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Violence attributed to gangs is on the rise throughout the
United
States
.
Maryland
alone has more than two hundred gangs and far more than a thousand gang
members. Until some recent, highly publicized murders and assaults in the
Washington,
D.C., suburbs, little local attention had been
paid to gangs and their criminal activities.
Information for this website about gangs in
Maryland
was gathered through surveys sent to every police chief and sheriff in the
state and through interviews with gang investigators in
Maryland
counties and cities. Several
Maryland
jurisdictions assign detectives to gather gang intelligence, however, most do
not track gang-related crime and, consequently, there are few reliable
statistics regarding the extent of gang-related crime in
Maryland
.
This website primarily focuses on youth gangs. Youth gangs in
Maryland
generally fall within two categories:
-
Local,
neighborhood gangs that have no links or identification with any
national gang. Given the lack of good data, it is hard to determine with
certainty, but these local gangs probably represent the majority of gangs in
Maryland
.
-
Locally operated gangs
with national gang affiliation. These gangs identify with national
gangs in terms of name, colors, tattoos, clothing, and graffiti. However, the
local sets, or crews, are independent, locally operated gangs having a minimal
link with any national organization. There are three such gangs,
Bloods, Crips, and
MS-13 that have a
presence in several jurisdictions in
Maryland
.
While
the primary focus of this website is youth gangs, information is also included
about Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMG). Unlike street gangs that attract members
in their young teens into the mid-twenties, Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs require
that one own a motorcycle and members are normally in their twenties and older.
The main OMGs in
Maryland
are the Hell’s Angels and the Pagans.
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