GROUP GANGS AND OFFENSES

The most frequent victims of crime are adolescents.

Most offenses involve more than one adolescent perpetrator.

YPs form an informal group that becomes involved in committing criminal acts, with one or more YPs taking a leadership role and others feeling pressured to participate. This has resulted, eg, swarming, a group attacking an individual.

The term gang does not have a precise legal or sociological definition, but it is used to describe a group of adolescents or young adults who regularly engage in criminal activity, often together.

Some gangs form along ethnic lines.

Typically, low income YPs tend to form gangs.

Disaffected middle-class youths also form gangs that engage in criminal and violent acts.

Abuse of drugs and alcohol is common among gangs.

Popular culture tends to glorify gangs. The breakdown of family units may make gangs a more significant source of emotional support and protection for greater number of adolescents than in the past.

School gangs: students in schools are intimidated by the presence of loosely organized groups whose members are prepared to use threats and violence to extort money or gain other advantages.

The street gang phenomenon is the result of an endemic and unrelenting cycle of poverty, racism, family breakdown, and unemployment.

Crime participation vs. Participation in a criminal organization

Crime participation:

• Aiding and abetting: Anyone that helps or encourages another person to commit a crime is a party.

· Accessory before the fact: a person advises, recommends, hires, procures, instigates, persuades, solicits and incites. A counselor is a party to the offense even if the crime is committed in a way different from what was suggested. Counseling is an offense. So an offense is committed even if the counseled offence is not committed.

· Accessory after the fact: W/knowledge of P’s crime, he intentionally assists the Principal to escape, avoid arrest, trial, conviction, etc. To help someone who has committed an offense to escape. 3 requirements: (i) knowledge that the other person has been a party to an offense, (ii) he must help the principal to escape, and (iii) the assistance must have been given with the intention of helping a criminal escape. It is possible for the principal not to be convicted and the accessory may still be liable (death, minor, not found, etc.).

Participation in a criminal organization: it is a criminal offense under section 467.1 of the Criminal Code. It is defined as any group consisting of five or more persons, whether formally or informally organized, having as one of its primary activities the commission of an offense punishable for an adult by a sentence of 5 years or more, and any member of which engage in the commission of a series of such offenses.

For adults, this implies a consecutive sentence. For YPs, this is an aggravating factor.

Swarming

The word "swarm" was first used as a verb in 1380 AD to refer to bees "leaving a hive to start another." Since then, the definition has come a long way, and now refers to a type of group assault that is becoming more and more commonplace. Although to date there is no legal definition or legislation concerning this particular type of crime, legal experts have identified three common elements of swarmings. They are: (1) actions by a group, (2) against one or several individuals, (3) that incorporate violence, harassment, intimidation and/or the potential for overwhelming force or pressure.

Experts warn that young people may be especially susceptible to participating in swarmings because they have a tendency to identify strongly with their peer group, and are less able to withstand the so-called pack mentality that often takes over when a group attacks. As well, since the youth are sharing responsibility for any heinous acts committed, it makes it easier to carry them out. Essentially, the teens lose a sense of who they are.

There is also evidence to suggest that the larger the crowd that gathers to watch a swarming, the more aggressive the offenders will become. This may make large schools with hundreds of students perfect breeding grounds for group violence.

Swarmings first appeared in Canada in the late 1980s with the rise of youth gangs/groups in major urban centres. The proliferation of gangs during the 1990s across Canada led to increased reporting of gang/group violence. However, the first case to focus national attention on group violence occurred in 1997, when 14-year-old Reena Virk was beaten and drowned by a group of youth in a Victoria suburb. Six teenage girls were convicted of assault-related charges in connection with the beating. One other teen was convicted of second-degree murder and another awaits her third trial for second-degree murder.

One of the interesting elements of this case was that none of the teens involved claimed gang affiliation. The public realized that swarmings could occur outside of a gang structure. In fact, today, many swarmings are now spontaneous, unorganized or loosely organized. They can happen on streets and buses. Sometimes racism, prejudice or hate of the victim and the group to which he or she belongs are motivating factors. Other times, no motivation for the attack seems to exist at all.

It's difficult to determine the frequency with which swarmings are happening, because statistics for violent crime in Canada are collected on the basis of age, gender and the crime committed, rather than on group involvement. However, the Metro Toronto police reported an average of 6.7 swarmings a day in Toronto in 1999.

In the U.S., there has been wider statistical analysis of group assaults. One American finding from 1997 that stands out is that most (46.4 per cent) group crimes were committed by offenders between the ages of 12 and 20, as well as a fair amount (10.6 per cent) by those aged 21-29. The Canadian experience would seem to mirror these numbers.

Two well-known cases that galvanized public outcry on group violence both involved victims and attackers who were youth. In June 1999, Jonathan Wamback, 15, was brutally beaten by teens in a park in Newmarket, Ont. He spent three months in a coma and suffered permanent brain damage. His parents have gone on to champion tougher laws for youth offenders. In November of the same year, another 15-year-old boy, Dmitri (Matti) Baranovski, was kicked and beaten after he and his friends were confronted by a group of teenagers who wanted cigarettes and money. He died of his injuries in hospital the next day.

Despite the absence of statistical evidence in Canada, some courts have taken judicial notice of increased incidents of swarmings. For instance, in R. vs. J.M., the B.C. provincial court found in 1995 that "this type of 'gang mentality' on public transport or at multi or single transit exchanges such as sky train stations is becoming so common it is frightening. One only has to sit in these courts but for a short time to see this offence on a regular basis."

Taxing

"Taxing" is a new term that is being used more frequently to describe teen swarmings involving robbery. Teens are surrounded by a group of other teens and intimidated into giving up money or valuables. A recent survey for Quebec’s Public Security Department indicated that more than half the elementary and secondary students in the province have been affected by taxing.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/crime/youthcrime.html