KEY POINTS:
Young gang members are creating profiles on the internet, sparking fears gangs are using websites for recruitment.
Social networking website bebo.com has a large network of gang members from the Bloods and the Mongrel mob, The Press reported today.
Victoria University expert on violent offending Dr Devon Polaschek said the internet was a way for gangs to contact youths who may not have been accessible otherwise.
"They are really quite sophisticated, there's no shortage of intelligence there," he told the newspaper.
Youths were important to gangs to do their "dirty work", and if they did not have a criminal record they received shorter prison sentences, Dr Polaschek said.
The bebo gang sites were all youth-oriented, with communication written in a kind of American street-talk blended with text message speak.
The websites showed the Bloods gang may be a stepping stone to the Mongrel Mob.
Younger users professed to being members of the Bloods but as the users age increased Mongrel Mob insignia became present.
- NZPA
