Gangs from the Virginian Pilot
More on gangs: history, laws, resources, signs
The Virginian-Pilot© July 4, 2005
Gang history & culture
- To be labeled a gang by Virginia law, a group must have at least three members and a name or symbol. One of its primary objectives must be crime, and it must commit at least two – one of them violent.
- By “qualifying” for gang status, members who commit gang-related crimes can be charged under the state’s new, stronger anti-gang laws.
- Gangs, mostly homegrown, surfaced in Hampton Roads around 1987. National gangs trying to get a local footing hailed mostly from the West Coast back then. These days, police say, that threat comes more from New York and New Jersey.
- Some gangs, like the Bloods and Crips, are a loose coalition of independent chapters, or sets. Others, like the Gangster Disciples, operate much like a business – with national expansion plans and a board of directors.
- Initiations can require a mission. In extreme cases, they require an innocent victim — such as Derald Guess. A youth minister moonlighting as a cab driver, Guess picked up a handful of young men on Dec. 8, 2004 in Edgewood, Md., 45 minutes north of D.C. One of the men shot Guess, a father of nine, in the temple as part of his initiation into a Blood set.
- Experts say today’s gangsta rap has helped promote the thug image. In 2002, The Clipse recorded a song called “Virginia” with Pharrell Williams, a Grammy Award-winning producer from Virginia Beach. The song invites gangsters to come to the Commonwealth, where, according to the lyrics, crack can be sold for “triple price.”
- The main reason kids join gangs: protection, status, excitement, sense of belonging, money and peer pressure. Surveys say gang members tend to range in age from 12 to 24 years old; most expect to be dead before 25.
- Some gangs try to force kids to join. On Dec. 16, 2004, on a Norfolk school bus, a handful of Crips tried to recruit a student. The boy refused. When he got off the bus, the Crips followed, knocking him to ground, where they hit and kicked him in the head.
- Bloods and Crips find many ways to disrespect each other. Bloods draw a line through every letter “C” they encounter; Crips do the same to the “B.”
- If a breakfast includes Froot Loops cereal, Bloods won’t eat the blue loops, because blue is the chosen color of Crips; Crips won’t eat the red, for the same reason.
- Gangs communicate, advertise and antagonize with a secret language of colors, tattoos, hand signs, symbols and body language. East Coast gangsters often “bang to the right” – hats tilt to the right, bodies lean to the right, arms are folded right over left. West Coast gangsters do the opposite.
- Tattoos can indicate gang, rank, specialties and deeds. Different patterns of dots and lines testify to robbery, larceny or murder. Scars tell their own tales. “Dog paws” – three dots arranged in a triangle and usually burned into the skin with a cigarette – brand the wearer a Blood.
New anti-gang laws
Virginia anti-gang legislation that went into effect July 1:
House Joint Resolution No. 573: Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to study the characteristics and makeup of criminal street gangs to help in the prosecution of gang members.
HB 1800: Defines as murder the premeditated killing of anyone as a membership requirement for a criminal street gang, or at the order of someone in a gang.
HB 2217 or SB 1217: Provides enhanced punishments for gang activities taking place at or near schools, colleges and school buses. The bill allows a witness in a gang prosecution to request that certain information about the witness not be disclosed. This bill also adds to the list of crimes defined as “predicate criminal act” the following: assault by mob, reckless handling of a firearm, extorting money, shooting from a motor vehicle, carrying a loaded firearm in public areas in certain localities, possession of a firearm, stun weapon or taser on school property.
HB 1573: Directs the Board of Education to include provisions addressing gang-related activities in its model guidelines for codes of student conduct. Bill patron David B. Albo (R-42nd District) said it will allow schools to be even more stringent in not allowing students to wear colors, brag about their gang affiliation, etc.
Source: http://legis.state.va.us/ — the Virginia General Assembly Web site
Who to contact
If you suspect gang activity or want more information, contact:
- The Virginia Gang Investigators Association at www.vgia.org
- The Hampton Roads Crime Line at (888) 562-5887 (LOCK-U-UP)
Online resources
These Web sites have useful gang-related information:
- The National Youth Gang Center: www.iir.com/nygc/default.htm
- The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center: www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/gangs.asp
Gang warning signs
Parents should be concerned if their child:
- Seems obsessed with one particular color of clothing.
- Comes home with unexplained bruises/injuries/burns.
- Withdraws from family, loses interest in school.
- Develops unusual desire for privacy and secrecy.
- Uses hand signals with friends and practices them at home.
- Has a new nickname.
- Has a particular tattoo such as: five- or six-pointed star, pitchfork, MOB
- Has unexplained money or goods.
- Has gang graffiti on school books, folders or bedroom walls.
- Has a new fear of police.
Source: The Virginia Gang Investigators Association; National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations
The Virginian-Pilot© July 4, 2005
Gang history & culture
- To be labeled a gang by Virginia law, a group must have at least three members and a name or symbol. One of its primary objectives must be crime, and it must commit at least two – one of them violent.
- By “qualifying” for gang status, members who commit gang-related crimes can be charged under the state’s new, stronger anti-gang laws.
- Gangs, mostly homegrown, surfaced in Hampton Roads around 1987. National gangs trying to get a local footing hailed mostly from the West Coast back then. These days, police say, that threat comes more from New York and New Jersey.
- Some gangs, like the Bloods and Crips, are a loose coalition of independent chapters, or sets. Others, like the Gangster Disciples, operate much like a business – with national expansion plans and a board of directors.
- Initiations can require a mission. In extreme cases, they require an innocent victim — such as Derald Guess. A youth minister moonlighting as a cab driver, Guess picked up a handful of young men on Dec. 8, 2004 in Edgewood, Md., 45 minutes north of D.C. One of the men shot Guess, a father of nine, in the temple as part of his initiation into a Blood set.
- Experts say today’s gangsta rap has helped promote the thug image. In 2002, The Clipse recorded a song called “Virginia” with Pharrell Williams, a Grammy Award-winning producer from Virginia Beach. The song invites gangsters to come to the Commonwealth, where, according to the lyrics, crack can be sold for “triple price.”
- The main reason kids join gangs: protection, status, excitement, sense of belonging, money and peer pressure. Surveys say gang members tend to range in age from 12 to 24 years old; most expect to be dead before 25.
- Some gangs try to force kids to join. On Dec. 16, 2004, on a Norfolk school bus, a handful of Crips tried to recruit a student. The boy refused. When he got off the bus, the Crips followed, knocking him to ground, where they hit and kicked him in the head.
- Bloods and Crips find many ways to disrespect each other. Bloods draw a line through every letter “C” they encounter; Crips do the same to the “B.”
- If a breakfast includes Froot Loops cereal, Bloods won’t eat the blue loops, because blue is the chosen color of Crips; Crips won’t eat the red, for the same reason.
- Gangs communicate, advertise and antagonize with a secret language of colors, tattoos, hand signs, symbols and body language. East Coast gangsters often “bang to the right” – hats tilt to the right, bodies lean to the right, arms are folded right over left. West Coast gangsters do the opposite.
- Tattoos can indicate gang, rank, specialties and deeds. Different patterns of dots and lines testify to robbery, larceny or murder. Scars tell their own tales. “Dog paws” – three dots arranged in a triangle and usually burned into the skin with a cigarette – brand the wearer a Blood.
New anti-gang laws
Virginia anti-gang legislation that went into effect July 1:
House Joint Resolution No. 573: Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to study the characteristics and makeup of criminal street gangs to help in the prosecution of gang members.
HB 1800: Defines as murder the premeditated killing of anyone as a membership requirement for a criminal street gang, or at the order of someone in a gang.
HB 2217 or SB 1217: Provides enhanced punishments for gang activities taking place at or near schools, colleges and school buses. The bill allows a witness in a gang prosecution to request that certain information about the witness not be disclosed. This bill also adds to the list of crimes defined as “predicate criminal act” the following: assault by mob, reckless handling of a firearm, extorting money, shooting from a motor vehicle, carrying a loaded firearm in public areas in certain localities, possession of a firearm, stun weapon or taser on school property.
HB 1573: Directs the Board of Education to include provisions addressing gang-related activities in its model guidelines for codes of student conduct. Bill patron David B. Albo (R-42nd District) said it will allow schools to be even more stringent in not allowing students to wear colors, brag about their gang affiliation, etc.
Source: http://legis.state.va.us/ — the Virginia General Assembly Web site
Who to contact
If you suspect gang activity or want more information, contact:
- The Virginia Gang Investigators Association at www.vgia.org
- The Hampton Roads Crime Line at (888) 562-5887 (LOCK-U-UP)
Online resources
These Web sites have useful gang-related information:
- The National Youth Gang Center: www.iir.com/nygc/default.htm
- The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center: www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/gangs.asp
Gang warning signs
Parents should be concerned if their child:
- Seems obsessed with one particular color of clothing.
- Comes home with unexplained bruises/injuries/burns.
- Withdraws from family, loses interest in school.
- Develops unusual desire for privacy and secrecy.
- Uses hand signals with friends and practices them at home.
- Has a new nickname.
- Has a particular tattoo such as: five- or six-pointed star, pitchfork, MOB
- Has unexplained money or goods.
- Has gang graffiti on school books, folders or bedroom walls.
- Has a new fear of police.
Source: The Virginia Gang Investigators Association; National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations
posted by Steve Nawojczyk at
5:05 AM
1 Comments:
i dont really have a comment but more of a question and i would like the help of anyone that can help. What rights does a student have when being accused of a gang member by the school administration and constantly threatned with expulsion?? if anyone could give me guidance i would gladly appreciate it.
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