Gangs in the U.K.

ArkansanArkansan Regular
edited September 2012 in Spurious Generalities
I have a question for our friends across the pond. What are street gangs like there? This is something I have always wondered as I am sure that they must exist in some form. Here they are typically black or latino with a few white gangs left, they tend to be extremely varied each individual set of a larger gang being for all intents and purposes a separate gang, each with its own culture, slang, hand signs ect. ect.

Comments

  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited September 2012
    This thread gives me a great idea for a reality TV show. U.S. gangs and U.K. gangs competing for street territory and total money earned in head to head competition in a different middle eastern city every 4 episodes.
  • ArkansanArkansan Regular
    edited September 2012
    That show sounds fucking epic. Now shows like that existed I would actually bother to turn the tv on from time to time.
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited September 2012
    Hahaaaaa! Oh I love (and equally hate) it when people on the News talk of "Gangs" in the UK, like in areas of Manchester, Liverpool, London, Portsmouth, etc. Sure, some have firearms, but most are just 13-25 with a pair of nun-chuks, some fireworks and a hoodie with unemployment benefits and a criminal record, stuck on a shitty Council Estate which is their TURF BLAD.

    Anyway, to your questions (and Beaver, please let that program happen, I would PAY to see some gobby cunt get a hollowpoint through the kneecaps on live TV).

    There used to be pretty formidable Gangs, and in Southall where my Nan lived (whereas I was in Ealing, owned by the same Gang) there were groups like the Holy Smokes. A Sikh Gang, who were liked, despite the blatant violence. I'm talking open murders up until the mid-90s against another gang called The Tooti Nungs. The East end had more White gangs of that nature as it's Cockney land. Now it's just varied, as contrary to belief there isn't a load of Muslim or Black people in the UK. Especially in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (which has some very formidable groups, not officially known as Gangs per-se, just turf wars).

    Manchester and Liverpool sees the more serious Gangs, as does London. Bigger Cities just do. Shootings happen there on a rare, but frequent basis (as in it's just a one-person kill for the most part). London seems to mostly have non-White gangs (Yardies, Triads, Russian) but these can be Youths as opposed to Mafia-type, who launder money and don't carry out the dirty work themselves. A friend of mine had a friend he went to a bar with (they live in Manchester) and as my mate turned around from buying a round of drinks his friend was shot through the head with a revolver at point blank range - in full view of everyone in a packed bar on a weekend. It's often on the news, and as for the London Riots (ironic as "How's life in London" by the London Posse just came on iTunes) it wasn't gang-oriented for the most part. Sure, minorities in the shitty parts of London were pissed and opportunist thiefs got in on it, but the gang links are just fags who need something to live for.

    So here's the more "serious" gangs (gauged by weapons, attitude, size etc)

    Bit sensationalist, action begins at 3 minutes


    I had a lot of contact with Turkish Gangs in West London who ran most of the Heroin and hated the Afghans. They liked the Dutch though, which is where my family ties to my current predicament comes in. The same song I'm listening is at the start of this video - aka the Murder Mile

    As for a taste of most (80% of) modern-day "Gangs", the video below is a taste of seriously what they can be like. You may get the odd one who has firearms, but it's very rare. Just think of them as inbred mouthbreathers who are too proud of a postcode.

    Complete cunt...I hope they chop their bollocks off




    Britain's Fox News...lol, GANG members? BOO'SHIT MAN!

    So there you have it. I facepalmed so hard with these videos. Also my dealer at Uni was from my part of London, so we had pretty close ties.
    There's a film called Kidulthood you might want to check out if you can stomach this fucking cringey life of British "Gangs" in large -
  • GoingNowhereGoingNowhere Global Moderator
    edited September 2012
    I don't quite know much about gangs, never heard a peep of that kind of thing in Wales but I guess it must exist. Mainly what we yobs or chavs, but they aren't coordinated so if you see them you just avoid them really. I live by Newport and that city is rapidly declining into derelict buildings where shops used to be, I hope the crime rate doesn't go up because of it. Oh, and the Newport uni is bottom of the rankings table too.

    Newport (apart from Caerloen which is very nice) is a place you'd pass through to go to Cardiff, Cwmbran, or Caerphilly.
  • SlartibartfastSlartibartfast Global Moderator -__-
    edited September 2012
    The U.K. has some of the most cringeworthy gang names in the world, WTF kind of name is "Afghan Bad Boyz" and "The Tooti Nungs" ??
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited September 2012
    To be fair, the Tooti Nungs were fucking nasty, and they were from Bangladesh/India. So it's foreign, y'know.
    And GoingNowhere, I know one badass Wales gang!
  • ArkansanArkansan Regular
    edited September 2012
    Seems to be a decent amount of similarities between gangs in the U.K. and here as far as the types that end up involved. To me it seems like the major difference is guns, anyone here can get a gun and the gang bangers here have everything from .38 revolvers to fully automatic AK-47's.

    At one point in the late 80's and early 90's the city of Little Rock was the third worst in the nation. In 1993 our homicide rate was per capita higher than New York, surpassed only by Los Angeles and Chicago and the city only has around 180,000 people.There was a huge crack down in the mid 90's and now things have settled a bit but not that much really, many of the gangs around here have simply gotten better organized. There are still parts of town you simply don't go to, but it is better than the out and out war zones we had in the city limits back then. Now it is the city of Jacksonville, which is only about 15mins from Little Rock that is becoming a problem in my opinion, the air force base there has been bitching at the city for years to clean up.

    This is a clip from an HBO documentary about the gang problem in the city in the early 90's, skip ahead to 7:20 as somewhere after that the interview gets caught up in a drive by.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYwYSE-M3Qg&feature=relmfu
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited September 2012
    The U.K. has some of the most cringeworthy gang names in the world, WTF kind of name is "Afghan Bad Boyz" and "The Tooti Nungs" ??
    A workmate of mine stayed in london for a couple of years. He mentioned something about an indian gang called the "Holy Smokes" I was like. WTF? :facepalm:
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited September 2012
    Like I said elsewhere/before, my nan was one of a few Lawyers for the Holy Smokes. She had to deal in everything from trafficking weapons/drugs/humans, fake marriages, necrophilia (yup), murder/appeals - the lot. And having to defend these guys just got to her after 35 years living in Southall.
    It is also a place which has seen bloody battles and deaths between Southall Sikhs and Hounslow Muslims - especially in Southall park. I saw a person get his head sliced open with a machete at a fun fair in Southall park a few years ago.
    - http://www.intermix.org.uk/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=2392

    The term "Tootie Nung" means "Ruffians" in Punjab. Just thought I'd clarify. It's just funny seeing Sikh gangsters driving round in cars that are all the same to "avoid detection" with a boot/trunk (to you Yanks) full of heroin.

    Talking of which, interesting story (how my family got involved in the Dutch gang scene), whilst I lived in Hayes/Ealing as a kid, my Dad had a number of company cars that were too expensive for someone working in I.T repair in the late 90s. I recall walking round an underground car park below a pub near Hanwell down the road from Ealing and Southall, then driving a black BMW, with me having to call a list of predetermined numbers on notepad paper with a Sony Ericsson phone whenever we "get past this building" or "stop at these lights".
    Why? Because the boot was full of money or drugs and if there was a delay, my Dad would be seriously fucked up because the Turks, Irish or Dutch would assume he had taken off with the money.

    Most of the drugs were loaded while we dined in Cafes by Turks who had the car keys (as we hid them somewhere predetermined). When we got back to the car, the drugs would be deposited/money taken (or money deposited/drugs taken) and I would be none the wiser. Plus the Turks have a very tight family of respect when it comes to Mafia/Gang activities. They treat you like one of their own.
    Anyway, Dad used to deliver the cash to the Irish (think IRA) or Dutch (who would cooperate with the Turks through people like *name removed - Google "De Dominee"*, murdered a year after I was born by an ex-cop) - most of the MDMA that came into West London was via the Dutch (just found this, confirms it somewhat). One particularly Irish guy he worked with then lost the plot, fled the UK, murdered a contact in Spain and is still wanted by Interpol to this day.

    And that's how I am where I am now - *removed for security as Google will index this* shady motherfuckers who used to work with De Dominee - as well as £2,000-a-night Hotels in Amsterdam for £200 for 4 days with an old &T member (until recently).

    Anyway, that's a taste of my youth in London. I haven't even touched on the Heroin dealers opposite who threw awesome parties, and the Yardie nutjobs who had armed Police raids and gunfights down my road.

    Anyway, I'm ranting. I should really write a book about this all.
    Now, Arkansan, that's some interesting stuff as yes, here in the UK firearms are rare - usually smuggled from the former Eastern Bloc or acquired legitimately and "stolen" (mostly Yardies had the firepower, then the Turks and the Irish had..well, all of it and more with things like this happening every so often during parts of the 90s - and that's just London). It does make for some great improvisation though.
    Just watched the HBO TV clip - I'd be more scared in the US of having a distance fight, at least in the UK it's up close and personal most of the time lol. Drive-bys are fucking nasty, just spray and pray (unless it's close). I suppose the blacks in the USA are similar to the Asians in the UK, but can be a load more animalistic and blatant about their actions such as that drive-by at 8 minutes or so in. I'd say the UK's "proper" gangs kept it on the down-low, were almost untouchable and the friendly face of their turf/community. Plus drugs have a big impact on the way things are done - eg crack and meth (Blacks) vs MDMA/hash and alcohol (Asians/Yardies and Whites).

    Fuck me I wrote a lot.
  • ArkansanArkansan Regular
    edited September 2012
    At the time that clip was filmed long distance gun fights weren't unheard of in that part of the city, I have heard tales of people setting up somewhere and sniping their mark. I catch your meaning about proper gangs though, their seems to be a huge difference in the standard operating procedure of street gangs and more organized outfits, the more organized the more they seem to keep shit as quiet as possible, bad for business otherwise. Like you said the black gangs in the U.S. seem to be a lot more in your face about what they do, their seems to be some perverse pride throwing it in society's face. That is an interesting thought though as to the cash crop of choice seeming to affect behavior, most street gangs on the states make their living off of weed and crack and dabble in other things, at least in my experience. In Arkansas its bikers and rednecks that supply most of the meth, god I hate tweekers. We also have a lot of "good ole boy" outfits here, small groups, typically white and usually all related, that deal in weed, guns, and scams of various sorts, insurance fraud is popular with those sorts.
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited September 2012
    That's a pretty interesting perspective. Sorta confirms what I thought - but I had no idea about the white gangs (not sure why, but I was aware of Skinhead gangs), but not the insurance fraud ones. The more you know!
    I've never met a tweaker in my life, but I can't imagine I'd want to. Combine that with the fact in some states people can own high powered sniper rifles just scares the shit outta me. I can sort of understand paranoia in the States (like preppers etc). I have a bulletproof vest, but would gladly wear one all the time in the USA just because I'd be shit scared of a drive-by (seeing someone in a car with a Mac-10 in the UK is enough).

    It's true about the image of gangs (versus "Gangsters) as they do tend to look after (and exploit) their areas of influence but via a frontman, a bit like Las Vegas in the 1930s I suppose. London is rife with money laundering and dodgy building projects (if you've seen the film Rock'n'rolla it's quite true, and is based on Roman Abramovich for a bit - who I've had the pleasure of meeting and riding a horse with).

    Really interesting perspective. Definitely taking that to my mind and thanks for your reply :hai:
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited September 2012
    Although the chances are he wasn't in a gang, there will no doubt be a shitstorm following in the enlarged footsteps of this guy. 2 Policewomen killed with a grenade and weapon of sorts (pistol or some shitty SMG).

    Also he was behind 2 shootings of a Son and Father earlier this year. Mad shit blud! Plus I came across a .44 yesterday. It seems people are shifting towards self protection and arming the Cops here.

    http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1583628_guns-and-gangs-in-manchester-victims-of-a-sad-cycle-of-revenge

    Also I'm not sure if I mentioned about my Uncle and buying bullets, but I was offered a Walther or Beretta (he used to work for the former) and fine, a pistol was £180 or so.
    Shame is, the actual rounds cost a ton. It's pretty funny seeing that be discussed here.

    And Chris Rock discussing it...here (sorry Dfg, Allah won't let me broadcast to PK :()
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