Street Gang Bloods
The Street Gang the Bloods
Violence is a substantial problem that has attracted increased attention over the past decade. Many forms of violence are seen on a daily basis however; street gang violence has grown to become the most pervasive form. Street gangs refer to groups of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities in a particular area. According to data presented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there are at least 30,000 street gangs with 800,000 members that have an impact on 2,500 communities all over the United States. A street gang that has greatly impacted these communities is the Bloods. The Bloods were first noted in Los Angeles in the late 1960's, however over the years have spread their ideology to various other major cities along the West and East coast.
With an increase in violence in the New York City metropolitan area, the Bloods began developing new sections on the East coast. In July of 1993, the Bloods philosophy spread to section C-73 at the New York City Department of Correction facility on Riker's Island. The Bloods’ original godfathers, O.G. Mack (Omar Portee) and Deadeye (Leonard McKenzie) began uniting various African-American prisoners to create the section now referred to as the United Blood Nation, or East Coast Bloods. This section is completely separate and unaffiliated from the West Coast Bloods in that they do not have similar rivalries. At the time however, the gang was created in order to compete with the growing Hispanic gangs, such as Latin Kings and the Netas, who were the most prevalent and dominant group in the prison system (Valentine, 1995).
In order to prevail over the other organized gangs, the United Blood Nation needed to develop a strict hierarchal organizational structure. The United Blood Nation doesn’t have a central governing authority, but has key structural roles. For instance, the first in command, the leader was often referred to as
Violence is a substantial problem that has attracted increased attention over the past decade. Many forms of violence are seen on a daily basis however; street gang violence has grown to become the most pervasive form. Street gangs refer to groups of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities in a particular area. According to data presented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there are at least 30,000 street gangs with 800,000 members that have an impact on 2,500 communities all over the United States. A street gang that has greatly impacted these communities is the Bloods. The Bloods were first noted in Los Angeles in the late 1960's, however over the years have spread their ideology to various other major cities along the West and East coast.
With an increase in violence in the New York City metropolitan area, the Bloods began developing new sections on the East coast. In July of 1993, the Bloods philosophy spread to section C-73 at the New York City Department of Correction facility on Riker's Island. The Bloods’ original godfathers, O.G. Mack (Omar Portee) and Deadeye (Leonard McKenzie) began uniting various African-American prisoners to create the section now referred to as the United Blood Nation, or East Coast Bloods. This section is completely separate and unaffiliated from the West Coast Bloods in that they do not have similar rivalries. At the time however, the gang was created in order to compete with the growing Hispanic gangs, such as Latin Kings and the Netas, who were the most prevalent and dominant group in the prison system (Valentine, 1995).
In order to prevail over the other organized gangs, the United Blood Nation needed to develop a strict hierarchal organizational structure. The United Blood Nation doesn’t have a central governing authority, but has key structural roles. For instance, the first in command, the leader was often referred to as