Yes, I know, that was my point. Who you call street gangs like to be called "organizations," the same way who the media reports as motorcycle gangs like to be called "clubs."
Yet they both murder. Both are often involved in drug dealing and both have been known to organize robberies.
Those street gangs born out of Chicago (and those born out of LA too) are in part referred to as "super-gangs" because they have characteristics of organized crime. Currently, the Federal Government using RICO has decapitated a lot of the leadership in many of these gangs. Which some say has led them to be very disorganized and far more volatile and violent.
Either way... the 1% motorcycle clubs are tiny in number--in terms of the size of each club. Relative to street gangs. In a book on International Organized Crime I read many years ago, the author gave a case in Canada between the Hell's Angels and a Vietnamese gang. The HA's called in a Chinese mobster to arbitrate. In the end the Chinese gangster recommended this. And I paraphrase: "In all of British Colombia there are 30 of you, but in 1 apartment building alone there are 30 of the Vietnamese. You can chose to go to war with the Vietnamese but understand this. To the Vietnamese war is eternal. And for the rest of your life you will have to look over your backs."
The HA's of British Colombia, the richest and most murderous HA's in the world, choose to leave the Vietnamese gang alone. As it turned out later anyways, it was not the Vietnamese in Canada who had killed one of their British Colombia HA brothers, but a few Hell's Angels from California. They had either robbed him or owned him money. I can't remember which.
From the "Gang Wars" article post #19 are quotations below in this post. You can glimpse from them that what you call street gangs also have rules and history, and that they're sometimes more motivated by making large sums of money than on seeing who "is tougher."
"The Mexican Posse, made up of Mexican-born males, is the largest gang
operating on the South Side, with approximately 250 members. But it’s their
archenemies, the Latin Kings, that are the oldest and most notorious of South
Side gangs.
The Almighty Latin King Nation was founded in Chicago as far back as the
1940s. The group is governed by an idealistic manifesto full of prayers,
rituals, symbols, history and rules for living according to the principals of
“Kingism.” “We are a religion,” the manifesto states. “Once a King, always a
King” is the group’s motto, and death is seen as the only way out of the gang.
Each LK subgroup has an “Inca” at its head, a “Casinca” as second in command
and sometimes an “Enforcer” as third most powerful member. Chapters pay dues,
about $75 a month, called “Nation Funds,” to Chicago to support the national
organization.
“The Kings have been hit with indictments so many times, you’d have to be
crazy to have anything to do with that gang,” says detective Bohlen. Yet the
gang consistently finds new converts.
On top of the 33 Kings indicted in 1998, another 49 members were taken off
the streets on federal charges in October 2005. The charges included four
homicides, 38 attempted homicides, robbery, arson, kidnapping and witness
intimidation – the ugly flip side of “Kingism.”
Most South Side gangs have strict laws governing members. Infractions mean
punishments ranging from fines and beatings to death. A member of a mostly
Caucasian South Side gang called the Simon City Royals was caught using the
drugs he was supposed to be selling and was beaten at a gang meeting. He got
caught using gang drugs again and was taken to a wooded area on the East Side
and shot.
A few years ago, black North Side gangsters started expanding their drug
sales to South Side street corners. Latin Kings leadership responded by issuing
a “shoot on sight” order for black drug dealers operating on the South Side.
“They were spraying them with shotguns,” says Carrasco.
But North and South Side gangs generally have little interaction, except for
an occasional drug trafficking partnership. The hot dog-loving Gangster Disciple
and Latin King at Johnny’s 7 had met in jail, became friends and developed a
criminal partnership. The 21-year-old South Side gang kingpin connected to the
Gulf Cartel was able to traffic hundreds of kilos of cocaine through this city
using a black Gangster Disciple distribution man on the North Side. The Vice
Lord’s “Million-Dollar House” was also connected to that partnership. It was an
intricate, lucrative joint venture – until they got pinched."
Upvote
0
