Street gangs in today's society are not only a national problem, but an international problem as well. Gangs
are known to exist in Canada, Mexico, and Central and South American
countries. Also countries such as Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa.
European countries, such as England, Poland, Germany, are not exempt
either.
Historically, in the United
States, gangs have been
active in the nation’s largest cities, with Los Angeles, New York,
Chicago, and Philadelphia being identified as major gang cities. Over
the last 25 years, however, gangs have migrated out of traditional large
gang cities and into mid-sized cities, suburban areas, and even small
towns and rural communities.
Too often the phrase, “We don’t have gangs in our community” is uttered
by the city fathers, the police, the chamber of commerce or the tourist
bureau. This phrase is frequently followed by, “All we have are a bunch
of wannabes.” The inference here is that since the gangs in the
community didn’t originate in Los Angeles or Chicago, they aren’t real
gangs. Nothing could be further from the truth. If a group of youths in
your community have banned together and call
themselves by a particular name;
if they use signs, symbols and or colors; and if they are committing
crimes; they are a gang – regardless of what members of the community
say.
The many
pages found on this web site are designed to assist law enforcement,
parents, teachers, and concerned citizens in identifying gangs and gang
members. Obviously, not every gang, or their signs, symbols, colors,
tattoos, etc can be found here. There is however, all the information
needed to see the similarity of those identifiers to make a
determination that a gang may be in their neighborhood or that their
child or student is involved in gang activity.
Good luck...........
Web site background
Gangs OR Us has been on line since 1999. On this site you will find
more than sixty (60) pages containing over 1200 well organized external links to other sites. You will also find information from my own experience and training that will assist in providing you with some of the indicators of the presence of gangs. In addition to the identifiers, you will also find pages on
street gangs, prison gangs, female gangs, state gang statutes, court decisions, research links, and more.
WARNING; Some of the external links on this site, particularly the
videos, are very graphic and may contain very violent scenes and/or
vulgar or profane language.
Gangs OR Us has no control over the content found in these links.
Gangs OR Us is proud to announce that it is now sponsored by PoliceOne. com
The one complete resource for
Law Enforcement online.
The
PoliceOne.com
mission is to provide law enforcement officers and
departments around the world with information and resources that make them
better able to protect their communities and stay safer on the streets. P1, as
it is called by many of its 360,000 members, provides a secure, trusted
and reliable online environment for the exchange of information between officers
and departments from across the Unites States and from around the world.
Although ninety-five percent (95%) of its
members are career law enforcement officers at all levels of government - city,
county, state, and federal, it is also a website where the public is welcome to
join and participate.
These non-law enforcement civilian members can ask
questions, post replies to questions or just browse.
Membership is free. Your membership entitles
you to a free news letter, law enforcement alerts, participation in the law
enforcement only secure forums (message boards), a public
real time chat room and a secure, law enforcement only, chat room.
EXTERNAL LINKS DISCLAIMER: The Gangs OR Us web site links to many other web sites.
Unless otherwise stated, the inclusion of other web site links on this web site does not constitute endorsement by Gangs OR Us, for any content, product, service, or organization.
