Pagan and Hawthorne were members and began selling narcotics in 20, respectively. Many drill rappers are affiliated with Chicago gangs.The Imperial Insane Vice Lords (Double-Is) street gang controlled the “Keystone Drug Market” in Chicago. “Drill rap glorifies the Chicago gangster life,” the book reads, “with lyrics about guns, drugs, and murder. The musical form often merges with social media to create a cauldron of conflict, in which derogatory lyrics get posted to platforms like Facebook. “That’s how these rivals escalate in real time.”ĭiaz said that, although evidence gleaned from Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and other social media can be hard to use in court, law enforcement officials nonetheless monitor those platforms for during intelligence gathering.Īnother major difference between the old super gangs and the newer factions is the influence of “drill rap,” a form of hip-hop that originated in Chicago that emphasizes criminal culture, law enforcement officials say. “It’s becoming more and more common for gang members to go into another gang’s neighborhood or the area they hang out and Snapchat photographs of them hanging out in their rivals’ hoods,” Diaz said. Digital taunting has, to an extent, replaced tagging buildings in rival gang territory with gang signs. Just as crime has evolved for gangs, he said, so too has the way they express their hostility for their rivals. Dennis Diaz, a detective with the police department in Maywood, where the Vice Lords have a growing presence, said that gangs “are adjusting their methods to law enforcement and we have to adjust our methods to them.” The commission explains that the Vice Lord Nation “has been involved in the sale of narcotics (with a street tax applied to independent dealers), robbery, auto theft, theft and arson.” The gang also delves in more sophisticated crimes, including “mortgage fraud, credit card fraud, and money laundering.”

“The use of social media and the instant accessibility for gangs to insult their rivals is believed by law enforcement to be a main catalyst for the violence plaguing Chicago’s south and west sides.” “Gangs ‘cyber-bang’ on various social media platforms by insulting their opposition, praising their gang and fallen members, and selling illicit drugs,” according to the book. The commission notes that the gangs’ online presence is the most “noticeable difference” between the large gangs and less organized factions.

That organized and structured gang configuration, which was held up by leaders such as Jeff Fort, David Barksdale and Larry Hoover, broke down after the most of city’s public housing high-rises were razed, and neighborhoods across the city gentrified and longstanding boundary lines dissolved. In the 1970s, “the main African-Americans, Latin, and Caucasian gangs were divided into two main groups: People and Folks,” the book states.

“Some examples: Cicero Insane Vice Lords, Imperial Insane Vice Lords, Mafia Insane Vice Lords, Renegade Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords, Undertake Vice Lords, and the Unknown Vice Lords.”

“The Vice Lord Nation actually includes many gangs in addition to the original Conservative Vice Lords faction, and they all use the title ‘Vice Lord’ to describe themselves,” the commission writes. According to the commission, the 11th and 15th police districts had 1,640 and 2,110 known gang members, respectively. The commission’s report shows that various factions of the Vice Lord Nation dominates the West Side communities of Austin, North Lawndale and West Garfield Park.

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