Gangs in Chicago today*

Here is a very rough map of the present areas the Chicago Police consider to be the home areas of gangs.

The largest areas are those of the Black Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, and Vice Lords.

Notice the marked concentration of gangs on the west and particularly the south side. Gentrification on the north and near west sides and the tearing down of the housing projects are disrupting traditional gang areas with unknown consequences.

Clearly this distribution of gangs is quite different from that of Thrasher in the 1920s or the more centered gang activity of the 1960s.

There are two important caveats when viewing this map. First it comes from Police data, and represents police ideas of where gangs are located which may be quite different than where gangs or street organizations are.

Second, specific gang areas may not be exact due to difficulties in converting police into neighborhood maps.

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