Crips

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts says that the Black Guerrilla Family gang is spurring much of the recent violence in the city as it tries to expand its reach.  Batts, who recently took over as commissioner after working 30 years on the West Coast, asked his commanders to draw up "conflict diagrams" so he could better understand the web of connections driving crime in Baltimore.  He said those diagrams showed that the Black Guerrilla...

To the average person, seeing someone wipe the tip of his nose, then the sides with his left index finger and thumb might mean "I have an itch. " Or possibly "I have a cold. " But to a member of the Bloods gang, according to court filings, it could mean "I don't trust him. " For the past year, federal prosecutors in Maryland have been pursuing a case against 35 alleged members of a Bloods group known as the South Side Brims. Recently filed court documents describe how the tightly organized gang operated, detailing a system of ranks, hand gestures and cultural lore — details that would otherwise be difficult to obtain without sustained access to the group.

Recognizing Baltimore's feuding gangs should be easy: Red for Bloods. Blue for Crips. But it's no longer as simple as looking for different-colored bandannas hanging from the back pockets of jeans. Gang identifiers, in addition to traditional signs and tattoos, can be almost anything, manifested in wardrobes of significant variety. A blue belt. Red rosary beads. Pockets turned inside out. The 'C' in a Colorado Rockies baseball cap. The red in a Cincinnati Reds hat. There's no set uniform, according to a law enforcement expert, but there are recognized symbols that gang members incorporate into their everyday attire.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts says that the Black Guerrilla Family gang is spurring much of the recent violence in the city as it tries to expand its reach.  Batts, who recently took over as commissioner after working 30 years on the West Coast, asked his commanders to draw up "conflict diagrams" so he could better understand the web of connections driving crime in Baltimore.  He said those diagrams showed that the Black Guerrilla...

An admitted Crips gang member from the Aberdeen area was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Thursday for his role in a 2007 armed carjacking in Baltimore City. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Tyrone Moore, 21, to 147 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy, carjacking and using a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. Moore was 17 when the carjacking occurred. Two years earlier, at age 15, Moore was shot in the chest and nearly killed during what police in Harford County said was a turf war in Aberdeen's low-income Washington Park housing complex between the rival Crips and Bloods gangs.

In an unusual case, an Anne Arundel County judge said the only reason she would not impose a long prison term on a 21-year-old Crips leader for ordering an assault was that she feared the state's gang-laden prisons would pull him deeper into gang life. Judge Pamela L. North told Jeffrey Jerome Holbrook on Friday that she believed "seven years straight up is appropriate" in what prosecutors said was an attack Holbrook ordered on a man intervening in the beating of his younger brother. "The only reason I am not going to give you that is because the DOC [Department of Correction]

LOS ANGELES -- California law enforcement officials have launched an unusually fierce campaign to block clemency for Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the Crips, whose impending execution is shaping up as the state's most closely watched death penalty battle in decades. In arguments both legal and emotional, officials are asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reject pleas from clergymen, legislators and entertainers that Williams, who is scheduled to be put to death Dec. 13 for the murders of four people, has redeemed himself by his work on death row to dissuade young people from joining gangs.

FREDERICK, Okla. -- A dilapidated shell on the west side of town bore the first cryptic advertisement that something was amiss in rural America.It simply said, "Bloods."Then came the graffiti on the wooden barns, the tool sheds and the backs of stores on Main Street.One scribble in black paint said, "Police 187." Most folks in this tranquil town of 5,200 figured it was just juvenile gibberish.But Police Chief Jack Whitson read it as a warning that trouble was moving into this farm community, which lives off the rich, red Oklahoma earth.

A member of a Glen Burnie gang that calls itself the Crips pleaded guilty to murder yesterday, as county prosecutors offered a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony about a leadership struggle in the group that turned deadly. James Thomas Blake, 19, of Severna Park pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the Aug. 7 killing of Mark Anthony Miller, who authorities say was attacked in a Glen Burnie apartment. Blake, the third of five people charged in the slaying to plead guilty, could be sentenced to life in prison.

For years, as the Maryland prison gang Dead Man Inc. grew in numbers and influence, law enforcement authorities watched anxiously as the scheduled release of the gang's reputed leader drew closer, wondering what his return would mean for the violent group's burgeoning street presence. The climax was expected to come Tuesday — the day Perry Roark was scheduled to complete his 25-year term and exit a free man. But before his scheduled release, state police and Anne Arundel County prosecutors effectively turned back the clock by resurrecting a 17-year-old murder charge, ensuring that Roark, who is believed to have founded the gang in a Maryland prison, will remain locked away for now. Law enforcement officials say it is a temporary solution to dealing with the growing influence of the gang, whose membership is expanding beyond prison walls.

An admitted Crips gang member from the Aberdeen area was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Thursday for his role in a 2007 armed carjacking in Baltimore City. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Tyrone Moore, 21, to 147 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy, carjacking and using a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. Moore was 17 when the carjacking occurred. Two years earlier, at age 15, Moore was shot in the chest and nearly killed during what police in Harford County said was a turf war in Aberdeen's low-income Washington Park housing complex between the rival Crips and Bloods gangs.

For years, as the Maryland prison gang Dead Man Inc. grew in numbers and influence, law enforcement authorities watched anxiously as the scheduled release of the gang's reputed leader drew closer, wondering what his return would mean for the violent group's burgeoning street presence. The climax was expected to come Tuesday — the day Perry Roark was scheduled to complete his 25-year term and exit a free man. But before his scheduled release, state police and Anne Arundel County prosecutors effectively turned back the clock by resurrecting a 17-year-old murder charge, ensuring that Roark, who is believed to have founded the gang in a Maryland prison, will remain locked away for now. Law enforcement officials say it is a temporary solution to dealing with the growing influence of the gang, whose membership is expanding beyond prison walls.

Recognizing Baltimore's feuding gangs should be easy: Red for Bloods. Blue for Crips. But it's no longer as simple as looking for different-colored bandannas hanging from the back pockets of jeans. Gang identifiers, in addition to traditional signs and tattoos, can be almost anything, manifested in wardrobes of significant variety. A blue belt. Red rosary beads. Pockets turned inside out. The 'C' in a Colorado Rockies baseball cap. The red in a Cincinnati Reds hat. There's no set uniform, according to a law enforcement expert, but there are recognized symbols that gang members incorporate into their everyday attire.

In an unusual case, an Anne Arundel County judge said the only reason she would not impose a long prison term on a 21-year-old Crips leader for ordering an assault was that she feared the state's gang-laden prisons would pull him deeper into gang life. Judge Pamela L. North told Jeffrey Jerome Holbrook on Friday that she believed "seven years straight up is appropriate" in what prosecutors said was an attack Holbrook ordered on a man intervening in the beating of his younger brother. "The only reason I am not going to give you that is because the DOC [Department of Correction]

A two-year investigation has led to dozens of arrests and a disruption of a Crips gang's activities in Central and Western Maryland, authorities said yesterday. A task force of state, county and municipal police departments conducted the investigation, which brought about the arrests of 53 gang members on more than 150 criminal charges, officials said. Among those arrested, police said, were leaders of a Crips' organization that was operating in Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties.

LOS ANGELES -- California law enforcement officials have launched an unusually fierce campaign to block clemency for Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the Crips, whose impending execution is shaping up as the state's most closely watched death penalty battle in decades. In arguments both legal and emotional, officials are asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reject pleas from clergymen, legislators and entertainers that Williams, who is scheduled to be put to death Dec. 13 for the murders of four people, has redeemed himself by his work on death row to dissuade young people from joining gangs.

To the average person, seeing someone wipe the tip of his nose, then the sides with his left index finger and thumb might mean "I have an itch. " Or possibly "I have a cold. " But to a member of the Bloods gang, according to court filings, it could mean "I don't trust him. " For the past year, federal prosecutors in Maryland have been pursuing a case against 35 alleged members of a Bloods group known as the South Side Brims. Recently filed court documents describe how the tightly organized gang operated, detailing a system of ranks, hand gestures and cultural lore — details that would otherwise be difficult to obtain without sustained access to the group.

A two-year investigation has led to dozens of arrests and a disruption of a Crips gang's activities in Central and Western Maryland, authorities said yesterday. A task force of state, county and municipal police departments conducted the investigation, which brought about the arrests of 53 gang members on more than 150 criminal charges, officials said. Among those arrested, police said, were leaders of a Crips' organization that was operating in Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties.

A woman described by prosecutors as "supreme queen" of a Glen Burnie gang that called itself the Crips was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for her role in a deadly leadership struggle that led to the brutal slaying of a Glen Burnie man. Tracy C. Devilbiss, 29, sobbed as Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Robert H. Heller told her that he wasn't sure if she was crying because she was remorseful about helping to kill Mark A. Miller or if she...

A woman described by prosecutors as "supreme queen" of a Glen Burnie gang that called itself the Crips was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for her role in a deadly leadership struggle that led to the bru tal slaying of a Glen Burnie man. Tracy C. Devilbiss, 29, sobbed as Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Robert H. Heller told her that he wasn't sure if she was crying because she was remorseful about helping to kill Mark A. Miller or if she...