Gordon

Gordon Freedom Fighters (GFF) was an infamous local gang that caused a lot of trouble on the North Shore, Northern Beaches and sometimes Ryde/Macquarie Park area back in the late 1990s and early 2000’s. This gang was notorious enough to be named in a Parliamentary committee:

☀"I am not sure exactly what you mean. The use of the term `triads' is a common enough term and it is used around the world. There are those types of gangs. If you talk about Asian gangs, you might have Big Circle, or Singh—one of those type of gangs. People will often take on their own name. Equally, if you go to Punchbowl, you will have a group called the Telopea Street Boys, who are relevant to one particular group. Within other areas of Sydney, you will find a group who called themselves the **Gordon Freedom Fighters**, because they have taken up their suburb name. Putting that aside, if we are talking about crime, if there is a general description that is valuable then it should be used."

☀https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:committees/commrep/5867/0016

During the 90's (when Sydney’s gang scene was peaking), some established gangs in the west, Hornsby and Chatswood tried to claim Gordon as their own as it was seen as a frontier for selling drugs, and a means of market penetration in Upper North Shore's drug market due to the following reasons:

**1. Supply:** Gordon is surrounded by quiet, bushy, affluent residential areas which is ideal for grow houses (cultivation of cannabis, and was easily accessible from the west via Ryde Road.

**2. Demand:** Gordon is in the middle of Hornsby and Chatswood, at a transportation artery. with a bus interchange, with plenty of foot traffic from the abundance of shops and fast food joints. This meant Gordon was full of potential customers who were the ideal type: teenagers, who had plenty of cash to spend on drugs but easily manipulated into paying more for some shitty weed (most private school kids aren't street smart).

Not long after, local teens banded up to compete against these “invaders”, and formed a gang (hence the name Freedom Fighters) to make quick cash in their own suburb. Although not as large-scale or organised as gangs in the west, the GFF were able to engage in low level drug dealing to local youths. As its influence in the Upper North Shore grew, the gang began trying to expand to other neighbouring areas, mainly Hornsby and Northern Beaches, and encountered rivals, notably the HB Crew (No. 10 in the article) https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lawless-thugs-copy-meyham-from-america/news-story/efb952787fac58e18aad21e82cb7c7af?sv=9a5a1681e9141842dedf227b9c0802c1,

and gangs in the Northern Beaches (which peaked during the 90s, especially in Dee Why due to the influx of public housing), which GFF notably attacked.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2005/12/19/trouble-at-the-beach-its-not-only-cronulla/

During the day GFF members were notorious for loitering in front of Gordon Maccas and Gordon Station intimidating/picking fights with passerbys or looking for potential customers, or robbing kids at knifepoint in nearby alleyways. At night, members would congregate at the local park to do drugs or drink up, and some of the older members would go to local pubs to start fights.

**Contrary to popular belief, most of the founding members of GFF were not from affluent backgrounds, and attended local public schools (some lived in housing commissions), but private school students from affluent families later joined en-masse when either pocket money or street cred were lacking - hence the hilarious stereotype of private school wannabe gangsters which influenced the reputation of GFF from harmful to harmless. (This marked the decline of GFF).**

During the mid 2000's, Gang activity in Gordon began to decline as many members moved out of the area or lifestyle and became tradies, but the few that remained either became drug addicts or joined more established gangs (such as G-40). There was a breakaway cell called the Little Brothers Crew (LBC), which was created by some of the younger GFF members, but this didn't last for that long as they formed a coalition with other small North Shore crews around 2006 to form the KB (Killara Boys) who pursued similar activities as the GFF and LBC, just under a different brand.

Since the 2010’s, the local council got rid of most loitering spots, cleaned up graffiti and local police actively tried to put a stop on juvenile delinquency, yet this culture is still very much alive here with crimes still not uncommon, which is not surprising because kids look up to these figures and the cycle repeats.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/four-people-charged-over-alleged-kidnap-assault-on-teenager-in-gordon/news-story/49aa4e969a6924db6734ca87399beb8f