Gangs in the United Kingdom

Gang-related organised crime in the United Kingdom is concentrated around the cities of London, Manchester and Liverpool and regionally across the West Midlands region, south coast and northern England, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.^[1] With regard to street gangs the cities identified as having the most serious gang problems, which accounted for 65% of firearm homicides in England and Wales, were London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.^[2] Glasgow in Scotland also has a historical gang culture with the city having as many teenage gangs as London, which had six times the population, in 2008.^[3]

In the early part of the 20th century, the cities of Leeds, Bristol, Bradford, and more prominently Keighley, and Nottingham all commanded headlines pertaining to street gangs and suffered their share of high-profile firearms murders.^{[citation needed]} Sheffield, which has a long history of gangs traced back to the 1920s in the book "The Sheffield Gang Wars",^[4] along with Leicester^[5] is one of numerous urban centres seen to have an emerging or re-emerging gang problem.

In November 2007, a major offensive against gun crime by gangs in Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester led to 118 arrests. More than 1,000 police officers were involved in the raids. Not all of the 118 arrests were gun related. Others were linked to drugs, prostitution and other crimes. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said it showed the police could "fight back against gangs".^[6]

In the 2000s, Britain's street gangs in certain inner city areas such as London and Manchester became influenced by America's Crips and Bloods.^[7][8] This was evidenced by identification with colours, hand signs, graffiti tags^[9] and in some cases gang names, for example Old Trafford Cripz and Moss Side Bloods^[10] or 031 (O-Tray-One) Bloods gang and ABM (All Bout Money) Crips. This phenomenon has since declined during the 2010s.^[11]

Debate persists over the extent and nature of gang activity in the UK,^[12][13] with some academics and policy-makers arguing that the current focus of enforcement efforts on gang membership is inadvisable, given a lack of consensus over the relationship between gangs and crime.^[13]

As a result of austerity reforms, there are fewer public spaces set aside for the purpose of keeping young people off the street, such as youth centres. As a result, some children as young as 9 begin to carry weapons and turn to gang activities for safety, or to provide for their families through drug trafficking.^[14]