Types of Gangs (California)

By: the California Crime and Violence Prevention Center

In today’s street culture, gangs can be based on ethnic origin, such as: African-American, Asian and Hispanic. Gangs can be categorized as female, Goths, Skinhead, Tagger Crew, Tag Bangers and Party Crew gangs. Within these categories there are a number of separate groups called ”cliques“ or ”sets.“ In California, street gang membership has reached approximately 300,000, with about 6,100 different gangs.

African-American

African-American gangs first appeared in southern California in the 1920’s. They were not like the Bloods and Crips that are well known today. It is believed that the first Crip gang was formed in late 1969. During this time in Los Angeles there were many African-American gangs, and they all were rivals with each other.

The Crips outnumbered the rest of the African-American gangs. Because of this and the fact that the Crips had become the common rival between the remainder of the gangs, the first Blood gang was formed. The Blood gang was an alliance formed by all the other gangs who did not want to be part of the Crips. As the Crip and Blood rivalry intensified, gang assaults became increasingly more violent. Crip and Blood gangs also got involved in the distribution and sale of drugs. The illegal trafficking of drugs became a major factor that intensified the rivalry between the two gangs.

Asian Gangs

California is home to the majority of Asians who live in the United States. Types of Asian gangs include Korean, Chinese, Japanese, South Pacific Islander and Indo-Chinese. Some Asian gang members mimic western gangs in dress style, the use of tattoos, graffiti and criminal behavior. Other Asian gangs develop expertise in particular crimes, such as home invasion robberies, credit card and check fraud and computer chip thefts.

The Indo-Chinese gangs have members from the Vietnamese, Cambodian, Minh and Hmong who immigrated to the United States after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Refugee and immigrant families experienced a similar culture shock as Mexican immigrants did in the early 1900’s. As a result, some Asian youth established and joined a gang. The first Indo-Chinese Asian gangs appeared in southern California between 1978 and 1980. Culture and language barriers have made it difficult to monitor, investigate and prosecute Asian gang members.

Hispanic Gangs

Hispanic gangs are established throughout the state. Hispanic gangs use graffiti to mark the boundaries of their turf. These marks serve as a warning to rival gangs, a welcome greeting to peer gang members and often a form of intimidation to the citizens who live within the boundaries of the turf. Hispanic gang members often consider themselves the “policemen” of their neighborhoods. Thus, they are motivated to protect these areas. The turf is also known as the “barrio,” a Spanish word for “neighborhood.” As makeshift guardians of their barrio, Hispanic gang members are expected to defend it against any type of intrusion. The mere presence of a rival gang, the crossing out of their gang graffiti, a derogatory look, an insult to a girlfriend — all have been motivations for gang-related attacks. Many Hispanic gangs are generational. California has third- and fourth- generation

For many Hispanic young people, belonging to a gang is considered a normal part of life. All Hispanic and some other gangs in the state use this north/south polarization. The symbols of a separation can be found in gang graffiti, tattoos, drawings, written material, music lyrics, clothes, audiotape and CD album covers. These symbols are generic indicators of gang affiliation. The presence of these types of signs alone does not confirm or negate gang membership.

Female Gang Members

While female gang members account for less than 10 percent of California’s total gang population, sadly females, especially in Asian and Hispanic gangs, have moved away from the traditional role of being merely girlfriends of gang members. There are no stereotypes for female gang members. Some female gang members are gainfully employed. Females have formed their own gangs and also have become members in traditionally all-male gangs. Caucasian and African-American females have also formed their own gangs. A few females are members of tagging crews.

In some instances, female gang members have been co-leaders of a gang that has both male and female members. Female gang members have been known to carry weapons and drugs for their gang. Today, in some gangs the female members are treated as equal to their male counterparts. In a few instances, female gang members have been arrested and convicted of gang-related murders, drug sales, attempted murders and assaults. Tragically, some of these females are mothers of small children and still active with a gang.

Goths

Although they have been around as long as other gangs, around 1995 groups of young Goths made their reappearance on the street scene. Since then, the Gothic movement has gained popularity and is based on particular music. The dress style is meant to be shocking, and the music focuses on the darker side of life, sex and death. Most of the members of the Gothic movement are law-abiding young people. However, a few Gothic groups have been involved in criminal activity, including murder.

Goths often dress in black clothing; wear black lip stick and finger nail polish; dye their hair a blue, red or black color; or wear heavy white makeup. Many Goths enjoy other forms of body modification, like branding, body piercing and tattoos. Almost all Goths are Caucasians. The membership is split just about equally between males and females. The majority of Goths are not a problem for law enforcement.

Skinheads

Skinhead gangs constitute a small percentage of gangs in the state. The typical Skinhead has adopted a particular philosophy of life, involving pride in the White race and a hatred of Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans, Jews, gays and lesbians. Most Skinheads believe that these groups are responsible for current societal problems, including most of the crime. Skinheads may voice their opinions at public rallies, on cable TV, on the Internet and through music. Several bands cater to this particular style of music. The music may have a heavy metal sound, but employs the use of racist lyrics to help spread the word of the racist movement. Of all gangs, Skinheads are most likely to be involved in bias motivated attacks. These assaults may be classified as hate crimes because gender, religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation motivated the criminal behavior. Such crimes may include vandalism of a Jewish synagogue, graffiti vandalism, cross burning, assault and even murder. These types of crimes can disrupt an entire community because the crime is directed not only against a single victim but against all members of the victim’s population.

Taggers

In tagging crews, also known as “graffiti vandals,” the individual members are called “taggers.” Many tagging crews initially formed for the sole purpose of placing their names or slogans in as many visible locations as possible. Sometimes individual crews would have a contest or “battle” with each other. They would try to get their tag and crew name up as many times as possible within a specified geographical area and time. The winners could play for cans of spray paint, or the losing crew members would have to join the winning crew or the losing crew might have to give up its current name. Initially, tagging was conducted by individuals or crews who had no specific gang affiliation.

However, fatal violence began to occur among tagging crews. Rivalries have intensified, and some tagging crews have begun to claim turf-like traditional gangs and regularly arm themselves with guns.

Tag-Bangers

Some tagging crews started to act more and more like gangs. As a result a new type of tagging crew, called “tag bangers,” formed. The emphasis is still on tagging, but members of these crews carry guns and other types of weapons. They also initiate and respond to gang violence just like any other gang. In fact, these tag-banger crews now act just like a gang. Some tagbanger crews have a formal association with well-known and established gangs. In a few instances, for prosecution purposes law enforcement has classified tag-banger crews as violent street gangs, based on the Penal Code definition.

Party Crews

In the early part of 1990, another type of crew formed. These co-ed groups called themselves “party crews.” When party crews first formed the rivalry between them was based on which crew could sponsor the best party. Soon, people attending the party started to sell balloons full of nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Others sold drugs and others supplied alcohol. A small entrance fee was required to get into the party. To the sponsor the party became a money-making enterprise.

Add to these ingredients intensified rivalries between party crews, gang members from different gangs attending the party and/or party crew members themselves who were also members of a gang and it is no surprise that violence began to escalate. Soon, gang violence was common at party crew parties. No matter what the ethnicity or characteristics of the gangs in your community, identification is a key step in reduction of potential violence.