![]() The burden is on the local jurisdiction to have the ability to identify, understand and document gang activity. No matter how complex some criminal street gangs are, each can be identified and documented. In addition to the aforementioned street gangs, the 1990s saw the emergence of hybrid and independent street gangs. The Crips, Bloods, People and Folk Nations have many commonly identifiable signs, symbols, clothing items or styles of dress, colors, alphabets and traditions. Each “set” has a varying level of criminal influence in its area of operation. These names are usually unique, sometimes including the name of the geographic area, neighborhood, street or “turf” in which they live and operate, fror example, the Grape Street Crips (Los Angeles). Localized criminal street gangs that are directly linked with or emulate established criminal street gangs/gang nations more specifically identify themselves by their “set” names. ![]() All currently pose a threat to public safety throughout the U.S. Several have entrenched themselves with Mexican drug organizations (MDOs), establishing transnational drug distribution networks. These four gang nations/affiliations have a presence in the U.S., from the East Coast to the West Coast, and abroad. The hundreds of Chicago street gangs and their members, both those incarcerated and on the street, established and aligned themselves with the People and Folk Nations. They evolved into notorious, ultra-violent and criminally successful street gangs, posing a major threat to Los Angeles. The Crips and Bloods started as street fighters defending their neighborhoods, only to become more dominant, organized, defined and identifiable in the late 1960s. They were territorial, causing tension with other neighborhood gangs. These gangs (e.g., African-American, Irish, Italian, Hispanic/ Latino) formed in the neighborhoods they identified with and defended. The initial reason for their formation was to strengthen ethnic and racial solidarity. ![]() As rival African-American clubs sprung up, symbols of wealth became more central to the sharp-dressed crew: top hat (shelter), cane (strength), glove (purity)-and the Playboy bunny, which according to Gangs: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition, “symbolizes the quickness and alertness of gang members.” Though the date of the earliest uses of the bow-tied bunny are unclear, UIC prof John Hagedorn-author of the gang studies People & Folks: Gangs, Crime, and the Underclass in a Rustbelt City and A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture-speculates the symbol has been employed by the Vice Lords since the early 1960s, “probably after the first Playboy Club opened.Criminal street gangs in America have been in existence for centuries. Back then, the Vice Lords was a neighborhood social and service club, which maintained an office and opened a restaurant and ice-cream parlor called Teen Town. Like Playboy, the street gang traces its roots back to Chicago, starting up in the Lawndale neighborhood in the early 1950s-right around the time Hef was launching his men’s mag. The tuxedo-clad bunny symbol that has been on the cover of every issue of Playboy (more than 670) is also one accepted symbol of the Almighty Vice Lords Nation. ![]() Is the Playboy rabbit also a gang sign? I’ve seen graffiti near my neighborhood that looks a lot like the magazine logo.- J., Bridgeport
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