What is a ‘gang’? Whilst the disciplines of Criminology and Sociology have long grappled with this question, the answer is increasingly of no relevance to criminal justice policies that claim to address the problem of violent crime across England and Wales. Within the context of contemporary policing and law enforcement, the ‘gang’ has evolved as a ‘transcendental signifier’ (Alexander 2008) and today serves to legitimise intrusive and harmful policing practices as part of a gang-industry (Williams 2014). Of particular concern to this session, a cursory glance at police gang databases reveals that those who are ‘suspected’ by the police as ‘gang members’, associated to gangs or are ‘at risk’ of gang violence are from minoritised groups and particular black young men. In this session, we explore the factors which have given rise to the racialised construction of the ‘gang’ and consider the harms experienced and endured by those who are policed with suspicion.

• Alexander, Claire. (2008). (Re)thinking 'Gangs'. Runnymede Perspectives.

• Scott, Stafford. (2018)The War on Gangs or a Racialised War on Working Class Black Youth. London: The Monitoring Group.

1. Consider the multiple ways in which the gang label is (mis)used in contemporary policing and law enforcement practice.