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Numbers are up in this white supremacist gang after Aryan Brotherhood 's activities are curtailed.
Some ethnic-based gangs enjoy a national reputation. One just has to look at the Jamaican Posses based in the Southeast or the Bloods and Crips gangs from the West Coast. Many street gangs are heroes in their own minds, but all aspire to be nationally known. For many reasons, most of these street gangs never organize under one name. They remain independent cells, often in conflict with other street gangs or themselves.
What mechanisms made the Bloods, Crips and other gangs nationally recognized? Certainly, it appears that the dope trade and the lust for power became two factors that were paramount in the formation of a national reputation. Another major factor had to be the media coverage. The more a gang's name is in the paper, on the local and national news, the more it tends to enhance that gang's street reputation. Maybe the media coverage was heavy because the gangs were extremely violent. Maybe, violence is used as a tool by gangs to get what they want.
The point is there are several factors that can unify a street gang with several factions, sets or cliques into one. A bonding agent, so to speak, is needed. Gangs have formed based on ethnic backgrounds and geography, to commit specialty crimes and based on certain political philosophies. Could a political philosophy be the basis in forming a street gang with a national reputation?
Racism as a Basis for Gangs
The timing may be right to see a national reputation develop for the normally unorganized, independent skinhead street gangs. Around 1995, California law enforcers saw a gang growing in numbers and gaining strength through the lucrative methamphetamine trade. Considered both a prison and street gang, the Nazi Low Riders (NLR) have developed a reputation for being cold-blooded and ruthless. Many cops laugh at first when they hear the name, but don't be fooled, NLR members have been linked to murders, home-invasion robberies, witness intimidation, drug sales and assaults on police officers.
The origins of the NLR can be traced back to the California Youth Authority (state prison for juveniles in California). In the state system, the well-established white prison gang,...