Taxus Baccata

== United Kingdom ==

During the 1950s, the British Government encouraged immigration to the country to fill existing job vacancies. Within the [[Caribbean]] community, new arrivals from [[Jamaica]] were sometimes referred to as "Yardies" due to reference of Jamaica as "back a yard". A large influx of inner city Jamaican immigration to Britain during the 1980s led to the rise of gang violence or behaviour on the part of Jamaicans which became known in wider [[British society]] as "Yardie culture" and the participants "Yardies". The terms "Yardie gang" or "Yardie gun violence" were largely used by the British media to describe violent crimes in [[London]]'s [[Black British |black community]]. The gangs in London are specifically known to have occupied and operated in their infamous grounds of [[Brixton]], [[Harlesden]], and [[Notting Hill]].<ref name="Wright2013">{{cite book|author=Alan Wright|title=Organised Crime|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=7LWDR0BuafAC&pg=PT211|date=17 June 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-01890-1|pages=211–}}</ref>

Jamaican-born British writer [[Victor Headley]] wrote a bestselling 1992 novel entitled ''[[Yardie (novel)|Yardie]]''.

== Criminal activity ==

Yardie gangs are notorious for their involvement in [[gun crime]] and the [[illegal drug trade]], notably [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] and [[crack cocaine]] in the [[United Kingdom]].{{cn|date=November 2014}} In 1993, Yardies were blamed for the murder of Police Constable Patrick Dunne, shot dead while patrolling in [[Clapham]].<ref name="Arnold2012">{{cite book|author=Catharine Arnold|title=Underworld London: Crime and Punishment in the Capital City|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qa9gH3hdoYEC&pg=PT407|date=5 July 2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-85720-117-1|pages=407–}}</ref>

[[United Kingdom|British]] police are hesitant to categorise Yardie gangs as organised crime, since there appears to be no real structure or central leadership; gang affiliations can be described as loose at best.{{cn|date=November 2014}} Neither have Yardies made any attempts at setting up fronts for their illegal activities, nor any serious attempts to corrupt and infiltrate law enforcement organisations.{{cn|date=November 2014}} Academics have noted a tendency to over-label black British crime as "Yardie"-related due to stereotype and social narrative.<ref name="FijnautPaoli2007">{{cite book|author1=Cyrille Fijnaut|author2=Letizia Paoli|title=Organised Crime in Europe: Concepts, Patterns and Control Policies in the European Union and Beyond|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-XtKAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA428|date=21 January 2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-2765-9|pages=428–}}</ref>

A number of operations to combat Yardie and black gun crime have been set up, notably [[Operation Trident (Metropolitan Police)|Operation Trident]] in the [[London]] area.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/398197.stm "Police tackle London's Yardies"], BBC News, 20 July 1999.</ref> Yardie (or imitator) gangs also appear to be active in [[Bristol]], [[Birmingham]], [[Aberdeen]], [[Edinburgh]] and [[Nottingham]] but to a far lesser extent.

Some maintain that the supposed reach and influence in communities of these "Yardies" is a myth. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/371604.stm</ref>

== References==

{{Reflist}}

* [http://yowlink.com Yawdie Online World - Who is a "Yawdie"]

* [http://www.londonstreetgangs.com London Street Gangs]

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/371604.stm BBC News - Who are the Yardies?]

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2220907.stm BBC News - No respect; the grim culture of Yardie violence]

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/398197.stm BBC News - Police tackle London's Yardies]

{{Organized crime groups in America}}

[[Category:Yardies| ]]

[[Category:London street gangs]]

[[Category:Gangs in England]]

[[Category:Modern street gangs]]

[[Category:Crime in Jamaica]]

[[az:Triada]]