Graffiti & Gangs
Graffiti. More than pretty pictures; it can signal a war ready to erupt in your neighborhood. It used to be kids with cans of spray paint spraying their names, or I love Judy on the side of a building. But graffiti has become the written form of language for gangs. The graffiti can be information about past, current, or future gang activities. Graffiti can signal many things. It can mark turf boundaries, threaten another gang or rival member, announce a gangs presence in a particular area, and many other things including death threats. Some people can not “read the writing on the wall”, in other words, the graffiti is not written in common words or sentences we are all used to. Usually, a gang will use a few words, phrases, numbers or symbols to represent their gang. Gangs usually also tag their moniker names, nicknames given to members (such as happy, joker, etc.) Graffiti can be anything from a simple one-color scribble of a symbol or initials, to an elaborate multicolor mural on the side of a building.
Aside from the gangs for a moment, there are taggers. Taggers may work alone or in a group at times, but they usually are not confined to a particular area, and usually are not associated with the same kind of street violence that the street gangs are known for. Near my area, there was a group of “taggers” working the area. This type of “graffiti artist” usually is just that, graffiti artist. Usually not associated with a street gang, the taggers usually just spray pictures or spray their moniker names in as many places as they can, usually just for recognition. The ones near my area used a train barrier wall to display their pictures. One thing that I’ve noticed is that some of these taggers are actually pretty good. If they replaced the spray cans and concrete walls with paintbrushes and paper, they could probably earn a living doing the same thing that most call vandalism now. It takes millions of dollars each year to cover the graffiti now displayed almost everywhere you look. I have passed by a location several times in a night while on patrol without seeing anything suspicious, but when first light hits in the morning, the same area is covered with graffiti. Although taggers are usually annoying and bothersome, they are usually harmless, not wishing to become involved in the violence associated with the street gangs.
Street gang graffiti is the graffiti to be very concerned about. I’m sure you’ve driven down a road and saw some writing on a wall, overpass, building, and not thought much about it. What you saw, probably meant nothing to you. But that may have been a threat of impending death to a rival gang. A slap in the face is for a rival gang to come into an area and cross out or deface a rival gangs graffiti, replacing it with their own symbols. In my area, the biggest gangs are Nortenos and Surrenos. These are usually identified as Norte and Sur, or XIV and XIII painted on the side of fences, garages, houses, etc. There are a lot of small gangs which have formed using their own gang name, usually reflecting the area or location where they live, but they are almost all in alliance with one of the above sects. The most common colors for the gangs are red or blue. I have seen innocent people shot for simply unknowingly wearing red or blue in a rival gang’s area. A lot of gangs have become aware of increased penalties for gang association, and some have gone to wearing neutral colors. But they wear the red or blue underneath the neutral colors, and most carry a bandanna with their color of choice in a pocket, able to be quickly displayed when needed. It doesn’t take long for a quiet, peaceful neighborhood to turn into a loud, noisy, and dangerous place to live with gangs, comes drugs, noise, graffiti, and gunfire. It is common to go into a gang infested area and see graffiti covering almost everything, bullet holes in houses, cars, and people afraid to come out of their houses. The scary part is seeing children playing in the same area. Unfortunately, gang members have children too, raising them in this dangerous situation. How did it get this way? People would rather hide in their homes instead of getting involved in neighborhood watch groups, getting police assistance, and rallying together to rid the neighborhood of the problem. You cannot do it alone, and the police cannot do it alone. But together, a gang infested neighborhood can be cleaned up. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.
Chances are that you live in a nice, quiet neighborhood without a gang problem. But it could change, wherever you live. A gang or gang member is probably living a lot closer to you than you think. Maybe right next door. And it doesn’t take much for the gang to start hanging out at a particular member’s house.
The first thing you might notice is increased traffic, cars, and people to a particular house. Then you might start seeing graffiti in the area. Usually a gang banger wont tag their own house, but they will tag the area. Walls, fences, even the street or sidewalk. (Although I did see a group of wanna be’s tag their own house. Might as well paint a target on it since it was shot up within 2 days).
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