† Bloods - The Bloods formed from the Piru gang on 1972 at Centennial High School, taking the Piru Bloods name from "Piru" street in Compton, California. The group formed to protect members from the Crips. Other gangs with the same motive started using the Pirus’ and Bloods’ names to signify alignment with the main gang. Although the Bloods’ membership is smaller than the Crips, they are potentially more dangerous, particularly when present in numbers. They most often identify with the color red. West coast gang members often use a red bandana and while on the East Coast they use red colored beads. They will also use various graphic styles and terms emphasizing a disrespect for Crips. Although many of the group’s traditional trademarks and identifiers have remained the same, their allies and enemies change drastically depending on their geographic location. There have been several occasions in which the Crips and Bloods have aligned with other gangs for a common cause or goal. They are currently aligning with the Black Gangster Disciples and Black Guerilla Family. The Bloods present a significant threat to law enforcement officers not only due to their predatory and violent behavior, but more importantly, due to their intense rivalry with the Crips. Both the Crips and the Bloods have a strong fascination with assault-type weapons. (More) † Crips - The Crips is a street gang which originated in Los Angeles, California in the late 1960s. During the early 1970s, the gang grew when Stanley "Tookie" Williams joined Raymond "Truck" Washington (the founder) and branched out to other parts of Los Angeles County. These new subsidiary or realigned existing gangs were known as sets, and they used the term Crips in their individual gang name. Originally, most Crips activity took place on or around school campuses, and these gangs created a reputation for violence and extortion. Although a predominately Black gangs in most areas across the nation, many other ethnic groups have adopted the Crip name because of the on-going notoriety of the Crips and their rivals, the Bloods. Crips usually identify with the color blue in several different shades and usually wear a blue rag or handkerchief as an identity item. They often wear jogging suits and tennis shoes, professional sports team jackets and caps bearing the names of Los Angeles teams, and sometimes Adidas sweatshirts. They also may wear Dickey brand cotton work pants or bib-style overalls. Nike and British Knights shoes are also popular. Crips refer to each other as "Cuzz" and use the letter C to replace the letter B in their conversations and writings. They have an intricate communication system which involves not only graffiti on walls which mark their particular territorial boundaries, but also the use of hand signals (flashing), displaying their colors, and wearing selected athletic clothing. The initials BK represent their status as "Blood Killers." Crips seldom wear tattoos, and their graffiti represents past or future gang activity.Crips gangs are found in nearly every city in the United States and have been identified in several foreign countries.The most prominent traits of Crips are individualism and maintaining a commitment to foster violence upon other gangs. The Crips rivalry with the Bloods gang presents a likelihood of violent encounters between members. Should the Crips ever become more structured, they could present even more serious problems than created by other recognized gangs in prison. For a short time, a small group of gang members claimed the word Crip was an acronym for "Community Revolution In Progress." This was an attempt to gain public sympathy as they mimicked the many other gangs who attempted to make similar false claims. Despite their temporary claim of being a peaceful organization, the gang is still heavily involved in urban warfare, drug sales and recently violent take-over robberies and warehouse burglaries. (More on Tookie) † Norteños - The Nuestra Familia (Our Family) was organized in the Folsom (California) State Prison in 1968. Inmates were tired of the abuse and victimization at the hand of the Mexican Mafia. Most of the original members of the NF were from Northern California. As the NF and Mexican Mafia engaged in a bitter prison war, new prisoners from Northern California were recruited into the NF while Southern California inmates joined the Mexican Mafia. By the late 1970s, after numerous prison riots and murders, an official dividing point emerged between the gangs in Delano, California, near Bakersfield. Those living North of this location were known as Nortenos (Northern in Spanish.)
The Nuestra Familia (New Film) was the first prison gang to ever be federally indicted for violation of the R. I. C. O. act in the early 1980s. The gang has a written constitution, rules (known as the 14-bonds) and an organized leadership structure. Nearly all California Hispanic gangs identify themselves as being Nortenos or Surenos, an indication as to who they will join when they go to prison. Norteno street gang members often identify with the symbols XIV, X4, 14, (F14 - Bulldogs) and 4-dots. Fourteen refers to the 14th letter of the alphabet "N" which stands for Norteno or the Nuestra Familia. The gang associates with the color red and the words Norteno, Norte and Northerner. Other symbols include a 5-pointed star, symbolizing the "North" star and the Huegla bird, the symbol used by the United Farm Workers association--these two tattoos (star & bird) must be earned through committing an assault or murder on their enemies, the Surenos. A few HAND SIGNS can be seen by clicking here. The Nuestra Familia has a large chain of command that oversees every Norteno gang in Northern California. Nortenos have been identified in nearly every state in the country as well as several European countries. At the direction of the Nuestra Familia, a pro-Norteno gangster rap group complied two music CDs entitles "GUN (Generation of United Norteno)" and "Quete" (Meaning gun in Spanish. The CDs were effectively distributed to Norteno street gang members. According to federal authorities, the NF's purpose of the CDs was to raise money for the gang and to promote unity among individual Norteno street gangs. Nortenos continue to be heavily involved in drug sales, and murders. They remain bitter enemies of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and Sureno street gangs. (More | More)
† Sureños - The creation and growth of the Mexican Mafia has been credited to Rodolfo Cadena and Joe Morgan. While serving time at the Duel Vocational Institute in Tracy, California several inmates complained of the abuse and racism in the California Prison system. White prison gangs such as the Blue Bird Gang controlled all activities within the prison walls. The Mexican-American inmates created the gang to protect themselves from other inmates and to control illegal activity behind bars. The Mexican Mafia remained unmolested until 1968 when their rivals, La Nuestra Familia was official organized. According to FBI documentation, as a direct result of the growing control and threat of the Mexican Mafia, the Black Guerilla Family and the Aryan Brotherhood were formed. Southern California street gangs banded together in prison, to combat the unified Northern California street gangs. Young street gang members began calling themselves Surenos, (Spanish word for Southerner). They were told that when they would be arrested, they would one day join the Mexican Mafia. Sureno street gang members often identify with the symbols XIII, X3, 13, and 3-dots. This refers to the 13th letter of the alphabet "M" which stands for Mexican Mafia. The gang identifies with the color blue and the words Sureno, Sur and Southerner. HAND SIGNS can look like these- Click Here. Other symbols include a black hand, La Eme (meaning 'the M' in Spanish) and MM (Mexican Mafia). Members of the Mexican Mafia align themselves with the Aryan Brotherhood and the Italian Mafia. The Mexican Mafia {ORGANIZATIONAL CHART} has been identified in nearly every federal and state institution in the United States. Sureno street gangs have been identified in every state in the country. Members have being involved in all facets of criminal activity. (More) † Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) - Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13 News and Analysis) is one of the newest and most violent street gangs that has developed in the last 20 years. Originally it got it’s name from La Mara, a street in San Salvador, and from the Salvatrucha guerillas who fought in El Salvador’s bloody civil war. Eventually they organized in Los Angeles in the late ’80s. Gang members sometimes wear blue and white, colors taken from the national flag of El Salvador. They can also sport numerous body and even face tattoos. HAND SIGNS can look like theses, Click Here. To make it even harder to pin them down is their ability to move on a moments notice - from state to state if necessary and now country to country. And now officials are saying that they control the Mexican border and control most of the drug traffic. What separates this gang from the rest is their members oath ... no one jumps out alive. So it stands to reason these gang members will commit any crime for any reason when told to do so ... or die. (read)
Salvadoreños, some have noted, join whatever set {X4}{X3} they want, but the gang Mara Salvatrucha 13 ( MS-13) is sureña identified since it was founded in Pico Union LA ... thus the 13 identifier after MS. However, MS 13 never wears red and does not align themselves with Mexican Mafia - which is the founder of 13 sur, and are sworn enemies of the biggest LA gangs 18th Street as well as the oldest East LA gang White Fence.
According to Ms. Shelly Feuer Domash who wrote "America's Most Dangerous Gang" ... MS-13 wasn’t that big a player in East Coast gang culture. The reason for its weak position in the East Coast crime world was obvious: It wasn’t very well organized. MS-13 was comprised of a group of cliques that operated independently of each other. No more. Law enforcement officials now report that gang members from across the country have come together to unite affiliated groups up and down the East Coast. The leadership for these cliques is now coming from as far away as California and even from El Salvador. (More)
† 18th Street Gang - 18th Street Gang In Los Angeles the 18th Street gang is considered the largest gang in Los Angeles County. It is estimated that there are close to 20,000 members in Los Angeles County. Most of them are Mexican and Chicano with some Salvadorean membership and a few Blacks. Some estimates of the 18th are as low as 8,000, but this low estimate still makes them the largest gang in the county if you include all their barrios as one. The 18th Street Gang {www.xv3gang.com} is actually a collection of several smaller gangs, making them the most fragmented gang in the County also. The individual factions can number from 50 to several hundred members each. (More) † The Latin Kings - The Latin Kings were founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago in the 1940s. By the 1970s they had spread across the US and were involved in organised crime, especially drug trafficking. The organisation has also spread through Mexico and Latin America. The Ãetas were created in a Puerto Rican prison in the 1970s. They spread to the east coast of the US in the 1980s, where they were once led by a woman known as La Madrina. Mara Salvatrucha started in Los Angeles among immigrants fleeing the war in El Salvador in the 1980s. Members have tattoos in Gothic lettering. "MS" and "13" are the most popular tattoos. †