18th Street Gang in Los Angeles County | Shatto Park | Columbia Lil Cycos | Alsace | Red Shield | South Central | Smiley Dr | Rimpau | 106th | Grand View | StreetGangs.Com By Alex Alonso Staff Writer Streetgangs updated December 22, 2002 updated June 25, 2008 “The spread of 18th Street’s violence is shown by 154 murders linked to the gang from 1985 to 1995. This only plots homicides within Los Angeles where the killings have been tied to the gang.” The killings on the map show 18th Street as both victims and assailants of murder and one can see a concentration west of the 110 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles, November 17-19, 1996. In Los Angeles the 18th Street gang is considered the largest gang in Los Angeles County but that label is very misleading.

Even though 18th Street are estimated to have approximately 15,000 members in Los Angeles County, they are actually a collection of approximately 20 separate individual autonomous gangs operating under the same label with separate barrios in the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, South Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Pico Union, Inglewood, and Cudahy. Some estimates of the 18th Street are as low as 8,000 members. The notoriety of the gang is based on four distinct barrios, three near downtown Los Angeles west of the Staple’s Center and the 110 Freeway, and one in the West Adams area. The individual factions can number from 50 to several hundred members and they are dispersed throughout the County, but their strong hold and their oldest barrio is located in the Pico Union (Grand View, Hoover clicks) area east of the Staples Center between the Harbor 110 Freeway (east) and Hoover Ave (west). Slightly to the north, are two other barrios in the Shatto Park and MacArthur Park (Colombia Lil Cycos click) areas.

There are also two significant size 18th Street Barrios in South LA, one between Vernon (north) and Slauson (south) along Vermont Avenue and the second one being between Florence (north) and 91st Street (south). One of the most infamous 18th Street neighborhoods would be in the West Adams (Smiley, Alsace, Lil Lowks) because member Catorina Gonzales was convicted for killing LAPD officer Filbert Cuesta in 1998, and more recently, member Pedro Espinoza was charged in the murder of High School star athlete Jamiel Shaw stemming from the conflict with the Bloods. The media often states that 18th Street is the largest gang in Los Angeles, but the largest single Hispanic gang in terms of turf size and membership would be one of 18th Street’s main rivals, the Florencia 13 gang that has a turf that stretches from Western (west) to Compton Avenues (east). Members of this gang were indicted by the Federal Government in a RICO case in 2007 on drug trafficking and murder charges.

Historical Background The 18th Street gang formed around 1965 in the Pico Union area when members of larger Westside Clanton 14th Street neighborhood decided to start a new click. Originally, 18th Street was a click of the bigger Clanton 14th Street neighborhood (First Hood) who had another neighborhood, Eastside Clanton that was split by the freeway construction of the early 1950s. As membership of Clanton grew, newer members who lived off of 18th Street decided to start Clanton 18th Street. Forming a new click of a gang can sometimes be a challenge, because some members may look at it as an action that does not unify but separates the neighborhood, and possibly creates division between members that will be forced to choose sides during a conflict. On the other hand, adding a click can expand the turf, bring in more members, and make the neighborhood appear to be stronger. There is usually a protocol to creating a new click and each neighborhood is different when it comes to that, but ultimately Clanton 14 core members did not approve of having Clanton 18.

One of the reasons why original Clanton members began to reject the 18th click, was because it was being led by a non Mexican-American, named Rocky Lee Glover (b. 1950 – ). The new click members had to make a decision between falling in line with Clanton 14 and the strict rule of Mexican-Americans only, or take a defiant position to start their own gang and create Varrio 18th Street. Some decided to stay with the more established Clanton identity, but Rocky Glover and a dozen other teens decided to just simply dropped the Clanton off their name and then became rivals against them. As the years progressed, Clanton lost most of their first westside hood in the Pico-Union area, and today that area is completely dominated by 18th Street and a few other gangs. Other early 18th Street members during the 1960s included Beto, Eddie Boy, Goofy, Indio, Penguin, Tank, Toro and Smiley who were initially Clanton members of the 1st hood that all decided to take their click into another direction.

Clanton did not disappear though as their neighborhood in Hollywood off Beverly has survived and their other Eastside neighborhood still exists in two areas. Most gangs today have clicks and there is usually little resistance from the rest of the gang when members want to start a new click, because there is a perceived benefit to the entire gang as outsiders will assume the gang is growing, and it provides a psychological edge against their rivals. Through a small act of defiance, one of the most well known gangs was born in Los Angeles. Because of its aggressive recruiting techniques of accepting members even if they were not Mexican-American, the name of this gang has caught on and has been copied and mimicked in several other cities and countries around the world. Contrary to popular belief, not all of the 18th Street neighborhoods operate in unison, know each other, or even get along. Global Reach: Real or Perceived? Since its inception, youth from every large city in the US, Canada, Mexico and countries in Central & South America America, Europe and most likely several other cities and countries have adapted the use of the name 18th Street.

Because of the wide spread popularity, the FBI has labeled this gang a transnational gang with global reach, but there is no evidence to support the existence of any such global network in which the 18th Street gang operates between cities or across national borders. Because of deportation, the gang culture of LA was introduced into Mexico and Central America , but transnational linkages in which the 18th Street gang operate have not been uncovered thus far. A study from 2007 found that international connections among Hispanic gangs like 18th Street and Mara Salvatrucha were over stated and that there were no signs of transnational coordination among gang members. Academic studies have also fell short from identifying these types of networks among Los Angeles based Hispanic gangs. Any suggestion that these gangs operate in this sophisticated manner has been considered propaganda from law enforcement and designed to stigmatize the gang and its members by exaggerating the extent to which the gang operates. Phrases like “ violent foreign-born gang members ” and “ their behavior is often deadly ” uses the fear card to gain public support for what ever law enforcement action is desired against the group.

For years the FBI has been telling us that there exists parallels between 18th Street and international crime but many of those linkages have been overstated and just because the federal government says that 18th Street possesses weapons of mass destruction does not necessarily mean that it is true. United States Senator Dianne Feinstein published a report in 2003 which erroneously stated that 80 percent of the 18th Street gang membership in California consists of illegal immigrants but according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department only about 10 percent of the gang membership in Los Angeles County are illegal citizens. Gang Injunctions The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has three gang injunctions against the 18th Street; two in the Rampart Division and one in the Southwest Division of the LAPD against the same faction that Catorino Gonzales and Pedro Espinoza were from. This specific 18th Street gang has several clicks including Alcase, Lil Lowks, and Smiley Drive. The Rampart injunctions were under review and temporarily halted in September of 1999 because of the Rampart corruption scandal that implicated several LAPD officers in criminal activity.

In 2002 these injunctions were refiled by the City Attorney’s Office and placed back into effect. Warring with Bloods Graffiti of the 18th Street gang from off the area of Hoover and 74th Street of South Los Angeles. Certain factions of 18th Street in South Los Angeles are feuding with Black gangs, specifically the Bloods. In 1994, members of the Rancho Park click that were hanging out on Gibraltar Avenue in the Jungles got into a conflict with members of the Black P Stones in the Jungles. The actual source of this conflict remains in question, but an argument ensued, and an 18th Street member was murdered, thus starting the cycle of violence between the Bloods and the 18th Street. The Black Stones from the City joined the conflict, then in 1996 the Rollin’ 20s Bloods got involved. More recently the Fruit Town Brims , the 4th Blood gang joined the conflict against the 18th Street.

This conflict followed the war between the Venice Shoreline Crips, a predominately black gang and the Hispanic Venice 13, that saw 17 murders in 9 months from 1993-94. Eventually, Venice 13 had the support of three other Hispanic gangs; Culver City Boys, Sotel, and Santa Monica 13, but that war was over by 1996. Los Angeles Crips and Bloods: Past and Present Los Angeles Crips and Bloods: Past and Present Julia Dunn Poverty & Prejudice: Gangs of All Colors "A gang is an interstitial group, originally formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict. It is characterized by the following types of behavior: meeting face to face, milling, movement through space as a unit, conflict, and planning. The result of this collective behavior is the development of tradition, unreflective internal structure, esprit de corps, solidarity, morale, group awareness, and attachment to a local territory" 1. African-American gangs began to emerge in the Los Angeles area during the 1920's, which was in concordance with the large black population in the city.

The gangs in existence at this particular time in history were not territorial. On the other hand, they were "loose associations, unorganized, and rarely violent" 2. Moreover, they did not employ monikers, graffiti, or various other gang characteristics to identify themselves. Gangs of the 1920's and 1930's were composed mainly of family members and friends, and they were involved only in very limited criminal actions. In fact, the main purpose of these criminal activities was to transmit a " 'tough guy' image and to provide an easy means of obtaining money" 3. During the 1920's and 1930's, gangs such as the "Goodlows," "Kelleys," "Magnificents," "Driver Brothers," "Boozies," and the "Bloodgetts" wandered the streets of Los Angeles. All of these gangs committed petty crimes in comparison to gangs today. The "Boozies," for example, consisted of brothers and their friends who engaged in prostitution, theft and forgery. As the 1940's approached, black gangs were beginning to grow in numbers.

Gangs including the "Purple Hearts," "31st Street," and "28th Street" emerged in this decade, and their activities were very similar to those of gangs in the 20's and 30's. In addition to theft, prostitution and forgery, gangs of the 1940's were involved in extortion and gambling. "They were very effective in forcing local merchants to pay the gangsters for protection, which amounted to paying the gang not to burn the merchant's store" 4. The 1950's witnessed the arrival of car "clubs," which included the "Low Riders," "Coasters," "Highwaymen," "Road Devils," "Businessmen," "Gladiators," "Slausons," "Rebel Rousers," "Huns," "Watts Farmers," and the "Blood Alley." These particular gangs were extremely protective of their territory, however, they were not organized very well and did not consist of many members. The activities of the gangs remained the same in relation to previous decades. Any conflicts that did arise between gangs occurred when rival gang members found themselves in an enemy's territory.

As was generally the case, each gang would gather it's members together, meet in a deserted lot or park and physically fight to the end. The gang with the most people standing at the conclusion of the fight was declared the winner, and the losers would simply limp home and recover. Weapons, such as chains, knives, and bats, were used occasionally in these rival conflicts. These types of weapons are in stark contrast to the commonly used semi-automatic handguns and AK-47's in today's gang fights. As the 1950's came to an end and the next decade emerged, car "clubs" began to languish and more organized groups came to the forefront. The late 1960's was the site of the development of what would be one of the most violent and unlawful African-American gangs in the history of Los Angeles, the Crips. It all began with the creation of a small gang called the "Baby Avenues" by two South Central Los Angeles high school students, Raymond Washington and Tookie. These young men soon began referring to their gang as the "Cribs," which is thought to have eventually given rise to the current name of the South Central gang, the Crips.

Raymond and Tookie claimed to have started this particular gang as a means of protection against other gangs in the area who were committing various crimes. The activities of the Crips originated on high school campuses throughout the Los Angeles area. Freemont High School was the home for the "Eastside Crips," and the "Westside Crips" originated on the opposite side of the 110 Harbor Freeway. In addition, another faction of Crips was formed in the Compton area of Los Angeles, which came to known as the "Compton Crips." Nearly a decade after the institution of this particular gang, "the Crips had grown from a small Los Angeles gang to an organization with membership spread across the state of California"5. Even previously established gangs, such as the "Main Street Crips," "Kitchen Crips," "5 Deuce Crips," and the "Rolling 20 Crips," came to consolidate the Crip name into their gang set. Despite the fact that these gangs embraced the Crip name, they often remained independent and continued to have their own leadership and members. Many of these Crip subsets were in conflict with one another due to the independent nature of several of these gangs.

Thus, the "Crips had become just like the gang members they had once sought to protect themselves from-Crips had become gangbangers who terrorized their own neighborhoods" 6. During their early years of existence, Crips' main activities included extortion of funds from non-gang members, theft and assault. The founders of the Crips gang both lost their affiliation with the gang close to a decade after its establishment. A rival gang member murdered Raymond Washington in 1979, and Tookie was incarcerated that same year on four counts of murder. During the early 1970's, several other African-American gangs emerged in an effort to protect themselves from the many Crip gangs forming in the area. One of the most well known of these particular gangs is the Bloods, which came to be one of the other most violent and unlawful African-American gangs in Los Angeles. The Bloods established themselves around the West Piru Street area in the Compton section of Los Angeles.

Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens were the founders of the Bloods, and this certain gang actually started out as the "Compton Pirus." The swift expansion of the Bloods was aided by a severe conflict between the "Compton Crips" and the "Compton Pirus ," in which the Pirus were greatly outnumbered and brutally crushed. This conflict brought several sets of the Pirus together, and the Pirus subsequently joined forces with the "Laurdes Park Hustlers" and the "LA Brims." In fact, the Brims were quite fervent to join forces against the Crips, who had recently murdered one of their gang members. Various other gangs around the area who had been attacked or threatened in the past by the Crips were also eager to join the forces against them, and these gangs were united under the Blood name.

"Red" gangs in the Compton refer to themselves as "Pirus, " and several other "red" gangs in the area such as the "Brims," "Bounty Hunters," "Swans," and the "Family" are known as the "Bloods." Those associated with the Bloods are fairly well accredited for their "take no prisoners" attitude as well as for their merciless and violent behavior. During the latter half of the 1970's, the Crips and the Bloods began to divide into smaller sets, and as they disseminated throughout the Los Angeles area, they "began to claim certain neighborhoods as their territory. Their gang rivalry became vicious and bloody" 7. Close to thirty thousand gang members associated with either the Crips or Bloods made their home in and around Los Angeles during the early 1980's. Gang members ranged in ages from as young as fourteen to as old as twenty-four, and they were required to perform certain acts in order to receive initiation into these gangs. Future members of either the Bloods or Crips were expected to "jump in" and fight established members of the gang which they wanted to join.

These future members would also be asked to commit a crime in a particular neighborhood or attack a member of a rival gang. The Bloods and the Crips were extremely territorial and quite ardent in protecting their neighborhood against invasion by one another as well as other rival gangs. Due to the large number of gang members occupying a relatively small area of Los Angeles, the gangs devised a method of identifying one another. This system of identification would allow gang members to avoid assaulting members of different sets who belonged to the same gang. The Crips "identify themselves with the color blue, which is believed to originate form the colors of Washington High School in south Los Angeles. Crip gangsters wear articles of blue clothing, blue handkerchiefs, shoelaces, hair rollers, hats, belts, or sweatshirts" 8. If one's clothing is ambiguous, gang signs are often used, which is a derivative of sign language for these gangs. Crip members will also replace the letter "b" with the letter "c" when writing certain words.

Thus, "coffee" becomes "boffee," "compton" becomes "bompton," and "cat" becomes "bat." When speaking to one another, Crips refer to each other as "Cuzz" and "Blood Killas" (BK), and members of this gang can be seen wearing British Knight (BK) athletic shoes. The Bloods, in contrast to the Crips, identify themselves with the color red, which is Centennial High School's color (high school where the Bloods originated), and unlike the Crips, the Bloods can be seen wearing red clothing such as red bandannas or rags. "Another color may be used in relation to the name of the set, such as green for the Lime Hood Pirus" 9. Members of the Blood gangs address one another in several ways such as "Blood," "Yo Blood," and "Wuz up blood?" Bloods will also cross out the letter "c" as a sign of disrespect for the Crips, and in addition, the Bloods will adorn walls and property with graffiti which is disrespectful towards the Crips. Prior to the 1980's, the Crips and the Bloods had limited active participation in narcotics trafficking.

"However, by 1983, African-American Los Angeles gangs seized upon the availability of narcotics, particularly crack, as a means of income" 10. Many of the gang members who became involved in the buying and selling of narcotics came from the inner city areas where poverty and unemployment are a way of life. Gangsters could make anywhere from three hundred to five hundred dollars per day selling crack cocaine. Thus, the money involved was a main component which drew gangsters to this particular line of work. Crips and Bloods control crack cocaine distribution in many cities around the country. Members of these gangs will migrate to other cities, ascertain the narcotics demand in that city, identify the dealers in the city, and figure out the established operations for narcotic sales. Gang involvement in the drug market has led to an extraordinary amount of violence throughout certain cities due to the members fighting over "profitable narcotics trade" 11. So, as members of the Bloods and Crips migrate to various cities throughout the United States, they bring with th6m the sale of narcotics and the violence associated with it.

Gang members often relocate to other cities based on established family ties within a particular city and the enticement of quick profits from the buying and selling of narcotics. The Crips and the Bloods "have migrated throughout the country and are seen in most states and their prison populations. There are literally hundreds of sets or individual gangs under the main Blood and Crip names" 12. Eastern coast-based gangs including People Nation and Folk Nation have become so well known that the Crips and the Bloods have formed allies with them. Bloods have formed an alliance with the People Nation, and the Crips have formed an alliance with the Folk Nation. The Crips and the Bloods began nearly thirty years ago in a small section of Los Angeles, and today, there are over thirty-three states and one hundred twenty-three cities which are occupied by Crips and Bloods gang members. New York City is one of the major cities in the U.S. engulfed with Crips and Bloods, and its prisons are the home for many of these gang members.

Las Vegas home to roughly 20,000 street gang members - Las Vegas Sun News Las Vegas home to roughly 20,000 street gang members Las Vegas Sun Metro Gang Unit Officer Larry Miller looks around an abandoned apartment used as a hangout by the 28th Street Gang on Friday, May 28, 2004, in Las Vegas. By Launch slideshow » The Las Vegas Valley is home to more than 300 street gangs, a number law enforcement officials say is growing as members ditch loyalties and create new groups. Roughly 20,000 gang members — or 6 for every 1,000 Nevada residents — live in the valley, according to the FBI’s 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. Only five other states have as high a rate: California, Idaho, New Mexico and Illinois. Local gang members average from 14 to 21 years old, with recruitment typically starting in middle school, Metro Police said. Many of the city’s more established gangs are subsets of larger, California-based organizations. But there also are “hybrid gangs,” more loosely organized groups that are harder for police to contain.

Hybrid gangs typically are younger, more scattered and more violent. Members can belong to several gangs at once. They don’t answer to a clear leader, and they don’t adhere to explicit rules of conduct. Identifying their rivals can be a struggle for police. Over the past decade, the valley has seen an increase in gang activity. As of this year there are: 630 criminal street gangs and 18,184 gang members. Of those members, more than 15,000 are known members, while 2,888 are affiliate members, according to Metro Police. Here are some of the known gangs in Las Vegas: White gangs White supremacist gangs are relatively uncommon in the valley and are difficult to detect because many don’t identify themselves as gangs. Neo-Nazi gangs tend to use the symbol “SWP,” an acronym for “supreme white power,” and the number 311, which represents “KKK,” the 11th letter of the alphabet repeated three times. Known white gangs include Insane NAZI Lowriders and Aryan Warriors.

Black gangs Bloods and Crips Among the most infamous criminal groups in America, the Crips and Bloods are rival gangs founded in Los Angeles. They are widely known for their violent feuding that’s so intense it often permeates every aspect of members’ lives. A Blood, for example, might describe something as “brazy,” swapping out the letter “c” in “crazy,” to snub the Crips. Crips traditionally wear blue, while Bloods wear red. The Gerson Park Kingsmen is a hybrid gang named for the now-defunct Gerson Park public housing complex near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards. Members typically identify both with the Crips and Bloods. The gang favors the numbers 369 to honor Gerson Park’s three blocks of apartments, six apartments per block and nine units per building. The gang originally was named the Ace of Spades but members changed the name after Gerson Park was built. They have also sparked several hybrid gangs, including Squadup and HTO (Hustlers Taking Over). The Woods are a hybrid of the Gerson Park Kingsmen and is named for the acronym for “We on our dollas,” reflecting members’ goal of making money.

In 2009, six Woods were linked to the killing of Metro Officer Trevor Nettleton, who died in a gun battle at his North Las Vegas home during a robbery. Several local Crips gangs are named for the neighborhoods in which they began, although they now spread throughout the city: the Donna Street Crips, Vegas Heights Gangsta Crips (AKA Rolling 50s) and Valley View Gangster Crips. The Rolling 60s: Loosely tied to the Crips, the Rolling 60s used to dominate Berkley Square near Doolittle Park, running drug houses and terrorizing residents with drive-by shootings. But in May 2004, more than 20 alleged members of the gang were hit with federal charges, significantly diminishing criminal activity in the area. The Playboy Bloods are one of the older Blood subsets in the valley. Their insignia is an adapted version of a Playboy bunny with one ear up and the other folded down. In 2008, 10 alleged members were indicted on drug and violence charges stemming from accusations they trafficked crack cocaine.

Prosecutors said members operated in the Sherman Gardens Annex housing complex, also known as the “Jets complex,” at H and Doolittle streets. The West Side Piru Bloods originated in Compton, Calif., but trickled into Southern Nevada. The gang’s reach is far; there are dozens of Piru subsets across the West Coast. Latino gangs The Sureños Spanish for “southerners,” the Sureños are a Southern California street gang with many loosely affiliated subgroups in Las Vegas. Members pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia prison gang and use the number 13 to represent the letter “M,” the 13th letter of the alphabet, to pay allegiance to their mentors. Sureños typically wear blue, including clothing featuring the logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The San Chucos are one of the most prominent Sureños subgroups in Nevada. The gang is large and unpredictable. Members identify themselves with tattoos that read “SC” or “Chuco,” but it isn’t always clear whether their loyalties lie with the Mexican Mafia or Nevada 13. The 28th Streets gang originated downtown, though its members now are spread throughout Las Vegas.

The gang originally was a faction of the Sureños, but many of its younger members have ditched ties to the Mexican Mafia. They now pledge loyalty to the recently formed prison gang Nevada 13. A tattoo of the Stratosphere or pair of dice usually tips police off to members of the Sureños-derived Barrio Naked City gang. The symbols are “a dead giveaway,” said Miguel Chavez, a Las Vegas detention officer and gang specialist. The gang’s roots lie in Meadows Village, also known as Naked City, in the shadow of the Stratosphere. “Their tattoos are very Vegas-oriented — the outline of the Strip, definitely the Stratosphere,” Chavez said. “They’re very proud of the Stratosphere. It’s their own landmark visible to everyone.” The Norteños Spanish for “northerners,” the Norteños are a Northern California street gang and the Sureños’ rivals. Members ally with the Nuestra Familia prison gang, the rival of the Mexican Mafia. There are far fewer Norteños in Las Vegas than Sureños.

Norteños wear the number 14 to represent the letter “N,” the 14th letter of the alphabet, and favor red clothing from sports teams such as the San Francisco 49ers and UNLV. Some gang members say UNLV’s acronym stands for “Us Norteños Love Violence.” Asian gangs Pinoy Boys One of the most wide-reaching Asian gangs in Las Vegas is the Pinoy Boyz, although the gang’s presence is relatively sparse and unorganized. Pinoy is an informal term for Filipino, formed by taking the last four letters of “Filipino” and adding the suffix “y,” common in the Tagalog language. Police typically identify Pinoy Boyz and other Asian gang members through foreign language tattoos. gang rivals | StreetGangs.Com Veterano Primera Flats member recalls almost getting killed by Varrio Alpine STREETGANGS.COM | June 14, 2016 Los Angeles – Wayne Turner tells the story of almost getting killed by members of Varrio Alpine when he was a member of Primera Flats when he was 18 years old.

After members of Varrio Alpine disrepected the sister of a Primera Flats member, Wayne and his homies went to […] LA Gangs Join Forces In Fight Against Killings By Greg Milam, US Correspondent / Sky News Wednesday 28 January 2015 Rivals in one of the oldest and bloodiest gang wars in the world have joined forces to try to end the killings. The battle between the Bloods and Crips – the stuff of rap legend – has left thousands dead on the streets […] Desert Hot Springs gangs took root in growth wave from the west Keith Matheny • The Desert Sun • April 11, 2009 Gang members surrounded the house. Inside they expected to find a rival gang’s drugs and money. They shot their way in. More than 30 shots were fired, police later determined, both inside and outside the house in a neighborhood between Ironwood Drive and Two Bunch […] Gang rivalry grows into race war Battle over the drug trade has led to escalating violence in Florence-Firestone.

By Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 18, 2007 As the story goes, the East Coast Crips robbed a Florencia 13 drug connection of a large quantity of dope nearly a decade ago. Since then, the tale of how a black […] Task force gang sweep nets 6 arrests; others flee Los Angeles Daily News Task force gang sweep nets 6 arrests; others flee By Jason Kandel Staff Writer Friday, July 01, 2005 – NORTH HOLLYWOOD – In an attempt to reduce gang tensions at local middle and high schools, authorities on Thursday executed an early morning probation sweep and arrested six people â€” some of […] Street Gangs – L.A. Style - porno Street Gangs – L.A. Style All cities have street gangs. Some can be violent and others can be criminal organizations. Los Angeles, without a doubt, is the world hub of ethnic street gangs. Blacks have the Bloods, Crips and Pirus while Asian Americans have the Asian Boyz, Fullerton Boys, Kkangpae, Menace of Destruction, Satanas.

Chinese have the Four Seas, United Bamboo Gang, Wah Ching and White Dragon while Whites have Armenian Power, Aryan Brotherhood, Hells Angels MC, Nazi Low Riders and Public Enemy No. 1. Hispanics have the most gang activity. Some of their larger gangs are 13th Street, 18th Street, 38th Street, Clanton 14, Mexican Mafia (Prison Gang), Mongols MC, MS – 13, Nortenos, Nuestra Familia (Prison Gang), Avenues, The Rascals, Tooner Ville Rifa 13, Varrio Nuevo Estrada and White Fence. Keep in mind these are just the larger gangs and many of them have divisions known as “sets”. Black neighborhoods in Los Angeles experienced the formation of clubs after World War II and lasting until the first Watts Riot (1965). These clubs soon became known as gangs as violence amongst them started to grow. Growing up in the metro area, I can remember the Slausons, Gladiators, Del Vikings and Businessmen. Whites had a gang known as the “Spook Hunters” (in the Hawthorne and Inglewood areas) who would seek Blacks to beat up.

The Slausons and Del Vikings retaliated and put them to rest. After the Watts Riot, a new organization appeared. Bunchy Carter, a charismatic, tall and muscular brother who ran the “Renegades” set of the Slausons founded the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was recruiting 50 – 100 members a week and their mantra was to watch the L.A. Police Department and protect the people. LAPD wasn’t having it. They teamed up with the secret FBI operation known as COINTELPRO. This anti-constitutional concoction of J. Edgar Hoover basically went after Black elected officials but the national rise of the Black Panthers made Hoover decide to literally wipe them out. They encouraged another new group known as Organization Us which was headed by Ron Karenga (founder of Kwanza) to rival the Panthers. It resulted in Bunchy Carter being murdered on UCLA’s campus. Ron Karenga and some of his members came to my neighborhood to recruit us. We thought they were comical and didn’t know this was just a front for another mission. They went away after Bunchy’s assassination (1969).

Many Black youth were depressed and a void was created and needed to be filled. Thus, Raymond Lee Washington, 15 years old, got the boys in his neighborhood and commissioned them as the “Crips” (his brother’s nickname). As they grew in South Central, Stanley Tookie Williams was organizing a group on the Westside. They met and decided to merge under the Crip banner. Today, they are the largest Black gang in America with chapters expanding from coast to coast and border to border. The Bloods were started from a rebellious set of the Crips. The Pirus, named after a street in Compton, helped start this rival gang. Being smaller than the Crips, the Bloods got a reputation for being very violent and ruthless to any rivals. Today, they too are national with sets operating wherever a large Black population exists. Their largest East Coast set is the United Blood Nation which was started in Rikers Island Prison to protect Black inmates from Hispanic inmate attacks. L.A. has over 600 Hispanic street gangs. The largest by far is Mara Salvatrucha – MS-13.

MS-13 has over 70,000 members and sets throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. These guys stay busy with drug trafficking, robbery, larceny, human trafficking, kidnapping, arms trafficking, racketeering and everything that goes with it. They are extremely organized and fear nothing. One of their sets is located right in Washington, DC – up in the face of the FBI headquarters. All of these L.A. street gangs have one thing in common. They are the main distributors of illegal drugs. They are tight with Mexican and South American drug cartels. Drug trafficking is their main source of revenue and it adds up into the billions of dollars per year. The Drug Enforcement Agency seems to be unable to get a handle on how to stop them. Most run with heroin, marijuana, ecstasy and other illegal pills. The pioneer of crack cocaine was Rick Ross. Rick grew up in Crip territory but his operation furnished his product to both the Crips and Bloods for national distribution. His suppliers were two El Salvadorans with direct ties to the CIA. When Congresswoman Maxine Waters declared CIA meddling in the establishment of Crack in the United States, she knew what she was talking about.

It started right in the middle of her Congressional District. Rick eventually got busted. Sometimes he would sell up to $3 million of product in a day. For all this, he did only thirteen years in prison. Los Angeles is number one when it comes to gangs. What an accomplishment? Mr. Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Website: . Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Nogales Gangster Crips – UnitedGangs.com • ( 2 Comments ) Nogales Gangster Crips The Nogales Gangster Crips (NGC), also known as the Nogales Street Gangster Crips (NSGC) or simply Nogales Crips (NC) are primarily, but not exclusively, an African-American street gang named after a residential street (Nogales St.) between Rio Linda Blvd and Marysville Blvd located in North Sacramento, California. They originated in the 1980’s or early 1990’s, after the formation of gangs in South Central, Los Angeles.

Police and rivals often identify Members of the Nogales Gangster Crips by their apparel and tattoos, which usually consist of “NGC” or “NC” (Etc). Along with the traditional blue handkerchief commonly wore by members to flaunt their affiliation with the crips. Allies And Rivals The Nogales Gangster Crips are virtually surrounded by blood gangs, which are natural enemies to the crips. Their past rivalries include the Oak Park Bloods , along with the Belden Street Bloods and the Elm Street Bloods, both are cliques of the Del Paso Heights Bloods . However, in the past these two rival gangs coexisted peacefully as neighbors with a few violent altercations. For instance, on November 29, 2002, a member of the Nogales Gangster Crips, pulled out a handgun and shot and killed two members of the Del Paso Heights Bloods after a verbal altercation occurred at a pizza parlor. In January 2005, a member of the Nogales Gangster Crips was shot and killed during a shootout, sparking an intense war between the two gangs. Share this: L.A.

Based Gangs -- Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness first | previous | 13 of 21 | next Los Angeles-based Gangs  Bloods and Crips Overview The Los Angeles (LA)-based Bloods and Crips are probably the most widely recognized gangs in America due to the media exposure received in the 1980's. These groups have migrated throughout the country and are seen in most states and their prison populations. There are literally hundreds of sets or individual gangs under the main Blood and Crip names. They are no longer racially specific. Crip Handsign In Florida, the presence of the Chicago-based Folk Nation and People Nation is so prevalent, that the Crips and Bloods have developed allies under these alliances. Bloods traditionally align themselves with the People Nation and Crips with the Folk Nation. This alignment may vary for local jurisdictions due to competition for drug territory or violence against one another. Crip Tattooing These alignments are often communicated in their graffiti. Eight ball tattoo. There are, however, areas of the country where Crips and Folk groups such as the Black Gangster Disciples are in competition for the drug trade and thus, are rivals.

This is illustrated in their graffiti by use of the "eight ball." If the "eight ball" is drawn or displayed intact, then the sets are aligned. If it is cracked or drawn through, there is dissension among the groups. The "eight ball" is significant because when you bring the hand sign for the Crips and the 'pitchfork' hand sign together it forms an 8-ball. Facts - Bloods Originated in South California to defend against the Crips Generally align with People Nation sets Identifiers/symbols: the word "Piru" (the original Blood gang) crossed out "C" in words as disrespect for Crips other disrespectful anti-Crip graffiti Originated in Los Angeles in the late 60s Migrated throughout the United States Generally align with Folk Nation sets Extremely violent use the letter "c" in place of "b" in writing in disrespect for Bloods calling each other "Cuzz" calling themselves "Blood Killas" (BK) wearing British Knight (BK) tennis shoes Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness streetgangs - YouTube streetgangs The next video is starting stop Welcome to Streetgangs.com, a collection of news, information, interview and videos on street #gang culture.

Trailer includes: - Rapper N.O.R.E.

aka Papi & Alex Alonso - Nipsey Hussle from Rollin 60s Crips - Gee Aktive from Fruit Town Brims - Boskoe100 from Queen Street Bloods - Avenues graffiti off 110 Freeway - Dee the Great from Drew Street - Skrappy from Florencia 13 - Jay Rock from Bounty Hunters Bloods - Lil Drawz from PJ Watts Crips in Imperial Courts - LAPD helicopter flying over South LA - LAPD undercover cops after a raid in the Jungles (Baldwin Village) of South Los Angeles - LAPD arrest male who is under the influence of drugs on Venice near Robertson in West Los Angeles - Big Stretch from Fruit Town Brims - Palm tree shot off Vernon Avenue - Freeway Ricky Ross on 87th Street & Flower near 110 Freeway - $tupid Young aka Young Shadow from Asian Boyz in Long Beach - Face from PJ Watts Crip - Big U & Kurupt - L-Boy from Pasadena Varrio Rifa - Lil Kartoon aka Lil Toon from 79 Swan - Crazo from Grape Street Crips (RIP) - Alex Alonso at the Criminal Courts Building in Downtown Los Angeles - Criminal Defense Attorney

 Howard & Aubrey Berry - Keith, Homeless crack addict - Drug user getting arrested on Western Avenue - Protesters in the street of Los Angeles after acquittal of George Zimmernan - Veebo from Exotic Family (EFCC) in Long Beach rapping - Asian Boys in Long Beach with Pit Bull - V8 from Pasadena Denver Lanes walking through Jackie Robinson Park - LAPD car crashes during pursuit - Trayvon Martin supporters at Leimert Park, Los Angeles - Rollin 60s Crips graffiti - Veebo from Exotic Family (EFCC) in Long Beach rapping - LAPD searching for suspect who shot LAPD officer in front of LAPD Wilshire station - Bullet shot through car mirror that killed teen in Compton - Memorial off teen killed in #Compton Edited by: Rafael Gamboa

Question: What Los Angeles street gang is rivals with the Crips?
Answer: The Bloods