Gang members get their hooks in early
Editor’s note: For the next eight weeks, Editor in Chief Kevin Herrera will be writing a first-person account of what it’s like to be enrolled in the Santa Monica Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy, which is intended to foster better communication between Santa Monicans and police officers, while giving residents a better understanding of what it takes to preserve the peace.
PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY Gangs working the streets of West Los Angeles got put on blast earlier this week when officers assigned to the Gang and Youth Intervention Unit schooled students in the Citizens Police Academy on what it means to be part of a set or clique, showing graphic photos of black and Latino youth engaging in criminal behavior and loving it.
For those who don’t know what being put on blast means, it is essentially when someone calls out another person for something shady or embarrassing that they’ve done. It is usually taken as a sign of disrespect.
Well one thing’s certain, those involved in gangs are usually up to something shady and should be embarrassed for the way they act — and if they feel disrespected, well, too bad.
Officers Richard Carranza and Al Lozano showed the academy class pictures of gang members posing with pistols, knives and bottles of booze as kids barely old enough to walk sat in their jammies in the background — shameful. Another photo had a father and his young son holding a pistol together while the mother sat on the floor smiling, as if it was some moment of male bonding that should be cherished and not criticized.
Having covered areas where gang activity is high, most of the information wasn’t new to me, but for others in the class it seemed fairly interested to learn what a gang member is, how to identify them and how to avoid them.
Here’s what they learned. There are currently two active gangs in Santa Monica.
SM 17 (located on or around 17th Street) — and it’s affiliate SM 13 — is the Hispanic gang in town, aligning itself with the Mexican Mafia, “the Eme,” which stands for “M,” the 13th letter in the alphabet. One explanation says that “M” refers to the Mexican Mafia; another says it stands for Mexico, the homeland; and another says that it refers to a street in Mexico that starts with the letter “M” — the street where the first gang was started.
The other Santa Monica gang is the Graveyard Crips, comprised mostly of African-Americans. They have ties to larger sets in South Los Angeles and call for backup at a moment’s notice, police said.
Both gangs have their bases in the Pico Neighborhood and fight with each other over control of the drug trade. Tensions run deep between the two local gangs, but many members have no idea why, Lozano said.
“If you ask one of them today why they hate each other so much, they have no idea,” Lozano said. “Usually they’ll say it’s because someone beat up their cousin or something like that. Really it’s all about the drug trade.”
There are 120 documented gang members in Santa Monica, 60 of them active, police said.They can range in age from 12 or 13 years old to mid-30s, however, the older gang members have usually done some hard time and when they are released are reluctant to get back into a life of crime.They realize they have family obligations and cannot risk getting sent back to jail. Those who do risk it earn respect from their fellow gang members and earn the title of a “shot caller,” someone who has been in the pen and is now directing younger members as they carry out crimes.
When not warring with each other, the Santa Monica gangs have to worry about rivals from other parts of the Westside, which are the ones who have traditionally sparked tensions in the Pico Neighborhood by spray painting on walls located within a local gang’s turf. Those outside forces are Sotel, Venice 13, the Venice Shoreline Crips and the Culver City Boyz.
The definition of a gang is pretty simple. It’s basically three or more people hanging out together who identify themselves with the same color or symbol and are involved in some type of illegal activity.
Gangs mark their territory with graffiti. Oftentimes the gang members will “bomb” a wall and write the name of the gang — SM X 3 — and their monikers, like Lucky, Casper or Sad Girl. Yes, females are involved in gangs too, often pulled in by boyfriends.
Youngsters are pulled in by older siblings or because they are fascinated by the lifestyle. They see gangsters rolling around in fly rides with pockets full of cash and arms full of women, and want to emulate that. What they don’t realize is that the ladies and champagne don’t last.
“We try to tell them that this is temporary,” Lozano said “It’s not going to last. You are going to get caught. You are going to go to jail.”
Or worse, you could end up dead —and that includes innocent bystanders like Eddie Lopez and Miguel Martin, two youngsters who were killed in the last two years because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, quite possibly hanging out with the wrong people.
To ensure that no more innocent lives are lost, Lozano and Carranza go to middle schools and try to reach kids early. At the age of 12 kids start skipping school and begin hanging out with gangs. Oftentimes these kids come from broken homes and are neglected, leaving them with little self worth. All it takes is for someone on the street to show them some love. Kids are also subjected to images in the media, with rap stars and movies glorifying violence and the gang culture. Young kids are doing the “Crip Walk” and think it’s fun, but what they are really doing is promoting a gang and putting themselves at risk.
Parents should be keeping an eye on their children, monitoring who they hang out with and what they are writing on their notebooks and backpacks. It starts there. A kid will start writing his moniker or the symbols of a gang on his notebooks, then a bathroom stall or a wall. It can escalate quickly.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.