dock at crown court testifying against me. Telling the court, ‘I don’t know him. Never met him before. Never seen him before’ – and these were guys that I was chilling with, hanging out with…I was the only one that was found guilty, because the evidence stacked up against me”

– Hezron Brown, former gang member, later the recipient of the Pride of Britain Award, interviewed by LADbible TV on YouTube.

Joining a gang isn’t an illegal activity. Nor is forming one. Gang membership does not itself become a crime until the person becomes involved in crime. This could be a drug-related offence, a violent crime, robbery, vandalism, or anything else that’s against the law.

Sadly, many gang members view prison time or other punitive measures as simply being an inevitable part of life. Some even see such punishments as being a ‘badge of honour’ that legitimises them in the eyes of others.

Carrying a knife, for example, is a serious crime under UK law. Since it’s likely that most gang members will be armed (for reasons described above), it is possible that this simple membership prerequisite, even if it is intended only for reasons of self-defence, will earn the perpetrator a criminal record, regardless of how deeply involved they are with any other criminal activity.

Drug-related offences are a common reason gang members are arrested or imprisoned, since many gangs are involved in some way with the drug trade.

Crimes that can stem from gang membership may also include racketeering, assault, robbery, theft, vandalism, arson, and various sexual offences (including exploitation of others for a sexual purpose and grooming).

Police are trained to spot gang members and will not hesitate to perform a ‘stop and search‘ on those they believe to be carrying weapons such as knives, firearms, and acid. In such cases, prosecution is overwhelmingly likely to occur.

Gang Culture Meets Popular Culture

“For us, to live any other way was nuts. To us, those goody-good people who worked sh*tty jobs for bum paychecks, and took the subway to work every day, worried about their bills, were dead. I mean, they were suckers. They had no balls. If we wanted something, we just took it. If anyone complained twice, they got hit so bad, believe me, they never complained again.”

– Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) from ‘Goodfellas‘ (1990).

Much of today’s popular culture concerns organised crime in one form or another.

American ‘Gangsta Rap‘ is a subgenre of Hip-Hop music that explores themes of the African American experience through the lens of criminality and crime, sometimes (but not always) glorifying gang life, or else depicting it as necessary for survival. This music has been influential to British gangs of varying ethnicities and has influenced their culture and behaviour considerably in recent years.

American movies concerning gangs and organised crime are many and numerous. Among the most famous are ‘The Godfather’ (1972), ‘Scarface’ (1983), ‘Goodfellas’ (1990), ‘Donnie Brasco’ (1997), ‘American Gangster’ (2007) and ‘The Irishman’ (2019). 1991’s ‘Boyz n the Hood’ detailed life for a black man growing up in crime-stricken South Central, L.A in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. 2002’s ‘Gangs of New York’ took a dramatized look at American street gangs, who fought over religion as much as territory, in the late 19th Century.

Popular British gangster films include Brighton Rock (1948), one of the first films to deal honestly with gang violence, prompting strong criticism from the media of the day. More recent examples include ‘The Long Good Friday’ (1980), ‘Get Carter’ (1971), ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ (1998), ‘Sexy Beast’ (2000), ‘Snatch’ (2000), ‘Gangster No. 1′ (2000), and ‘Kidulthood’ (2006), among many others.

Video games have also frequently featured themes of gangsters and gang violence, most notably the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series, in which the player must engage in any number of criminal behaviours to complete the game.

On TV, crime shows such as ‘Gangs of London’ ‘McMafia’, ‘Top Boy’, the aforementioned ‘Peaky Blinders’, and others have attempted to explore the intricacies of gang culture through a variety of means, most notably character-based drama that humanises the struggles and motivations of those involved in criminal activity.

Viewers of the TV shows and films mentioned above should know that Britain has a long history of fictionalising criminal gangs. A famous example includes the character of Fagin, who employs the Artful Dodger and a gang of child thieves to pick the pockets of Londoners in Charles Dickens’ 1838 novel ‘Oliver Twist’, one of the first stories to depict gang culture in English literature.

The story of Robin Hood, which has deep folkloric ties to the culture and ways of British people, particularly in England, essentially details the life of a criminal gang who rob from the rich to give to the poor, living outside of the law and answering to a higher morality than that of the story’s corrupt authority figures.

Other stories concerning noble, yet outlawed freedom fighters like Boudica, Hereward the Wake, William of Cassingham, Owain Glyndwr, Robert Bruce, Rob Roy, or even (arguably) an exiled Alfred the Great, join the romantic hagiographies of rogues such as Dick Turpin, Guy Fawkes, and even the perpetrators of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, in emphasizing loyalty, camaraderie, and fealty to a shared cause, all while living outside of the law.

These stories have always been popular among the British and continue to be re-told to this day. Even the Kray twins were greatly romanticised in their day and beyond, latterly being portrayed on film in 1990’s ‘The Krays’ and 2015’s ‘Legend’, among many other examples.

Common themes among these fictionalised accounts of those who live beyond the law and forge their own culture, funded by crime, and enforced by violence include the idea that, contrary to popular belief, crime does pay, albeit only temporarily. Notions of loyalty, and parallels with the perceived hypocrisy of wider society are also common themes.

Most stories relating to gangs or criminal behaviour are character studies. In older stories, these narratives take the form of cautionary tales, or sometimes hope-driven narratives designed as an antidote to unfair times or unequal treatment. Newer accounts tell stories that are seemingly designed to encourage viewers to identify with the decisions made by the central characters, in this manner holding up a mirror to society while at the same time shining a light on its darkest corners.

The relationship between media and culture is, as always, a cyclical one. Real events inspire the art, and the art, in turn, inspires real events. Just as gang culture inspired books, films, video games, music, and TV shows, so those things inspire gang culture. The problem of gangs, however, certainly predates the invention of most, if not all, of these forms of media, indicating that it is a deeply rooted one indeed.

What is Being Done?

“As long as there is drugs and poverty, we’ll always have a gang problem.”

– PC Jamie Preston, interviewed by BBC News.

A common attitude regarding gangs and gang-related activities, is the assumption that these issues will always exist in Britain and can never be abated with any permanence.

Another all-too-common attitude is to make racist assumptions about the people who are involved with gangs, seeing gang-violence as somehow being a consequence of immigration or multiculturalism. Unfortunately, it’s an approach often taken by British media, and prominent cultural agitators therein. This is a deeply flawed attitude that mirrors the Victorian assumption that working class people were inherently violent simply because they were inferior, the implication being that some races or cultures are more violent than others – a notion that has been debunked time and time again.  

Neither attitude is productive or helpful. As we’ve seen throughout this feature, gang-related crimes lessen and worsen in response to issues such as economic conditions, quality of life, levels of inclusion with the wider society, opportunities for growth and advancement, the presence (or lack) of role models, and many other factors. The gangs of the 19th century were largely eradicated through social programs, investment in local areas, and organised youth activities.

Manchester City Football Club, for example, was founded in 1880 by members of St. Mark’s Church of England in West Gordon, as part of an ongoing attempt to curb gang violence and alcohol-related problems in the area. The idea was to give young men something to do besides join gangs and engage in violent crimes. Both the initiative and the club were successful, and they are part of the reason that the Manchester gangs of the era fizzled out.

In the present day, the city of London police has a ‘Gang’s Matrix‘ in place. This ‘matrix’, created after the 2011 riots, is essentially a list of individuals likely to be involved with gangs. Members are assigned a red, amber, or green rating, depending on how dangerous they are considered to be by the authorities. However, the system has been controversial due to breaching data protection laws.

Relatively recent legislation, such as the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, 2014 introduced new powers to help local agencies tackle different forms of anti-social behaviour (ASB) that are often associated with gangs. There have been other legislative responses, with varying degrees of success, aimed at the proliferation of gang crime and gang culture as well.

As of 2023, renewed efforts have been made by the government to prevent organised crime and gang-related activities.

Youth centres, social programs, charity work, investment in local areas, and other initiatives, taken at a local or national level have all played a role in lessening the damage done by gang violence. The presence of CCSOs in many city centres has also had a positive effect.

Government crackdowns on knife crime, particularly in London, have yielded some promising results, but don’t always get to the ‘meat of the matter’ regarding why young people (particularly those with gang affiliations) feel the need to be armed. In essence, many of these crackdowns (some of which threaten to harm civil liberties) seek to cure the symptoms, rather than the disease.

Rather more successful are the ‘amnesty bins’, which allow people to dispose of knives in a completely anonymous fashion.

Individuals, particularly those with direct experience of violence, have been very successful at educating young people against gang membership, and helping to remedy a bad situation in multiple ways.

‘HMP’ or the Herbert Marvin Project, is a group that educates young people about the dangers of gang life, while at the same time helping to inspire them and find a career, vocation, or creative outlet. The group was created by Marvin Herbert, a reformed gang member who turned from his life of violent crime and now seeks to help, rather than hurt, people.

Anti-knife activist Faron ‘Faz’ Paul, sometimes called ‘The Knife Angel’, survived being stabbed 18 times on 2 separate occasions, and now operates ‘Faz Amnesty‘, a group that allows gang members or anybody with a weapon to hand in their knives in exchange for store vouchers. He then hands the weapons to the police.

Individuals, such as friends, family members, teachers, youth workers, religious leaders and celebrities can have a strong effect on the young also, by acting as role models and encouraging peace, patience, and adherence to the law.

What to Look out for

“There’ll always be the boy who no one f*cks with because he’s a madman, there’ll always be a beg friend, a boy or girl that isn’t really down with gang violence but want to be one of the cool kids, there’ll also be a pagan, a snake, who’s known to have some connection to the other side. (…) Then there is the baby mothers, the wifeys, the crack heads, a posh girl that wants to f*ck a hood, and there’s always a trap house.”

– ‘Lisa’.

As this video demonstrates, spotting gang members is harder than you might think. Often, young people want to look like gang members, and urban fashion frequently reinforces this image. However, just because a person is dressed like a stereotypical gang member, does not mean they are up to anything illegal. Likewise, real gang members will often engage more innocent-looking people (e.g., their girlfriends, wives, or young children) to deliver goods or patrol an area.

Gang members can belong to any ethnic group, may be male or female, and, whilst usually young, can also be older in appearance. They can even be young children.

However, many gang members will advertise their allegiance to a gang via a nickname or ‘street name’, a logo that matches others in their group (but does not appear to conform to a clothing label or other recognised intellectual property), specific colours (many gangs associate with a certain colour), specific tattoos, and hand signs, usually used as a form of communication.

A group of people wearing loosely-matching (perhaps coordinated) clothing of a certain colour, and sporting similar tattoos could well be gang members.

Many gangs will build a brand around themselves, as one might a business. This improves their chances of being taken seriously, respected, and feared on the streets. Graffiti, in addition to being a way to mark a gang’s territory, can also advertise a gang’s presence in the area. If the person you suspect of belonging to a criminal gang is wearing a logo, sporting a tattoo, or using words that match local graffiti, it is possible that they are a gang member.

Confronting Gang Members

“I had a rough life. I lived in a neighbourhood where there was no pity for the weak. You couldn’t smile at ‘em. You didn’t have no sympathy for ‘em, and no remorse. If he got in the way and he did the wrong thing, you broke his *ss off and you left him where he at.” – ‘SB‘, an American gangster from L.A, interviewed by ‘Fight SCIENCE’ on YouTube.

Confronting gang members, even the young ones among them, can be a very dangerous course of action, and we at WTD do not recommend it. However, in your capacity as a security operative, you may have to confront gang members at some point.

In such cases, we recommend being clear and direct, but not disrespectful. We’ve talked elsewhere on this site about assertiveness, de-escalation techniques and anger-management techniques. Much of what we said in those features is appropriate for this example. Most security operatives are highly skilled communicators, and such incidents would be a perfect time to utilise that training.

According to criminal psychologist Dr. Mark Phillips, who is also a security consultant, martial arts, and defensive skills instructor, confidence is key, “If people see you as weak, if you have weak body language, if you can’t make eye contact, if you’ve got your head down, if you’re looking nervous, you’re not focussed, you’re not paying attention, you are portraying yourself as a weak person in a hostile environment. It could put you at risk”

You should also be aware of your surroundings. Don’t let yourself become cornered or surrounded, as this is a difficult position to get out of. Be prepared, if need be, to make a quick escape. Is there a place you can go, preferably indoors, where you will be safer if things escalate beyond your control?

Keeping eye contact is also a good piece of advice, as it demonstrates both confidence and respect. Speak clearly and confidently and be sure to let the gang members know that you mean no disrespect. ‘Respect’ is the key word when dealing with gang members. If you show them respect, you are halfway towards getting your point across. Fail to show respect and you could end up in a lot of trouble.

You must also keep your own ego in check. These are dangerous people and, although they may insult you or try to goad you into attacking, keep your cool, ignore these behaviours and stay on-message. Don’t give them anything to take personally.

Dr. Phillips recommends caution and thinking very carefully before making any moves. “Unfortunately, most ‘bad guys’ feel that they have nothing to lose. And that’s what makes them dangerous. Compliance may always be an option. Comply and hope it goes well, but very often, if someone has bad intentions, compliance will make no difference at all. So, you always have to look for the opportunity to act.”

Ultimately, Dr. Phillips recommends being vigilant and intercepting the situation, acting first, and controlling it long enough to either resolve it or retreat from it.

Confronting gang members can be one of the hardest aspects of security work, but, if done properly, you should be able to keep yourself and the public safe.

Recruitment of Children 

“I was eight, and older boys from my estate used to send me on jobs to collect stuff, giving me sweets or money and praising me. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was delivering drugs”.

– Sephton Henry.

“You’ve got young males from estates who’ve probably got a single-parent income, living in horrible conditions, no money. They see these older males with thousands of pounds in their pocket and they ask them to do something and give them money for it. It’s a no brainer, of course they’re going to do it, and this is how they get exploited.”

– PC Jamie Preston.

“Start with answering back to the teacher and you’ll get a little bit of respect; thieve something from the shop, get a little bit of respect; rob someone, you’ll get a little bit of respect; punch someone up, you’ll get a little bit of respect, until eventually you’re in it so deep you don’t know how you got there.”

– ‘Lisa’.

According to a 2019 report, there are an estimated 27,000 children involved with British gangs, while a shocking 313,000 children personally know a gang member.

According to the NSPCC, children are more likely to be recruited into gangs after being excluded from school, if they have special education needs (that perhaps aren’t being met at school), or have suffered neglect or abuse at home.

Mental health issues, and proximity to existing gangs/regular exposure to gang culture, or violent media (especially music, TV or films that glorify gang culture and violence) are also listed as contributing factors.

Often, children are threatened with violence, or else are blackmailed into helping a gang. This usually starts with small things, such as helping to deliver drugs or guns, or keeping watch for police. Later, this can evolve into more serious crimes. If a child has been successfully acclimated to a life of crime, then committing crimes (even violent ones) will seem ‘normal’ from their perspective from that point on.

Children who have joined a gang may change their clothing, appear to be braver than usual, carry weapons, show unexplained cuts, bruises, or injuries (and lie about their origin), have new friends, and start getting in trouble at home or school. A change in attitude can perhaps be the biggest indicator that a child has joined a gang.

Children targeted by gangs can also be abused, exploited, and even trafficked by the gangs. The NSPCC recommends talking to any child you’re concerned about, if possible, but also contacting child services immediately if you suspect that a child you know has become involved with a gang.

How You can Help

“I look back now, and don’t recognise that person. I really don’t. And it is so alien to me that I sort of am shocked at myself to think that I actually was that person and did do the things I did. And there is a deep regret on that” – Linda Calver.

Thankfully, there are options open to you as a private citizen if you suspect that your local area, or place of work, has become a hub of gang-related activity.

One option is to make an anonymous tip to the police explaining your concerns and the rationale behind them. All information will be kept in the strictest confidence and will likely be used to help the police focus their anti-gang efforts on your local area.

As we mentioned in our piece about home security, joining (or forming) a Neighbourhood Watch scheme can also help. A well signposted and effective Neighbourhood Watch initiative can discourage gang activity in a specific area, especially if arrests are made there. Gang members see arrests as simply being part of their lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean they like being arrested, or that they wish to operate in areas with a notable police presence and watchful residents. If the Neighbourhood Watch is effective, gang members may simply move their activities to somewhere they feel less exposed.

If you have children of your own, watch for the signs that your child may be involved with a gang. Do not allow them to associate with gang members (or those whom you suspect are gang members), maintain a close and honest relationship with them, be supportive and understanding (without being judgmental – remember that the challenges facing their generation are often different from the challenges you faced), and do not hesitate to seek professional help if you feel it is needed.

It also helps to familiarize yourself with the law. You can then educate others on what is and is not legal. Not only will this stop overzealous residents from wasting police time (and discouraging them from taking the issue seriously), but it may also help you to educate family members and young people of your acquaintance as to the legal consequences of gang membership, which are serious, and growing more serious all the time.

Many young lives have been thrown away thanks to gang membership. Try, wherever you safely can, to be the voice of experience and common sense.

Another tip we suggest is to take a greater interest in your local area and community. A sense of familiarity and community, as well as pride in one’s local area have been proven to be excellent antidotes to anti-social behaviour, a lot of which is gang related.

Finally, a commonly held view among gang members is that gang life is inescapable. However, there is always hope, as we shall learn from the following story.

At the age of five, Hezron Brown from Birmingham was badly burned in a household accident. Bullying from his peers concerning his burns led Hezron to become angry and violent. Soon, he was expelled from school and kicked out of the family home. After a time spent homeless, the young man eventually secured his own flat, but soon drifted into a local gang because it gave him a social circle and sense of identity.

Before long, Brown was facing a 10-year prison sentence for robbery. However, fate handed him a lifeline in the form of a parole officer who recognised that his problems would only worsen if he went to prison. At his sentencing hearing, the officer asked the young man to tell her what had happened, in his own words.

At first, Brown refused to ‘snitch’ on his fellow gang members, until the officer explained that his friends had already testified against him, and that he and he alone was the one facing jail time. Brown told her his story and went home to await his sentence.

Thanks to a glowing report from the parole officer, the Judge elected not to sentence Brown to prison, instead granting him a suspended sentence, community service, and other punitive measures.

Taking the opportunity he now had to turn his life around, Hezron Brown left the gang life and sought employment. When this wasn’t forthcoming thanks to a criminal record and lack of skills, he began to seek volunteer work and training courses, eventually working in a youth theatre program organised by The Prince’s Trust, the charity started by Prince (now King) Charles to help disadvantaged young people.

His work inspiring young people through creativity and self-expression saw Hezron Brown receive the Trust’s ‘Young Achiever’ award and the Daily Mirror’s ‘Pride of Britain’ award. He now runs an organisation ‘More Talk More Action‘ that seeks to empower people and help to tackle violence and gang culture. Hezron Brown has become an ambassador for peace and personal empowerment and stands as an example to all that any person can turn their life around.

The parole officer (Brown has been unable to locate her over the years) was able to help Hezron Brown by listening to him and helping him to see the error of his ways. Many other young people in Brown’s position are not so lucky, and time in prison does not always rehabilitate offenders.

As a security operative, you too are in a position of responsibility. This should always be used wisely and with kindness. Each life touches many others in hundreds of imperceptible ways. The parole officer who helped Hezron Brown probably doesn’t know that she changed his life for the better, but that doesn’t alter the impact of her actions.

You too can set a good example by holding yourself to the highest professional standards and continuing to treat people with kindness and empathy. You’ll be surprised how much of a difference it can make.