Ross Kemp on Gangs Box Set - out now
All around the world, millions of people are members of street gangs. Clubbing together in groups they fight, stab, shoot, rob, rape and murder anyone outside of the fold. In his BAFTA award winning documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs which has just been released on DVD, the hard-man of EastEnders travels round the world in an attempt to infiltrate these criminal gangs and discover who they are, what makes them tick and what the law is doing to curb their criminal activity. In his quest he talks to gang members, locals who have been affected by gang violence, and the authorities who are attempting to combat the problem.
Starting off in El Salvador, where earthquakes, volcanoes and gun war terrify the population, Ross meets members of the MS13, considered by the US to be “the most dangerous gang in the world”, including those who cannot walk to the end of their street without running the risk of being shot down and killed. Moving on to Pollsmoor High Security Prison in Cape Town, South Africa, he learns the fearsome power of the inmates who subject new arrivals to violent attacks and gang rape as part of their brutal initiations. During the course of his harrowing journey, the actor cum journalist joins an elite police riot squad in Poland as they escort a notoriously violent Neo-Nazi football hooligan, meets families in St Louis facing daily intimidation from gang members as well as a man trying to leave his gangster lifestyle behind him, and is set on fire as part of the initiation rites for a Neo-Nazi group from Moscow.
Kemp certainly proves his hard-man credentials, running with the armed police in San Salvador, for example, and tracking down the Columbian assassins who used to work for Pablo Escobar and now fight in right-wing paramilitary death squads. At the same time, Kemp likes to stay good humoured and isn’t beyond laughing at himself. More than once he points out the comments that a bald, white man must look pretty out of place in the predominantly black neighbourhoods of St Louis. He also poses questions that most of us might only dare ask with a gun to our head, such as whether, given his habit of sleeping with new inmates, the general of the Numbers gang in Pollsmoor High Security Prison was in fact gay. He’s not a great interviewer, but comes across as compassionate and interested in all the people he meets, from mothers who have lost their sons to gang warfare to gun-brandishing Neo-Nazis.
Whilst this fascinating documentary series may not give you a comprehensive understanding of the why and wherefore of gang violence, what Ross Kemp does really well is to relate the stories of individuals who have been affected by gangs, often fatally.
