Jamaican Posse

Jamaican Posses, often refered to simply as Posses, are a loose coalition of gangs, based predominantly in the New York City area and Toronto, Ontario, first being involved in drugs and gun-running in the early 1980s. It is widely claimed that the Jamaican Posses are affiliated with Jamaican political parties, such as the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party.

The JLP posses dominate the west and south of Kingston and other smaller towns and the PNP posses are mainly found in the eastern and central side and there are a few that state they are not allied to either Political party. These are often in the Northern slums of downtown Kingston.

In the United Kingdom, these Jamaican gangsters would be referred to as Yardies in reference to people who lived in "government yards" in the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie which hit Jamaica in 1951. They are strongly populated in London and are specifically known to have occupied and operate in their infamous grounds of Brixton, Harlesden, Hackney and Tottenham.

Violence

Jamaican Posse members are known for gun battles with the police and drive-by shootings in disputes with rival gangs over drug turf. Posse members are known for ritualized killings of members who "rip off" profits on drugs. The killing ritual usually involves the shooting of the individual five times; four to the chest and one to the head. Other ritual violent acts have included the use of laundry irons, chainsaws, hammer and nails, and butcher's knives.^{[citation needed]}

Posse members have little regard for public safety or human life. As part of their code, extreme violence is directed at anyone they feel has disrespected them or is in their way. Once in prison, however, their violence is savage but not regular.^[1] The alleged head of the One Order Gang, Andrew 'Bun Man' Hope, was murdered in Spanish Town on February 8, 2006 which sparked a riot the following day.

Political alignment

There are elements within the Jamaican security forces who tend to ally themselves with either political party.

JLP Posses

• Shower Massive (Tivoli Garden)
• Milk lane crew
• Rema Sheme Crew
• Renkers Posse (defunct)
• Southside
• One Order Gang (Uptown, Spanish Town)
• Precinct 13
• Banton Po
• Untouchables (defunct)
• Montego Bay Posse
• Bull Bay Crew/ Bull Pen

PNP Posses

• Spanglers Posse (Matthews Lane)
• Jungle Posse
• Gully Posse (Cassava Piece)
• Mountain View Posse
• Clansman gang (Spanish Town)
• Black Roses Crew (Waltham Park Road)
• Tel Aviv Posse
• Dog Posse
• Cuban Posse
• Brown Posse
• Jae Bone
• Trench Town Crew
• Maxfield Crew
• British Link Up Crew
• Gaza Strip Gang (Craig Town)
• Nanny-Ville crew
• Joe Ben Bow Gang
• Rock Fort Posse
• Death Row Posse (Mckoy Lane)
• Water House Posse
• Bull Bay Massive

Unaligned posses

There are more and more major posses which disclaim their political affiliations because of the enormous power they possess on their own. Some posses were so strong from the beginning that they never had a political affiliation to begin with. Heres a partial list of posses that don't have political ties:^{[citation needed]}

• Jamaican Mafia Clanz(a.k.a. JMC)
• Dunkerk Boys Massive
• Truman Arms Posse
• 8 Ball Posse
• The Gucci Gang
• 98 Posse
• Du Rag Posse (a.k.a. The Dus)
• Much Love Crew
• Lock City Crew
• Kick-Off Head Crew
• High Expectations Clique (2008-Present)
• Hype Crew
• Back 2 Back Gang
• One Don- View, Mili, Warm
• Rat Back Crew (Maxfield Avenue)
• Spoilers Gang (Tel Aviv)
• Jump Up Crew
• Grass City Snake Crew
• Trenchtown Shottas Posse
• Buck Down Crew
• Mavpanaughts
• Yardie Clique
• Fatherless Crew from Rema
• Garrison Ink gang (Manley Meadows)
• Stone Crushers
• Show Pow

This gang has been aligned to both PNP and JLP at different times, and it is said that they have taken part in more than 2000 murders since the 1980s (authorities in the UK have arrested/deported 200+ members of these last three posses in 2003 to 2006 and they have been left in disarray).

Some of these posses have broken away from bigger posses and they are known as Splinter crews or "copycat gangs". They are made up of a good amount of Jamaican born immigrants but most of them are Homeboys (UK, US, Canadian born blacks, whites, Chinese, African,Spanish, and East Indians). They tend not to be linked much with the actual island of Jamaica itself, but rather with the drug trade in their locality (in either the US, UK or Canada). They still operate like the other Jamaican posses and structure themselves on the three tier system. They tend to be very loosely knit and wildly violent due to their heavy use of A class drugs and/or hunger for money. There are probably thousands of these small indie cells in operation.

List of Kingston Garrison areas

• Cassia Park(Gully)
• Trench Town (DownTown)
• Cockburn Pen (Westside)
• Tivoli Gardens (Westside)
• Waterhouse (Far Westside)
• Riverton City (Far Westside)
• Payne Land (Westside)
• Rose Town (Westside
• Southside (SC)
• Denham Town (Westside)
• Wilton Gardens (Rema) DownTown
• Hunts Bay (Far Westside)
• Washington Gardens (Far Westside)
• Olympic Gardens (westside),
• Dunkirk (Eastside),
• August Town (Mona),
• Papine (Mona),
• Nannyville (Eastside),
• Backbush (Eastside),
• Jaques Road (Eastside),
• Arnett Gardens (Jungle) (DownTown),
• Hannah Town (DownTown),
• Vineyard Town (Eastside),
• Rollington Town (Eastside),
• Allman Town (DownTown),
• Rae Town (SC),
• McGregor Gully (Westside),
• Mountain View(eastside)
• Rockfort(eastside)
• Shooters Hill(eastside)
• Jarett Lane (eastside)
• Tel Aviv
• Tower Hill (Westside)
• Bull Bay(eastside)
• Fire House
• Maverly/Hughenden
• Harbour View(eastside)

List of Spanish Town garrison areas

• Rivoli,
• Africa,
• Lime Tree Grove,
• De La Vega City,
• Fish Ground,
• Manchester Lane,
• Lakes Pen.
• St Johns Road
• Homestead
• Tawes Pen
• Tawes Meadows
• William Street
• Captureland

References

1. ^ Born Fi Dead By: Laurie Gunst ISBN 978-0805046984

External links

• Connecticut Gang Activities Group article
• Organized Crime in New Jersey
• The Mafia in New Jersey - Afro-lineal Organized Crime - Jamaicans

Further reading

• Born Fi' Dead : A Journey Through The Jamaican Posse Underworld by Laurie Gunst
• Shower Posse: The Most Notorious Jamaican Crime Organization by Duane Blake