A gang is just when criminals band together to protect each other.
I think we are debating definitions here.
In CT most of the “gangs” are very disorganized/fragmented—in fact that is the cause of most of the shootings in urban areas—turf wars.
“There is no honor among thieves.”
Now you’re backing off again and going to bad movie land. Yes gangs are when criminals band together. But criminals, banded together or not, don’t feel welcome in a maintained neighborhood. PEOPLE need to maintain the neighborhood, that keeps both organized and unorganized criminals out.
One of the first things that happen when a gang is contemplating a neighborhood is they’ll tag it. Then they pay attention to what happens. If the tags stay untouched for weeks they know that neither the people nor another gang care, free territory. If the tags get blacked out another gang is there, so they have to decide if they want to fight for it. If the tags get painted over neatly and made to look like there never was a tag they know the people still care, they move on.
It’s not about honor among thieves. It’s about if the PEOPLE that live there give a crap. If they do the neighborhood will be maintained, and the criminals will move to a soft target.
That is REALITY. Has been forever. Whitechapel was a nice neighborhood, then it got run down, then it became bad, then Jack the Ripper showed up. That is ALWAYS the cycle. Gangs don’t drag it down, the residents stop keeping it up.