"We will continue to pursue these investigations and work toward the total eradication of all criminal gangs," Safir said. Police now attribute 135 of these slashings to gang initiation rituals. Two young men would approach a stranger on the street or subway, pull out a box-cutter and slash their victim's face. But it wasn't the wearing of the symbolic red bandana or the graffiti that prompted the NYPD to act, it was the violence.Ĭity police first noticed a sharp increase in what seemed like random slashings. In the last year or so, officials say, Bloods graffiti began showing up on the streets of New York City. "We class them by their records in the jail when they come in." "We know who the members are and where they are and we know where they move," said Deputy Commissioner Bernard Keric of New York City Corrections. They reportedly got their start in the city prison on Rikers Island where they battled two other gangs, the Latin Kings and Netas, for dominance. They have entrenched themselves in Boston as well as Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, but police say they've never gotten a solid toehold in the Big Apple until recently. The Crips and the Bloods have been migrating from Los Angeles through the Midwest to the East. "Operation Red Bandana was designed to break this pattern of violent crime, stop their efforts to expand and organize in the city," said Police Commissioner Howard Safir. The alleged gang members have been charged with crimes ranging from assault and drug sales to attempted murder. Most of them are reported to be Bloods, but at least one unit of Crips was collared.
In a recent three-day sweep, New York City police arrested 167 alleged members of the gangs. NEW YORK (CNN) - The Crips and the Bloods, gangs synonymous with bloody violence on the West Coast, have been steadily migrating eastward, but they have run into a rude welcome in New York. New York turns up the heat on Crips, Bloods 3-day sweep nets 167 alleged gang members August 27, 1997 CNN - New York turns up the heat on Crips, Bloods - August 27, 1997
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