Street gangs first emerged in Montréal at the end of the 1980s. Since then, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has developed special units to take action against this social phenomenon, which is a reality in all major cities in North America.

This page explains what street gangs are, since not all street gangs are criminalized to the same extent and not all groups of young people are really street gangs.

Definition

A street gang is a more or less structured group of teenagers or young adults who use group intimidation and violence to carry out criminal acts in order to gain power and status and/or control certain lucrative activities.

Under this general definition, validated in 1991 by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada and jointly updated with the Quebec Ministry of Public Security in 2003, we find three different gang profiles.

Three gang profiles

Belonging to a group is an integral part of growing up for teenagers. Committing misdemeanours (shoplifting, graffiti) may also be part of this stage of their lives.

As violence and crime begin to take over a group's identity, however, that group gets increasingly closer to the profile of a street gang.

1. Teen gang

• Unstructured group of teenagers who commit minor infractions.
• Prevention and awareness are the preferred intervention measures for these packs of teens.

2. Emerging gang

• Group of individuals, usually teenagers, who model themselves on major gangs.
• Their activities are less structured and more improvised: emerging gangs focus on acquiring and defending a territory.
• The gang members make use of taxing (HYPERLIEN TAXAGE), make threats and commit armed assaults in the areas around certain public places. They are the first choice of recruits for major street gangs.
• The best intervention for this type of gang is prevention and suppression.

3. Major gang

• Group of adults or teenagers who commit high-level crimes with targeted violence.
• For this type of gang, suppression is the only viable type of intervention.

Who are they ?

Street gangs are constantly forming and re-forming. The length of time an individual member belongs to a gang may be very short.

The SPVM believes there are about 20 major gangs within the territory of Montréal, divided in two distinct groups (the Red and the Blues), numbering between about 300 and 500 members.

99% of all young people are not criminals. For this reason, the SPVM dedicates extensive efforts to prevention among youth and support for their parents.

Where are they ?

The street gangs are scattered around the island and constantly moving from one place to another.

Thanks to teams made up of investigators, patrollers, and community relations officers in every borough on the island of Montréal, the SPVM is able to track them and take action at any time.

What do they do ?

Unlike organized crime groups, street gangs are known for being unpredictable and unstructured. They may commit acts of violence on a moment's impulse, with no objective of financial gain.

Street gangs look for the opportunity to acquire territory and make money quickly.

Their activities largely involve drug and weapons trafficking, juvenile prostitution, theft, loan-sharking, extortion and fencing stolen goods.