Crips

Originating in Los Angeles, California in 1969, The Crips are one of the oldest, largest and most notorious gangs in the United States. The Crips were founded by 15 year old Raymond Washington along with Stanley "Tookie" Williams and Avalon Gardens resident Jimel Barnes. Initially the gang were called the Baby Avenues (named after the older local gang members at the time called the Avenues). The name "Crips" was first introduced in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper in a description by crime victims of young men with canes, as if they were crippled (though there is some discussion that it may have initially been a simple spelling mistake). Eventually, Stanley Tookie Williams, generally acknowledged as co-founder of the Crips, started his own gang called the Westside Crips.

The initial intent of the Crips were to continue the revolutionary ideology of the 1960s within the African American community (C.R.I.P. originally stood for Community Revolution In Progress). These aspirations were unattainable because of a general lack of political leadership and guidence. Washington and Williams were never able to develop an agenda for social change within the community. The revolutionary vision did not endure because of immaturity and a lack of leadership. Young Raymond Washington and his group never were able to apply their vision of neighborhood protection into a broader progressive strategy. They immediately were met with conflict by other neighborhoods, and slowly from 1969 to 1972 these neighborhood clashes, eventually leading to murder. By 1971, the Crips' notoriety had spread across Los Angeles, partially due to media sensationalism. The Crips became increasingly violent as they attempted to expand their turf. By the early 1980s, crack cocaine had emerged in urban poor areas and was being distributed by gang members, causing a cycle of violence and retalitory killings.

The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more youth gangs joined it; at one point they outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1, sparking disputes with non-Crip gangs including the L.A. Brims, Athens Park Boys, the Bishops and the Denver Lanes. The Crips eventually became the most powerful gang in California. In response, all of the other besieged gangs, including the Pirus, formed an alliance that later became the Bloods.

In 1971 a Crips set on Piru Street, Compton, known as the Piru Street Boys was formed. After two years of peace, a feud began between the Piru Street Boys and the other Crip sets that would later turn violent when members of the Piru Street Boys were getting killed by their own allies. This battle continued until the mid 1970s when the Piru Street Boys wanted to call an end to the violence, and called a meeting with other gangs that were targeted by the Crips. After a long discussion, the Pirus broke off all connections to the Crips and started an organzation that would later be called the "Bloods", a street gang infamous for its rivalry with the Crips.

In the 1980s, Crips moved into the sale of crack, a form of the drug cocaine. It was developed as a simpler alternative to the process of freebasing, which necessitates the use of controlled and dangerous chemicals such as ether. Inexpensive and highly addictive, crack could be marketed by the Crips to lower-income brackets. The Crips made enormous profits from selling crack and gathered the capital to advance themselves in the illicit markets. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the Crips developed intricate networks and a respected reputation with other gangs across America and neighboring countries.

To stem violence between the Crips and Bloods, a peace treaty was negotiated in 1992, most notably in Watts, the treaty being largely based upon the ideals laid forth by original Crips co-founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams in his "Tookie Protocol For Peace." Though violence levels have been reduced somewhat after the conclusion of this peace treaty, gangland killings and warfare persist in heavily gang-controlled areas. More recently, however, the Crips have begun to cease the use of colors as a means of identification, since it is likely to draw attention from police. Methods such as the use of college sport team jerseys and hats are sometimes used, but in general, what set a certain gang member claims can be determined solely by their tattoos. Many Crips will also change words containing the letter B or choose another word to replace it, the best being a word with a C. This is due to their hatred of Bloods. If no word can reasonably be substituted, the letter B will be crossed out to show disrespect. Sometimes excessive use of the letter C also occurs, such as "be right baCC" to refrain from using the initials "ck" which stands for "Crip Killer." Also the letter B can be written Bk as in "Blood Killer."

The Crips are NOT one gang, but an identity that many gangs associate themselves with. Copy cat Crip gangs in other cities may fashion themselves by regional cultural indicators, but most have nothing to do with Los Angeles. Some of the first Crip gangs in Los Angeles included the East Side Crips, Compton Crips, West Side Crips, Avalon Garden Crips, 43rd Street Crips, Harlem Crips, Hoover Crips, Inglewood Crips and Grandee Crips. Crips have a loose structure of ranks based on how long a person has been banging for their particular hood and how much work they put in for the hood. Their rank structure is as follows:

(from lowest to highest)

T.G. (Tiny Gangster)

B.G. (Baby Gangster)

O.B.G. (Original Baby Gangster)

O.G. (Original Gangster)

O.O.G. (Double O.G.)

O.O.O.G. (Tripple O.G.)

These ranks don’t signify leadership or dominance over anybody else in the set, they just signify respect for those who have been in the hood longer, put in more work for the hood, and have survived the longest. This means that Crips with higher rank don’t give out orders or call shots over those with lower rank. Crips with higher rank are respectfully reffered to as “Big Homies” by Crips with lower rank. Once a person has joined a Crip set, it’s for life, meaning you can not leave the set or flip (switch) to another set.