[BitD] More questions from a new'ish GM

A few months ago, I posted a recap of my first session of BitD. You can read it here if you want, although it isn't very relevant for this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/bladesinthedark/comments/1idq2k8/bitd_just_finished_my_first_game_would_appreciate/ (I didn't reply to one of the commenters, but Reddit wouldn't allow me to. I'm very sorry about that!)

We played the second session about a month ago, and will be playing a new session soon. So I have a few questions from that one and into the next.

1. A player (Leech) wants a set of fine lockpicks. I suggested a long term project, they accepted it (I think 4 sections), and they completed it that session. I don't remember how much was spent on it, but that is fine. Now, the question is this: Could that leech just have used a fine lockpick from the lurk in the group, who can just always bring it along, or does that "break" the logic in the game? Since the group is currently tier 0, effectively this meas that the player have lockpics that function as tier 1. If they increase the group tier, does that mean the lockpics are still fine, meaning work on tier 2, or is it a set of tier 1 lockpicks, and they would need to craft tier 2 lockpicks when they gain a tier?

2. It seems like there is a lack of small gangs in the book. Is this on purpose? Are there any other gangs in the city? I don't mind making those up, but at the same time, I don't want to fill the city with small gangs, if the intention is that you need some serious work until you can start beating other gangs. I don't seem to find the answer anywhere.

3. The players talked about getting some claims. They are shadows, thinking about getting a loyal fence. How would this work in practice? As I understand this, it is just like any other score. They do engagement, roll a few rolls and end up winning (or losing) depending on what happens. They need to take it from SOMEONE, because everything is claimed already. But how will a group of shadows take something from someone else? Let's say there is a small time gang who controls a fence. How can they setup a situation where their "shadowing" can win the fence over? Maybe I'm too hard focused on them ONLY doing shadow-style missions, where this could be done more like a bravo mission where they go in and "convinces" the fence to better start paying them instead of the former. This causes trouble, and we go from there. Or should I focus on only providing "shadow style" scores for them?

I think this is it for now. I'm really enjoying this game, and I can't wait to play more of it.