Wednesday December 4th 2013
In the United States today there are over 1.4 million gang members, these gang members come from poverty and join these gangs for protection from other gang members or to survive on the streets. A street gang is a group of members with identifiable leadership and internal organization, identifying with or claiming control over territory in a community, and engaging either individually or collectively in violent or other forms of illegal behavior. Crime has to happen and street gangs today have taken control of crime with drug trafficking, prostitution, and violence amongst other gang members which has led street gangs to continue to thrive in today’s society. The history of street gangs can be traced back as early as the American Revolution. In the Northeast and Midwest United States gangs were started because of immigration and poverty. Theses gang members were from immigrants migrating with …show more content…
These street gangs took control of anything people wanted gambling, drinking, and murder, during the times of 1920 to 1933 under the 18th Amendment banned the sale of liquor. This led to NYC street gangs or “the mafia” took control of these illegal distribution of liquor just as modernized Latin Kings run the heroin on the streets. This led to famous gangsters as most Chicagoans know Al Capone, who actually got his rise in the NYC street gangs brought on by the Five Points Gang which is said to be the most significant street gang in United States History. Johnny Torrio a key member to the Sicilian Mafia sought out Al Capone to be in the James Street Gang where Capone ran in to trouble and moved himself to Chicago. Al Capone eventually became the most violent gangsters in Chicago