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Gang Characteristics and Growth
A gang differs from a drug distribution organization in structure,
objective, and methods (specifically in its use of violence). An
urban drug organization is a small, loose confederation of individuals
who are usually in their late 20s. This type of group unites to
cash in on the lucrative drug market, and its main goal is to accumulate
wealth. The drug of preference is cocaine, and distribution is
above the street level. For a drug organization, violence is a
defense mechanism—a reaction in the face of a crisis or a byproduct
of the trade. With the widespread use of cocaine and its derivatives,
the number of drug trafficking organizations rose dramatically
in the 1980s.
In contrast, a youth gang is an organization of tightly bonded
youth who are joined together and controlled by a criminal leader.
A gang is often conceived and nurtured by an individual who uses
it as a vehicle to raise himself or herself to a position of power
among his or her peers. In Baltimore, the gang's energy is directed
toward distributing narcotics or providing support services for
the drug trade, which may include murder for hire.
In specific inner-city territories, Baltimore gangs control drug
distribution from street-level consumption to bulk wholesale. Gangs
dominate the heroin market and distribute cocaine as a side venture.
Gangs maintain and expand their control through systematic violence—establishing
a reign of terror that stifles opposition and increases a gang's
influence.
Unlike a stereotypical street drug dealer, who plies the trade
in the local neighborhood and treats this occupation as a live-and-let-live
proposition, a gang leader seeks to dominate territory and expand
the gang's geographic control. A violence-prone gang easily intimidates
the neighborhood drug dealer, assimilating or tolerating the dealer's
presence but on an unequal, tenuous footing.
After the base of operation is secured, a gang focuses on optimizing
the territory for the sale of street-grade heroin and cocaine.
Under the leader's direction, the hardcore gang members—soldiers1 whose
loyalty to the leader is expected to be absolute—secure drug stash
houses and paraphernalia for the operation and recruit the expendable
dealers, runners, touts, and lookouts. As the gang's profits grow,
more expendable, lower-level members are recruited, and the gang's
size and influence expand.
The gang leader maintains dominance over the membership by a mixture
of rewards and violence, with an emphasis on the latter. The leader
is the focal point of the gang's activities, the final arbiter
of disputes, the source of spending money and bail, and the receiver
and dispenser of information. He or she manipulates gang members
by testing loyalties, determining status, and keeping members off
guard and subservient to his or her will—perfecting a totalitarian
form of control.
While the gang secures the lines of distribution, the leader controls
the flow of drug revenues and maps out supply lines. The gang leader
is in contact with established local leaders of other gangs and
with former gang leaders who now work in the criminal underworld
and no longer require the services of the gang. These more experienced
gangsters coach the younger criminal in matters such as hiring lawyers,
hiding money, creating communication networks, and researching police
investigative procedures and ways to avoid them.2
A product of the leader's desire for power, the gang is driven
to generate terror. The fledgling gang announces its presence by
committing violent acts to establish its claim to a neighborhood
and, after gaining control, by continuous fighting to maintain
and expand control. Rivals, recalcitrant dealers, potential witnesses,
and other enemies are identified and dealt with in a variety of
ways, which often culminate in murder. These acts are publicly
acknowledged by the gang. Credit is taken, and the crime is added
to the reputation of the gang and symbolized through the leader's
name.
Gangs use the art of name recognition to maintain control. Using
violence to accomplish his or her goals, the leader sees that his
or her name becomes inextricably associated with terror. When the
leader's name is mentioned, opposition is expected to crumble.
Witnesses and victims often use the phrase "he don't play" to explain
their reluctance to cooperate with an investigation. At some point
in a gang's evolution, a leader's name seeps beyond the criminal
realm and into the public consciousness. As parents learn the names
of gang leaders from their children, the names spread throughout
the city and strike fear. Fear works in favor of the leader and
his or her agents because families, fearing retribution, encourage
potential witnesses not to get involved in any investigation of
the gang.
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