November 21, 2009

Graffiti is the newspaper of street gangs

by Ethan Forhetz, KY3 News 11/2/06

Tools

By Gene Hartley

Story Published: Oct 4, 2007 at 2:28 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 6, 2009 at 10:50 AM CST

SPRINGFIELD -- Gangs are a growing problem in the area. You may not know it but they communicate out in the open for everyone to see. Now, you can get a better understanding of their code. Their secret language is graffiti.

If you think gangs aren't in Springfield, just look around. The signs are everywhere.

To an untrained eye, graffiti is just random spray paint. A short crash course, however, empowers people to be able to read between the lines.

A reporter and photojournalist recently went out with members of the Springfield Gang Task Force who work on the streets. Their identities need to be concealed so their work and their lives won’t be compromised.

A number of gangs are in Springfield, including Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Latin Kings, Surenos out of Chicago, Bloods and Crips out of Los Angeles, and MS 13 out of Central America.   Here in the Midwest, the groups are what the cops describe as hybrid gangs.

“We have Bloods and Crips hanging out; Latin Kings and Crips hanging out; signs and symbols start to blur, which makes it harder for us to track them through graffiti,” said a task force member.

“I show Midwest graffiti to gang cops in California and they're mystified at how bastardized it is,” said David Starbuck, a gang expert who was in Springfield recently for a conference on fighting gangs.

Nevertheless, make no mistake, the signs and symbols are present in all gang graffiti. Just about every scribble means something. For example, the Latin Kings sign is an L and a K. The crown is also a symbol of the gang.

“Traditionally, LKs have five points and are written in black and yellow,” said a task force member.

Crips names are usually in blue. Their rivals, Bloods, are in red. The Surenos sign is SUR and the number 13, usually the Roman numeral 13 for M, the 13th letter of the alphabet, with M standing for Mexican Mafia.

Many of these examples appeared recently on a fence in an alley in north Springfield.

“When I first saw it, I was fit to be tied, madder than a wet hen,” said Lonnie Henry, who owns the fence.

Henry just put up the fence last spring. It was covered with a war of words -- or symbols, to be more accurate -- from three rival gangs: Crips, Latin Kings and Surenos.

“Now you know it's gang graffiti,” said Henry. “It's worse because the gangs are going to get somebody killed or hurt bad.”

A symbol for the Gangster Disciples appeared elsewhere in Springfield. It’s full of messages. The numbers 7 and 4, represent G and D, the seventh and fourth letters of the alphabet. Also, the six-point star and pitchforks point to Gangster Disciples.

There are also many signs of disrespect, like using another gang's symbol upside down. The canes of the Vice Lords are upside down in a Gangster Disciple's symbol. More signs of disrespect are the letters BK and CK, standing for Blood killer and Crip killer. The most common "dis" is an X-out.

“Traditionally an X-out means disrespect to the person who originally put the graffiti up there,” said a task force member.

Starbuck says many of the people responsible for this graffiti and gang crime aren't members of the original gangs out of Chicago or Los Angeles but are in loosely organized groups that mimic those gangs.

“It doesn't matter if a kid was born in poverty in LA or Chicago or born in affluent Greene County, Mo.; if they adopt a certain mentality and walk and talk it and live by a credo, that is the problem your community faces,” said Starbuck.

Gang graffiti shouldn’t be confused with another form of graffiti called tagging. Tagging is spray-painting a nickname.   It's usually more artistic and less threatening but it's still vandalism.

While being able to what’ what is good knowledge, when it comes to graffiti, police say the most important thing people can do is report it.

“You don't have to sit around and take it to the 10th degree,” said Starbuck. “It's vandalism. Get it off.”

There are 4 “Rs” in the fight against graffiti: citizens should read it and report it to police, and police will record it and then remove it.

“Any citizen sees this, assume it's graffiti and call to report it,” said a Gang Task Force member.

Web sites about gangs and gang graffiti:

Graffiti hurts

Art crimes: city walls

General information about graffiti

Street gangs.com

Street gang dynamics

Gangs or us

National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Associations

On-line guide to gang graffiti

National Youth Gang Center

Street gangs in America

BK stands for Blood killer.

The 'X' is a sign of disrespect.

This is 'tag' art, not gang symbols.

SUR is for Surenos.

The five-star symbol is for Latin Kings.

MS 13 is for a gang with roots in Central America.

Members of the Gangster Disciples use 7 and 4 in their graffiti.

This is another symbol for the Surenos.

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