Yardie

Yardies

Territory	Jamaica, United States, Canada, United Kingdom

Yardie (or Yawdie) is a term derived from the Jamaican patois for home or "yard". Persons of Jamaican origin thus came to be known as Yardies, particularly within the Caribbean expatriate community outside Jamaica.

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 community. The gangs in London are specifically known to have occupied and operated in their infamous grounds of Brixton, Harlesden, and Notting Hill.

Jamaican-born British writer Victor Headley wrote a bestselling 1992 novel entitled Yardie.

Criminal activity

Yardie gangs are notorious for their involvement in gun crime and the illegal drug trade, notably marijuana and crack cocaine in the United Kingdom. In 1993, Yardies were blamed for the murder of Police Constable Patrick Dunne, shot dead while patrolling in Clapham.

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. 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. Academics have noted a tendency to over-label black British crime as "Yardie"-related due to stereotype and social narrative.

A number of operations to combat Yardie and black gun crime have been set up, notably Operation Trident in the London area. 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 communties of these "Yardies" is a myth.

References

• Yawdie Online World - Who is a "Yawdie"
• London Street Gangs
• BBC News - Who are the Yardies?
• BBC News - No respect; the grim culture of Yardie violence
• BBC News - Police tackle London's Yardies