The Crips are a mostly an black gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. What use to be an alliance between two autonomous gangs is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with each other. Its members usually wear blue clothing, a practice that has waned somewhat due to police crackdowns. The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 35,000 members.
They have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes. Crips have a long and bitter rivalry with the Bloods. Crips have served in the United States armed forces and on bases in the United States and abroad. Stanley Tookie Williams met Raymond Lee Washington in 1969 and the two decided to unite their gang members from the west and east sides in order to battle neighboring street gangs. Most of the members were 17 years old. Williams discounted the sometimes cited founding date of 1969 in his memoir, Blue Rage, Black Redemption.
Gang activity in South Central Los Angeles has its roots in a variety of factors dating back to the 1950s and ’60s, including post-World War II economic decline leading to joblessness and poverty, racial segregation leading to the formation of black “street clubs” by young African American men who were excluded from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, and the waning of black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement. By 1978, there were 45 Crips gangs, called sets, operating in Los Angeles. They were heavily involved in the production of PCP, marijuana and amphetamines.
On March 11, 1979, Stanley Tookie Williams, a member of Westside Crips was arrested for 4 murders and then on August 8, 1979, Raymond Washington was gunned down. Washington had been against Crip infighting and after his death several Crip sets started fighting against each other. The Crips leadership was dismantled prompting a deadly gang war between the Rollin’ 60 Neighborhood Crips and Eight Tray Gangster Crips which began causing nearby Crip sets to choose sides and align themselves with either the Gangster Crips or Neighborhood Crips waging an all-out war in South Central and other cities.
The East Coast Crips and the Hoover Crips directly severed their alliance after Washington’s death. By 1980 the Crips were in turmoil, warring with the Bloods and against each other. The growth and power of the gang really took off in the early 1980s when crack cocaine hit the streets. In the early 1980s Crips sets began distributing crack cocaine in Los Angeles. The huge profits from distribution of crack cocaine induced many Crips to establish new markets in other cities and states.
As a result, Crip membership grew steadily and by late 1980s it was the one of the largest street-gangs in the country. In 1999, there were at least 600 Crips sets with more than 30,000 members transporting drugs in the United States. The Crips started on high school campuses across South Central, Los Angeles. Freemont High School was the home for the “Eastside Crips,” and the ‘Westside Crips” started on the opposite side of the 110 Harbor Freeway. On top of that, an additional faction of Crips was developed in the Compton jurisdiction of Los Angeles, which is known today as the “Compton Crips. Almost a decade after the establishment of this specific gang, “the Crips had expanded from a miniature Los Angeles gang to a cross-country organization with membership spreading throughout the state of California. Also formally developed gangs, such as the “Main Street Crips,” “Kitchen Crips,” “5 Deuce Crips,” and the “Rolling 20 Crips,” combined the Crip label into their gang set. Regardless of the fact that these gangs welcomed the Crip name, they typically continued to be independent and remained to have their own leadership structure and affiliates.
Several of these Crip subsets often found themselves in conflict with each other as a result of non-affiliation with Deuces and Trays. Therefore, the Crips had actually ended up being similar to the gang affiliates they had once formed to protect themselves from-Crips evolved into gangbangers who petrified their very own communities”. Throughout their early years of existence, Crips’ primary activities consisted of extortion of funds from everyday working African Americans, burglary and assault. The fathers of the Crips gang both lost their connection with the gang many years after its creations.
A rival gang killed Raymond Washington in 1979, and Tookie was behind bars that very same year on multiple counts of murder. The Bloods and the Crips were very territorial and fairly devoted in terms of protecting their turf against intrusion by another rival gangs. As a result of the multitude of gang members occupying a fairly small location of Los Angeles, the gangs formulated a technique of recognizing each other. This system of recognition allows gang affiliates to prevent attacking members of various sets that belonged to the same gang.
The Crips” recognize themselves with the color blue, which is thought to come from the colors of Washington High School in south Los Angeles. Crip gangsters wear articles of blue apparel, blue bandanas, shoelaces, hair rollers, belts, hats, or sweatshirts”. If one’s apparel is unclear, gang signs are commonly used, which is a derivative of sign language for these gangs. Crip members are likely to change the letter “B” with the letter “C” when composing particular words. Therefore, “back” ends up becoming “cacc,” “being” ends up becoming “ceing” example “kiccing cacc ceing cool. When talking to each other, Crips refer to each other as “Cuzz” and “Blood Killas”(BK), and affiliates of this gang could be seen sporting British Knight (BK) shoes. Before the 1980’s, the Crips and the Bloods had little involvement in narcotics trafficking. “Nonetheless, by 1983, African-American Los Angeles gangs took advantage of drug market after the easy accessibility of narcotics, especially crack, as a way of earnings”. Several of the gang affaires who became engaged in the purchasing and selling of drugs originated from the inner city areas where unemployment and poverty are a way of life.
Gangsters could possibly make anywhere from five hundred to five thousand dollars each day dealing crack cocaine. Therefore, the cash reward was a primary part which attracted gangsters to this specific profession. Bloods and Crips manage crack cocaine distribution in several cities around the nation. Affiliates of these gangs will expand to various cities, ascertain the narcotics demand in that city, recognize the drug dealers in the city, and determine the established operations for narcotic sales.
Gang participation in the drug market has resulted in an unbelievable amount of brutality throughout specific cities as a result of the members battling over “lucrative drug trade”. So, as members of the Bloods and Crips populated in different cities throughout the United States, they brought with them the sale of narcotics and the violence connected with it. Gang members frequently travel to other cities based on established family connections within a certain city and the temptation of fast money from the purchasing and selling of drugs. The Crips and the Bloods “are seen in the majority of states and their jail populations.
There are essentially hundreds of sets or individual gangs under the primary Blood and Crip name. East coast-based gangs consisting of People Nation and Folk Nation has become so popular that the Crips and the Bloods have developed allies with them. Bloods have developed an alliance with the People Nation, and the Crips have developed an alliance with the Folk Nation. The Bloods and the Crips started over twenties years ago in a little area of Los Angeles, and today, there more than 33 states and one hundred twenty-three cities which are occupied by Crips and Bloods gang members.
New York City is among the one of the biggest cities in the United States, flooded with Bloods and Crips. Prior to the 1980’s, the Crips and the Bloods had limited active participation in narcotics trafficking. “However, by 1983. African-American Los Angeles gangs seized upon the availability of narcotics, particularly crack, as a means of income” 10. Many of the gang members who became involved in the buying and selling of narcotics came from the inner city areas where poverty and unemployment are a way of life. Gangsters could make anywhere from three hundred to five hundred dollars per day selling crack cocaine.
Thus, the money involved was a main component which drew gangsters to this particular line of work. Crips and Bloods control crack cocaine distribution in many cities around the country. Members of these gangs will migrate to other cities, ascertain the narcotics demand in that city, identify the dealers in the city, and figure out the established operations for narcotic sales. Gang involvement in the drug market has led to an extraordinary amount of violence throughout certain cities due to the members fighting over “profitable narcotics trade” 11.
So, as members of the Bloods and Crips migrate to various cities throughout the United States, they bring with tham the sale of narcotics and the violence associated with it. Gang members often relocate to other cities based on established family ties within a particular city and the enticement of quick profits from the buying and selling of narcotics. The Crips and the Bloods “have migrated throughout the country and are seen in most states and their prison populations. There are literally hundreds of sets or individual gangs under the main Blood and Crip names” 12.
Eastern coast ased gangs including People Nation and Folk Nation have become so well known that the Crips and the Bloods have formed allies with them. Bloods have formed an alliance with the People Nation, and the Crips have formed an alliance with the Folk Nation. The Crips and the Bloods began nearly thirty years ago in a small section of Los Angeles, and today, there are over thirty-three states and one hundred twenty-three cities which are occupied by Crips and Bloods gang members. New York City is one of the major cities in the U. S. engulfed with Crips and Bloods, and its prisons are the home for many of these gang members.