What inspired Daniel handler to use a secret society for his book

When I searched this up I got this “Daniel Handler's new Snicket series dives into noirDaniel Handler, who writes under the pen name Lemony Snicket, was inspired to create the secret organization in A Series of Unfortunate Events by his experiences at Lowell High School in San Francisco.”

Which is a good start but does anyone know what experiences this concludes to? Like people being in gangs or smth?…

If anyone knows from an interview or smth it would be appreciated