A History of California's Hispanic Gangs
by Al Valdez
Investigator, Orange County District Attorney's Office

The Origins of Hispanic Street Gangs
Most people believe that Los Angeles' Hispanic street gangs can be traced to the early 1900s, but Hispanic street gangs of the early 1900's developed as a result of incidents that occurred more than 50 years earlier.  In 1718, the Mission of San Antonio Balera was established on the banks of the San Antonio River in south central Texas.  This mission later became known as the Alamo.  The southwestern portion of the United States belonged to Mexico, but many Americans had settled in these areas.  By 1835, the revolt by Texans against Mexican control of this area was in full swing.  In February 1836, Colonel William Travis and 180 men took control of the Alamo from the Mexicans.

On March 6 of that year, Mexican president Santa Ana and approximately 3,000 Mexican soldiers attacked the Alamo in an effort to regain control.  The Americans in the Alamo killed more than 400 Mexican soldiers during the battle.  The Mexican army prevailed, and the few U.S. survivors surrendered to General Santa Ana who, to their surprise, ordered their executions.  Those orders were carried out immediately.  Word of this quickly spread throughout the resistance movement, and the rallying cry for the Texas forces became "Remember the Alamo."  Anti-Mexican sentiment had begun, and continued to grow during the conflict.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, marked the end of the war between the United States and Mexico.  The United States paid Mexico $15 million plus $3 million in compensation for the northwest portion of Mexico.  Today, that area is known as Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado.  Many Hispanic street gang members felt (and still feel) that the United States stole this part of Mexico from their ancestors.  In reality, Mexico lost less than 1% of its population.  The United States offered a naturalization program to those Mexican citizens affected by the treaty.  All but about 2,000 Mexican nationals residing in the area became naturalized citizens of the U.S.  Nevertheless, there was still a high degree of resentment by many U.S. citizens against any Mexican because of the memory of the Alamo.  The California Gold Rush of 1849 immediately followed this treaty.  These events set the attitude, social and economic conditions in Los Angeles during the early 1900's.  Those conditions, along with the rapid growth of Los Angeles and other historical events, helped to shape and direct the actions of L.A.'s street gangs.

In the early 1900's, Los Angeles experienced the birth of the first Hispanic street gangs.  Mexican-Americans who lived in the "pueblo" of Los Angeles still felt displaced, even as naturalized citizens.  Many of these new Americans were treated like second-class citizens by white Angelenos, and were told to go back to their home, Mexico.  In the minds of Hispanics in Los Angeles, they were already home, but their home was now part of the United States because of the annexation.  They now lived in a country that didn't want them, but they could not return to Mexico because they were U.S. citizens.

The Mexican immigrants also tended to live in the same areas, with family or other Mexicans who migrated from the same geographical areas of Mexico.  These neighborhoods were often some of the poorest areas in rapidly growing Los Angeles.  These conditions aided in the development of rivalries between various immigrant groups.  A modern class distinction was also developing.  Sgt. Joe Guzman, Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, an expert on Hispanic street gangs, correctly points out that Mexican street gangs formed in part due to economic conditions, prejudice and racism.  Irish street gangs formed in the 1800s in New York as a result of these social conditions.   In the early 1900s, similar social and economic factors were present in Los Angeles, giving rise to Hispanic street gangs.

The Los Angeles and El Paso Connection 
During the early years of the 20th century, an underground drug and prostitution market developed between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas.  Early L.A. gang members started to mimic the dress style, mannerisms and language of the Mexican drug dealers and pimps that operated in these areas.  During this time, the Mexican youths also became interested in swing music and started to use "Calo," a slang blending Spanish and English.

By the 1920s, El Paso, Texas had become a center for many immigrant Mexicans, much like Los Angeles.  In fact, an underground travel route developed between the two cities.  This route allowed El Paso trends to directly influence the L.A. street gangs.  In El Paso, Texas, many of the Mexicans who went to prison were incarcerated in Huntsville.  While in the Huntsville prison, they formed a prison gang called the El Paso Tip.  El Paso Tip took it's name from the area of Texas where the prison was located.  Fellow gang members would greet each other by saying: "are you tipped up?" or "are you tipped?"  According to Sgt. Richard Valdemar (a prison gang expert with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department), this phrase meant: "Are you from the El Paso area?" which referred to the location of the Huntsville prison.  El Paso Tip would later become very influential in the Los Angeles street gang culture. 

The Depression Era and World War II
The late 1920's saw the beginning of the Depression in the United States.  Most Americans today do not identify with the term "Black Tuesday," which referred to October 24, 1929, the day the stock market crashed and brought the American economy down with it.  The depression, while influential in the lives of America's Hispanic population, was less influential to the growth of street gangs than the subsequent economic recovery during the 1940s.  The growth of the aircraft industry and other industrial jobs created a "work rush" which resembled California's Gold Rush in the 1800's, and brought many people to California, including Mexican immigrants. 

Also in the 1940's, according to Sgt. Joe Guzman, Mickey Garcia, a young boy from Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico migrated north and relocated in El Paso, Texas.  He immediately joined a local Mexican street gang called the Secundo Barrio.  Garcia also brought with him a unique style of dress, initially thought to have originated in Mexico.  Garcia's dress style became an instant hit with all the young people, especially the local gang members.  His fashion included a felt hat with a long feather in it, called a  tapa or tanda.  The pants were pleated and baggy, and referred to as  tramas.  The shirt was creased and called a  lisa.  A  carlango, a long, loose-fitting coat, was worn over the ensemble.  The shoes, called  calcos, were French-toe style or  Stacy Adams brand and were always shined.  To complete the style, one had to have a long chain attached to the belt loop that hung past the knee, and into the side pocket of the pants.  This outfit became known as the  zoot suit, and was later referred to as the  pachuco look.  In the past, many angry parents would use the term pachuco to describe this popular dress style.  The word, Pachuco, was derived from the town that Mickey Garcia's hometown:  Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico.  Garcia was not the first to wear the  zoot suit in California or Texas.  However, he may have been one of the first Mexican street gangsters to adopt this popular style of dress.  Garcia's appearance certainly helped to spread the popularity of the  zoot suit within the El Paso Mexican street gang population.

Remember the well-traveled route between Los Angeles and El Paso?  Via that route, the pachuco style of dress was most likely re-introduced to the Los Angeles-based Mexican street gangs.  It did not take long for the pachuco clothing to become popular with gang members.  The zoot suit was already present in the L.A. area in the late 1930s, however, it was not adopted as a style of dress by the street gangs until the early to mid 1940s.

The Maravilla gangs started to form during the mid-to-late 1940s, and continued to grow well into the 1950s.  The concept of protecting turf was expanded within the housing projects known as Maravilla, where the Maravilla gangs got their start.  Competition for jobs, women and turf became issues for the youth that lived in this area, according to Sgt. Joe Guzman.  Eventually, rivalries began to exist between people living in different housing projects.  If conflicts arose, however, they were handled within the community, not by outsiders (law enforcement).

This mentality developed into an early form of claiming turf.  When you claim turf, the next step is protecting it.  These concepts were then adopted by the other Mexican street gangs and were rapidly accepted and put into practice.  These housing projects evolved into some of the neighborhoods or barrios whose names are still familiar within the street gang culture.  The origin of Mexican street gang turf wars can be traced back to those original housing projects.  These behaviors also helped to create the current gang customs and practices.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing  the United States into World War II.  These war years also played a role in the historical formation of Mexican street gangs.  On August 2, 1942, a young Mexican was beaten up and subsequently died from a fractured skull received in the attack.  The killing of this young man, Jose Diaz, occurred near a popular swimming hole known as "Sleepy Lagoon," located on William's Ranch, which is now the city of Montebello, California.  Police officers who investigated the crime blamed Diaz's death on a gang fight.  The Los Angeles Police Department literally rounded up all of the usual suspects and arrested 24 members of the  38th Street gang.  The Los Angeles Grand Jury indicted 22 of the 24 suspects for the murder.  The criminal trial was considered by the community to be a "kangaroo court."  On January 13, 1943, 3 gang members were convicted of first degree murder, 9 members were convicted of second degree murder, 5 members were convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, and 5 members were found not guilty.  The Mexican community responded with outrage, feeling that the trial was fixed and the convictions were based on race.  However, the 17 convicted members of 38th Street were sent to state prison.  Hispanic street gangs in Los Angeles changed forever as a result of those convictions.  The jail sentences also acted like glue to unite the Hispanic community in a common cause, to fight against class distinction based on prejudice and racism, along with a fight against the establishment, including the police.

While in prison, the convicted 38th Street gang members never complained.  They were given the worst jobs and treated unfairly because at that time, the prison population was mostly Caucasian.  The 38th Street inmates kept themselves clean and shined their shoes.  They cleaned and pressed their clothes, even though they were issued garments that were several sizes too large.  The 38th Street members held tough and maintained their dignity while in prison.  This behavior set a new standard for Hispanic gang members who were subsequently sent to jail.  They demonstrated a type of gang pride and resolve that had never been seen before.  These behaviors also elevated the incarcerated 38th Street members to the level of folk hero status within the Hispanic community.  The street gang members especially held them in high regard.

The trial also caused the Hispanic community to develop an anti-white sentiment and created distrust for the government, especially the police.  Anti-Hispanic sentiment also grew within the wider community because of this community response.  The class distinction only became more prevalent because racially motivated abuse continued to be directed at Hispanics for many years.  It did not matter whether they were U.S. citizens or undocumented immigrants.  To many whites, they were simply  "Mexican."

As the nation became more involved in the war effort, Los Angeles and San Diego became major deployment points for the U.S. military who were involved in the Pacific campaign.  As a result, the military population in both cities increased dramatically almost overnight.  During June 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots of Los Angeles began.  The non-Hispanic community, especially the military personnel, felt that the  Hispanic community was not contributing to the war effort.  Their dissatisfaction was specifically directed at the young Hispanics and Hispanic street gang members who wore the zoot suit.  The large, oversized suit only wasted valuable fabric which could be used in the war effort.  In fact, the zoot suit was considered contraband because the War Production Board did not sanction it.  The War Production Board took the stance that it was the clothing designers' patriotic duty to design fashions that would use a minimal amount of fabric.  This would conserve a valuable resource which was needed for the war.

In addition, many undocumented Mexicans never registered for the draft, nor did they enlist in the military.  Lastly, the visiting military were very popular with the local women.  The women were attracted to men in uniform.  The gang members felt there was additional competition between these two groups (military men and local men) for the women.  These factors only caused the anti-White sentiments and corresponding anti-Hispanic sentiments to increase.   In reality, the perception that Hispanics were not supporting the war was inaccurate.  Many thousands of U.S.-born Hispanics, some first and second generation, volunteered for service in the military.  Many saw front-line action, and many sacrificed their lives for the people back home.

These attitudes on both sides, however, became the fuel necessary to spark conflicts between the military personnel and the Hispanic street gang members.  There were major assaults on Hispanics who wore the zoot suit, including gang members, by military personnel, who were almost never arrested.  The police would routinely only arrest the gang members who were involved in these confrontations.  These conflicts forced the Hispanic street gangs to unite against a common enemy and to develop a uniform of their own.

One additional incident occurred during 1943 which impacted Los Angeles' Hispanic street gangs.  On October 4, 1943, the California Appeals Court overturned the convictions of the 38th Street gang members for the murder of Jose Diaz.  The appellate court found that the criminal trial's findings were in error because the defense attorneys were not allowed to present a defense for the accused.  The appellate court also found that evidence had been falsified.  The appellate court's findings only validated the community's concerns about the trial, and solidified the opinions of community members that the convictions were based on prejudice and racism.  The incarcerated 38th Street gang members were welcomed back into the Hispanic community as heroes.  

By the late 1940's, the number of Hispanic street gangs and gang members had increased.  Hispanic youth found a certain solidarity in street gangs, believing their cause was just.  Sgt. Joe Guzman points out in his research in this area that some gang members adopted heroes of the Mexican revolution, such as Emilio Zapata, as their heroes at the time.  They identified with the phrase:  "it is better to die on my feet than to live on my knees."  The gangs were fighting against the establishment and the military.  There were very few fights between Hispanic street gangs.

The Formation of the Mexican Mafia
The postwar era brought more change to Hispanic street gangs in Los Angeles.  After the war, with no common enemy, the frustration and aggression of the gang members was aimed at each other.  The Maravilla gangs that formed in East Los Angeles developed the most notorious reputation for being violent and ruthless.

As the number of street gangs grew, so did the tendency of these gangs to claim turf, and to settle their problems with action. Insults against a gang were not tolerated, and intense rivalries formed between gangs.  Violence began to increase as gang members began to use guns more often.  A new word entered the gang vocabulary:  drive-by.  The 1950s were to be a decade of rapid growth for Los Angeles.  The suburbs became a popular place to live for many Angelinos.  Man-made structures, like freeways and major interstate highways helped to define new geographical turf boundaries for many gangs.  The new man-made boundaries also subdivided existing gang territories and created new gang clickas (cliques) or subsets of the original gangs.  To further compound the issue, many families were moving away from Los Angeles to the smaller surrounding cities to avoid the ever-increasing inner-city gang violence.  The 1950s urbanization also added to the street gang growth.  This flight from gang violence became one of the first identified gang migration mechanisms.  Families would move to prevent their children from joining street gangs or to save them from further involvement.  For some families, it was too late.  The relocated children moved away physically, but brought the gang mentality and philosophy with them.  They joined local gangs in their new communities or created new cliques of the gang they were associated with in Los Angeles.

Throughout the 1950s, the number of gang-related violent crimes increased dramatically, as did the size and number of Hispanic street gangs.  Law enforcement agencies increased their response to gangs, and many Hispanic gang members were sent to prison.  This caused the demographics within the correctional system to change.  Between 1956 and 1957, several Eslos, short for East Los Angeles, were doing hard time together at the Duel Vocational Institute in California.  They formed the Hispanic prison gang known as La Eme, the Mexican Mafia, the first prison gang in California.  Initially, the gang was formed for protection against other inmates and the prison staff.

In 1968 at San Quentin, a state prison in Northern California, an incident occurred which would forever change California's Hispanic street and prison gangs.  There are at least two versions of this incident.  Sgt. Joe Valdemar reports that an  Eme member, " Pieface," shared a cell with Hector Padilla, a Hispanic from Northern California.  Padilla's most prized possession was a pair of shoes which he shined and cared for every day.  One day, while Padilla was out of the cell, Pieface stole his shoes.  Pieface discovered that the shoes were too small to fit him.  In an effort to win some points with La  Eme, he decided to give the shoes to a higher-ranking member of the prison gang.  Surprisingly, he chose Robert "Robot" Salas.  The shoes fit the Eme gang member, and  Pieface walked back to the cell area, only to find Padilla frantically looking for the shoes.  Padilla recognized that Salas was wearing his shoes.  An argument ensued, and Padilla, the real owner of the shoes, accused Salas of stealing them.  This statement, of course, insulted the  Eme gang member, and the fight started.  Padilla was stabbed several times during the argument and died.  Word of this spread quickly through the prison system, especially among the Hispanic inmates. 

Another version of the incident says that "Robot" Salas was the roommate of Padilla, rather than  Pieface.  In this version, Salas received the shoes as a gift and returns to his cell, which is of course shared with Padilla, and the fight occurs in the cell.  However it occurred, the murder solidified the rivalry between northern and southern Hispanics, both in the prison system and on the street.  The Hispanics from northern California formed  Nuestra Familia (NF), another prison gang,  in response to the conflict.  NF was formed to protect the northern Californians from La Eme, whose membership was made up primarily of southern Californians.

Street and prison gang members from northern California began to use the number 14 as an identifier.  It represented the 14th letter of the alphabet, the letter "N."  The letter stood for  Norteno, the Spanish word for northerner.  The term  norte was used to show that a person was from the north.  Individuals from southern California were automatically considered rivals, both inside the prison system and on the streets.

Southern California gang members began using the number 13 as an identifier.  The 13th letter of the alphabet is the letter "M," and the word for this letter in Spanish is " Eme."  Southern California gang members started using words like  Sureno, which means "southerner."  Often, this term was abbreviated as  sur/SUR.  Gang members also started to tattoo themselves with the number 13 and with the terms  Sureno or sur along with the name of their gang, to signify their origin in southern California.

Inmates in the state prison system were given bandannas in a railroad print, and could select from two colors:  red or blue.  Hispanic street and prison gangs from northern California claimed the color red to identify themselves.  They used this color because most of the southern California Hispanics in state prison had chosen to wear a blue-colored railroad handkerchief.  The Crips and Bloods were not the first gangs to use red or blue to identify.

Rival southern California Hispanic street gangs had one thing in common:  they were enemies with anyone from northern California.  This rivalry united them in jail and in state prisons.  The same was true for northern Hispanic gang members, except their common enemy was any gang member from the south.  Somewhere, while the dust was settling between these two groups, they began to visualize an imaginary line which divided the northern gangs from the southern gangs.  This line turned out to be a gray area, rather than a clear line, in central California.  However, gang members usually agreed that the division was located somewhere between the cities of Bakersfield and Delano.

The separation caused individual street gang rivalries between Hispanic gang members to be set aside while in jail.  All southern California street gang members inherited a common enemy:  any gang member from northern California.  This separation united all the street gangs from the north against all street gangs from the south, while they were incarcerated, at least.

By this time, a common street code of conduct for Hispanic gang members had become:

The 1970s and 1980s
By 1970, the firearm had become the weapon of choice for many Hispanic gang members.  Many gangs added more members to become stronger and more formidable.  The traditional jump-in ritual had started to become more violent.  A few gangs also required a prospective member to commit a crime to earn membership.  Hispanic street gang members now considered themselves the policemen of their neighborhoods.  They felt (and still feel) they had a duty and sacred obligation to protect their turf.  Most Hispanic gangs battled over turf violations.  Incarceration became a status symbol for many gang members.

There was also a concerted effort among law enforcement, community members, and the judicial system, to curb gang violence.  As a result, many gang leaders were sent to prison.  The prison life mentality was taken to the streets by parolees, and taught to the younger street gang members.  The philosophy became:  "Only the strong survive to prey on the weak."  The parolees were considered  veteranos or veterans.  They were given the utmost respect and given a position of high honor by the street gang members.  The  veteranos tutored the street gang members on the prison philosophy, the new code of conduct for the streets.  This standardized the expected behaviors for street and prison gang members.  These behaviors included the proper ways to dress, talk, act and conduct business.

The continued criminal justice attack on gang violence had an unforeseen result on the street gangs.  The gang leaders that were sent to prison were the same people that kept the younger gang members in check.  The  veteranos were the mentors, and enforced the gang rules.  When they were incarcerated, the  veteranos lost their direct leadership of the gang.  Their training and mentoring was stopped.  The "old ways" began to lose impact with the younger gang members, who could basically do what they wanted when the leaders were incarcerated.  In many gangs, the younger members were basically bringing themselves up, maturing without any formal guidance.

By the mid to late 1980s, the traditional ways of the Hispanic street gangs had all but been abandoned.  Hispanic street gang members had begun to commit crimes in their own neighborhoods.  Non-gang members, particularly undocumented immigrants, had become a new class of prey for the Hispanic street gangs.  The immigrants started to form their own gangs for protection against the established street gangs.  This only increased inter-gang conflicts.  Gang violence became commonplace on school grounds, and at malls, theaters, and churches.  Innocent women and children were victimized by Hispanic gangs.  There were no rules for the gangs, aside from "only the strong survive."   Many citizens in the gang-controlled neighborhoods became reluctant to assist law enforcement with gang-related investigations because they feared gang retaliation as a real and constant threat. 

In 1984, another type of Hispanic gang developed as an alternative to street gangs.  The Stoner gangs formed, and much of the membership of these gangs was Hispanic.  Based on heavy metal music and drug use, these gangs gained a quick, but not long-lasting, popularity.  Stoner gangs shared many behaviors with more traditional Hispanic street gangs.  Therefore, Stoner gangs were not immune to the violence associated with gang life.  They just directed their violent tendencies toward other Stoner gangs and among themselves.

By the late 1980s, Hispanic gangs such as 18th Street, 38th Street, and Big Hazard began to sell drugs for profit.  As a result, gang-related violence in the area dramatically increased, as did gang membership.  In 1988, Los Angeles County reported 452 gang-related homicides and approximately 50,000 gang members in 450 different gangs.  The gang violence became so common that many young Hispanics began to seek out an alternative to street gang membership.  In the late 1980s, Los Angeles County experienced the rapid growth of  Tagger Crews.  The majority of members were young Hispanics who did not want to join a street gang, or those who had left a street gang.  The  taggers' focus was on graffiti vandalism.  Initially, most of the crew members advocated non-violence.

The Tagger Crews grew quickly and began to infringe on Hispanic gang turf.  This violated the codes of the street, and  taggers became targets for gang retaliation.  After being assaulted by street gang members, many  taggers began to arm themselves with weapons for protection against future attacks.  Tagger Crews were also heavily influenced by the street gang culture, and began to seek revenge for assaults.  This attitude put the crews in an offensive position.  Some Tagger Crews began to assault other  tagger crews with their new firepower.  A subset of the Tagger subculture evolved into Tag Banging, aggressively protecting their graffiti turf and maintaining ongoing rivalries.  The Tag Bangers had become just another type of street gang, and were just as prone to violence as many of the Hispanic street gangs.

The 1990s and Beyond
By the early part of 1990, gang violence had escalated to another all-time high.  Los Angeles was considered by many as the "gang capital" of the country.  By now, there were two major ethnic gangs prevalent in the United States:  Hispanic gangs and African-American street gangs.  These two races had co-existed for years, tolerating each other's presence on the streets of Los Angeles.  Another alternative to street gangs also developed:  Party Crews.  These groups broke both racial and gender barriers for membership.  However, the majority of members were young Hispanic males and females.  Just like the Tagger Crews, the Party Crews tried to steer away from the violent nature of street gangs.  However, because they existed side by side with street gangs, and because they were heavily influenced by the street gang culture, it did not take long before violent conflicts between these groups arose.

Although there was an attempt to educate community members on gang dangers, Hispanic gangs continued to grow in size and violence.  In 1990, Los Angeles County reported approximately 690 gangs operating within the county.  By 1991, there were an estimated 100,000 gang members and 750 different street gangs in L.A. County alone.  Hispanic street gangs continued to account for a majority of the street gangs.

In 1992, the "Eme Edict" was passed down to the streets.  Joe Morgan, the leader of the Mexican Mafia, issued orders to the Hispanic street gangs of Southern California.  Gang members were told to stop committing drive-by shootings.  Publicly, the order was issued to stop the gang violence.  This was a service to the community by a prison gang to decrease gang violence, according to several Mexican Mafia members and associates.  This edict resulted in a "gang truce" between Hispanic street gangs in Southern California.  However, in later years, the ulterior motive of the edict, hidden within the cry to stop the gang violence, became more clear.  The Mexican Mafia was attempting to extend it's controlling influence on the street gangs.  The edict was also an effort to coordinate drug sales by Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles and other surrounding communities.

There were some additional adaptations to Hispanic street gangs during the 1990s, as well.  During the late 1980s and early 1990s,  law enforcement agencies around the United States began to identify Surenos-affiliated gangs which were appearing as far away as Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and even the Midwest.  Some of these Hispanic gangs were multi-racial, and had broken the gender membership barrier.  Many were not connected or related to Southern California street gangs, nevertheless, they claimed that status ( Sureno).

By the mid 1990s, law enforcement agencies also began to document a change in the concept of gang respect.  Respect no longer seemed to be based on age, experience, or knowledge.  Respect, in the street code, was increasingly based on fear.  This change was due to several factors.  First, the decreasing role of adult leadership within the street gangs,  dating back to the 1970s and 1980s contributed to the change in street values.  It also was connected to the gun violence which was used by the street gangs as their primary method of solving disputes.  The rapid increases during the late 1980s and early 1990s in the size of the individual street gangs, which now could count hundreds or even thousands of members, also impacted this issue, as well as the increasing role of drug use and sales in the street gang culture.  By the mid 1990s, the gang ethic of the 1950s and 1960s was almost totally gone, and new rules prevailed for street gangs.

For most Hispanic gang members, guns were (and still are) used to settle any dispute.  The gun had become the instrument or tool used to get respect.  This respect was sought by committing violent crimes and assaults with firearms.  This behavior intimidated the victims, surrounding community, and gang populations.  The most violence-prone gang members and gangs were the most feared, and therefore, the most respected.

The peak year for gang-related murders in Los Angeles County was 1995.  Gang populations also reached an all-time high, approximately 150,000.  Some estimates indicated there were over 1,500 different street gangs within the county.  Fortunately, 1996 brought unexpected declines in the number of gang-related murders.  For the first time in several years, gang violence seemed to be decreasing.  Nationally, violent crime had also started a downward trend.  The Mexican Mafia began to require Hispanic street gangs to pay them a tax on the sale of drugs.  The imposed tax was supposed to help their comrades when they were in prison.

Some gangs did not pay the tax.  These gang members felt that the drug money they earned was theirs, and would not be shared with the Mexican Mafia.  This stance forced the Mexican Mafia, in order to maintain their status on the streets, to put the non-taxpaying gangs on a  green light list.  This simply meant that it was "open season" on any non-taxpaying gang.    Previously,  the Hispanic gangs had, under the truce conditions, been forbidden from retaliating against their traditional Hispanic gang rivals, Hispanic street gang members could now attack and kill a green light listed member.

Street gang members were also increasingly being used as muscle for the Mexican Mafia.  The opposition to paying the Mexican Mafia tax grew so great that some Hispanic gangs started referring to themselves as  green lighters.  They became proud of the fact that their gangs were tax-free, and advertised it.  In fact, some of these gangs started to use tattoos that said "tax free" and "green light."  Occasionally, the gangs' graffiti also included the words "tax free neighborhood."  A few gangs even referred to themselves as the "Green Light Gangs." 

In 1997, gang-related murders in Southern California continued to decrease.  Los Angeles County only had 452 deaths, and gang murders were decreasing throughout the entire state.  Violence between Hispanic gangs was also decreasing.  Overall, gang membership figures for Los Angeles county had also decreased slightly.  Some Hispanic gangs established acess to a "gang gun."  These weapons could be shared by the entire membership.  The gun would be hidden in a location well-known members, and retrieved easily.  Also, by this time, some Hispanic gang members were also involved in arsons and bombings.  Pipe bombs and molotov cocktails were commonly used.

By 1998, street gangs were reported to be present in every state across the U.S., and on Native American lands.  Street gangs, as a whole, had established a hold in rural American and in small to mid-sized towns around the country.  Hispanic gangs could be found in almost every state.  The    Norteno-Sureno rivalry still continued to be a major cause for violent acts between the two types of gangs, and this rivalry was played out in cities across the western United States.  

In the late 1990s, many members from the same street gang lived in different cities, and some lived in different countries.  They would meet at a certain location within the city in which they operated.  Traveling gang members that belonged to Hispanic gangs were not uncommon.  Historically, Hispanic gang members had remained loyal to their original gang, no matter where they resided, and whether they were incarcerated or on the street.  By the 1990s, this sentiment no longer held true for some Hispanic gang members.  This type of gang member might belong to one gang in the city of residence, belong to another gang where he/she socialized, and might even pledge affiliation to a third gang while incarcerated.  

By the end of 1999, Hispanic street gangs had become the fastest growing type of gang in the country.  Many Hispanic gangs had established a multi-racial membership.  There continued to be traditional, turf-oriented Hispanic gangs located in regions of the United States, but the concept of turf for some gangs had changed.  For some Hispanic gangs, the concept of turf had become fluid.  These gangs operated in an entire city, not just one neighborhood.  These gangs also did not always use graffiti, to mark their turf's boundaries, in the same manner of traditional Hispanic gangs.  There was no need to, since there were no turf boundaries to identify.  Hispanic street gangs were reported to be active in every state.