California's Most
Violent Export
by Investigator Al Valdez
Orange County District Attorney's Office
California
has experienced street gang problems for more than 70 years.
Professionals who work with Hispanic street gangs should
take the time to examine street gang history. Many current
gang activities and rivalries can be traced back to the
origins of specific gangs. One gang which particularly warrants
study is the 18th Street gang. Because of its growth and
recruitment patterns from the 1960s until present, the 18th
Street gang is one of the largest, most well-known Hispanic
street gangs in the nation.
18th Street has extended its reach well
beyond the Los Angeles area, and expanded into many other
states, Mexico, and Canada during the 1990s. Law enforcement
officers have encountered 18th Street members in central
and northern California, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska,
Iowa, Illinois, Georgia, and on Native American lands. The
membership of 18th Street in California alone is estimated
by law enforcement officers at more than 30,000. Intelligence
information indicates that there may be as many as 30 different
subsets/cliques of 18th Street in California. This huge
membership is the result of a massive 18th Street recruitment
program in the early 1990s, which also resulted in the expansion
of 18th Street to many western and Midwestern states.
HISTORY
The 18th Street gang was formed in the 1960s. According
to Sergeant Richard Valdemar, of the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department, the 18th Street gang had its origins
in racial prejudice. During the 1960s, the Clanton Street
gang, a well-established Hispanic street gang, was in its
second generation. Youth in the local neighborhood wanted
to join the gang, but the membership of Clanton Street was
limited to those youth who were American citizens from a
pure Hispanic background. Youth who were undocumented immigrants
or of mixed ancestry were not allowed to join the gang.
Although turned away by Clanton Street, these juveniles
still participated in criminal activities. Like many young
juvenile offenders, they were arrested and sent to juvenile
detention facilities. While in these facilities, their membership
to Clanton Street was denied. As a result, these youth from
the Clanton Street neighborhood formed their own gang. A
young man, nicknamed "Glover," was in a detention
facility, and started to recruit mixed-race youth to form
a gang. These youth were the original members of 18th Street.
According to Sergeant Valdemar, the young man who started
the Clanton Street Throw-aways lived on 18th Street, just
four blocks away from the Clanton Street gang. The new gang
adopted the name of his street. This street was located
an area now known as the Rampart section of Los Angeles.
The 18th Street gang was the first Hispanic
gang to break the racial membership barrier. This willingness
to step across racial lines allowed rapid and unchecked
growth in the gang's membership, which was largely composed
of immigrants and multi-racial youths. 18th Street also
recruited heavily from the populations of illegal immigrants
entering the United States from Mexico and South/Central
America. Although primarily composed of Hispanics, some
cliques of 18th Street have recruited African Americans,
Asians, Caucasians, and Native Americans. Some tagger crews
who operated within 18th Street territory were also actively
recruited, but only if the crews had a reputation for violence.
For example, West Side 18th Street "jumped in"
50 members of a tagger crew known as KWS, Kings With Style.
KWS members were known by law enforcement to be involved
in robbery, assaults, drive-by shootings, and murder.
Uniquely, the 18th Street gang members,
though primarily turf-oriented, also travel to other areas
and states for membership recruitment and illegal activities.
This tendency to travel explains 18th Street's wide-scale
presence in many different states. However, while 18th Street
members have dispersed the gang through relocation and targeted
recruitment, the overall research on gangs still supports
the idea that most gangs are indigenous to their areas of
origination. Very few gangs send members out of state to
recruit new members and to establish new cliques or sets
of their gang. The 18th Street gang was the first Hispanic
street gang to do this. Law enforcement intelligence supports
the assumption that some of these recruits have been sent
out with a specific purpose. At one time, intelligence indicated
that "tagger crews" that were jumped in to 18th
Street became "tax" collectors, enforcers, and
narcotics distributors.
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Like most gangs, 18th Street is involved in many types of
criminal activities, including auto theft, carjacking, drive-by
shootings, drug sales, arms trafficking, extortion, rape,
murder for hire, and murder. National and international
drug trafficking seems to be 18th Street's main criminal
activity. Intelligence indicates that 18th street has established
ties with the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels, which
has impacted the Southwest border states in particular.
Because of the large amount of drugs which 18th Street distributes
and sells, the gang also has ties to the Mexican Mafia prison
gang and many black street gangs. The connection between
18th Street and drug activity appears strong. Members 18th
Street may also conceal their membership status, which may
make prosecuting 18th Street drug cases more difficult.
This gang also has been known to market "rock"
cocaine, marijuana, tar heroin, and methamphetamine. As
the methamphetamine market continues to expand across the
United States, it can be expected that 18th Street's street
presence will similarly expand, leading to encounters with
18th Street in areas of the U.S. which have not previously
seen this gang.
Tax collection is another area of criminal
activity where 18th Street is well established. Typically,
in an area that is claimed as territory by 18th Street,
gang members will collect a tax from any business: legitimate
or criminal. The potential taxpayers include street vendors,
shop owners, prostitutes, and drug dealers, as well as the
businesses which exist in the neighborhood. Members of 18th
Street then threaten to kill any individual who refuses
to pay the tax. In 1994 alone, the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Office prosecuted 30 murders that were the result
of hits made by 18th Street gang members for failure to
pay taxes.
As law enforcement puts pressure on the
drug and violent criminal activities, some 18th Street gang
members have become involved in non-violent criminal enterprises
such as creating fraudulent Immigration and Naturalization
Services (INS) identification cards, immigration papers,
credit cards, bus passes, and even food stamps. The gang
was once active in the cellular telephone cloning market,
but this activity is on the decline due to the introduction
of digital cellular telephone service.
CHARACTERISTICS
Members of 18th Street frequently adorn their bodies with
tattoos. The most common tattoo is that of the number 18
(XVIII). The tattoos can be located anywhere on the body,
and some members will cover their entire body with 18th
Street tattoos, including placing an 18 on their foreheads
or above their eyebrows. The number "666" can
also be used to represent 18th Street. The tattoos also
might indicate the clique of 18th Street to which the individual
belongs.
18th Street gang members wear many types
of clothing. The colors most often seen are brown or black
pants and a white T-shirt. Some 18th Street gang members
also wear clothing from professional sports teams. The presence
of 18th Street in a new community is usually discovered
when graffiti appears. 18th Street uses graffiti to mark
their turf, in the same manner used by most traditional
Hispanic street gangs.
TRENDS
Some cliques of 18th Street have access to their own arsenal
of weapons. Therefore, many law enforcement officers consider
18th Street gang members to be armed and dangerous during
every encounter. Some 18th Street gang members in Los Angeles
have access to automatic weapons, including Tech 9s, Mac
10s, Mac 11s, and AK-47s. It is common for 18th Street gang
members to be armed with .25 and .380 caliber handguns,
so caution should be used during field contacts. The 18th
Street gang, as a whole, has a reputation for being extremely
violent and ruthless. The possession and use of firearms
only adds to this reputation.
Some cliques of 18th Street seem to be evolving
to a higher level of sophistication and organization. This
is probably due to connections the gang has maintained with
the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels. Law enforcement
projections and intelligence indicate that 18th Street gang
membership will continue to grow, especially outside of
California as new drug markets are established. The gang's
propensity for violence is also expected to increase.
18th Street is often referred to as the
"Children's Army" due to its recruitment of elementary
and middle-school aged youth. The gang specializes in early
indoctrination to the rules of the gang with these young
members, who are told that leaving the gang will result
in their death or the deaths of their loved ones. Thus,
the gang's influence on its members is profound. One mother,
during interviews with criminal justice professionals working
with her young son, stated: "A boss from 18th Street
calls my son and tells him what to do." Her son, a
juvenile, had tattooed the number 18 on his forehead. She
further stated: "Los Angeles gang members are not like
[other] gang members. [The Los Angeles gang members] are
more ruthless, commit more murders, deal more drugs."
Her son told his probation officer: "I cannot avoid
associations with other 18th Street gang members because
they call me all the time, and if I don't go with them,
they will say I am a ranker. There are rules you have to
follow. There is only one way out, and that's in a body
bag."
Al Valdez is currently employed as a
District Attorney Investigator for Orange County, California.
Valdez has a total of 21 years of experience with a special
emphasis on narcotic and gang investigations and prosecutions.
Currently, he is assigned to the North County T.A.R.G.E.T.
(Tri-Agency Resource Gang Enforcement Team) Gang Unit for
Orange County.
Copyright © 2000 Al Valdez. All rights
reserved
