Why are certain letters and numbers important to gangs?

The number "13" is often attached to a gang name to signify that a gang has ties to Southern California or is a "sureno"(Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas) gang (to be distinguished from rival Norteno gangs." In the California state prison system in the 1950's a group calling itself the "Mexican Mafia" ("La Eme") emerged as a consortium for Southern California gang members. "M" being the 13th letter of the alphabet, the group began to be identified exclusively with the number "13". A group calling itself Nuestra Familia ("Our Family") which served to protect the interests of Northern California gangs later emerged in the prison system. Northern California gangs began to incorporate the number "14" as suffixes to their gang names t signify the 14th letter of the alphabet, "N", which denotes a reference to Nuestra Familia. The numbers that appear after the gang name often appear in Roman numeral form or a combination of standard numbers and Roman numerals.

In the El Paso area, some gangs in the Northeast part of town now use the number 14 to signify their northern relationship. Gangs on the West Side of Town often refer to themselves as "Westsiders." The introduction of gangs to El Paso from Juarez, Chicago and Los Angeles have complicated territorial delineations and have intensified relations since late 2003.

The "Almghty Latin Kings" group claims several hundred teen members in El Paso, but this group appears to have little semblance to the ALKQN academies of Chicago and New York. Some members of other gangs in El Paso state that El Paso teens who call themselves ALKN are "false-claimers" or are false-claiming -- claiming to belong to a gang that does not recognize them officially from the top down.

They do, however, utilize the colors yellow and black and call Folk Nation their enemy. In 2007, the El Paso Latin King group claims to have befriended the Blood group, as has been evidenced in various El Paso high schools.

New Mexico gangs will often incorporate the numbers "505" and "575" into their graffiti or will wear the number on a jersey or T-shirt. 505 is the area code for New Mexico until 2008 when it becomes "575", owing to a designated area code split. El Paso gang members often use the numbers "915" in the same fashion, as the area code for the El Paso, Texas area is "915." Gangsters from other parts of the United States use their three-digit area code from time to time, as well.

El Paso gangsters might choose to use the letters "EPT" -- an abbreviation for El Paso, Texas. Too, they refer to El Paso as "Chuco", "El Chuco," or "Chucotown."

Gangs from Juarez, Mexico use a wholly different numbering system which identifies sectors of that Mexican city bordering El Paso, Texas. A large number of older Juarense gang members have relocated to El Paso, Phoenix and Dallas and have imported their numbering system into the gang name mix. In El Paso two emergent Juarez gangs, Bad Boys 28 and Harpis 21, have been prominent in the new numeration influence.

Other gangs incorporate the name of the street on which they operate either in written or numerical form (i.e. First Street, which in Spanish is translated "Primera" or "1a". The gang 19th Street has made its appearance in El Paso in the late 1990s, although the city has no 19th Street within its borders. This gang is one of several which have exported themselves to this region from the Juarez and Las Vegas, NV areas.

The letter "V" is often used in gang names to abbreviate the term "barrio" ('neighborhood) which has been expressed in the vulgar and grammatically incorrect term "varrio". In street language the term for neighborhood is commonly mispronounced with a "v" instead of a "b". (i.e. VGS, Varrio Glenwood Street; VMA, Varrio Marmolejo Apartments); VSJ, Varrio San Juan. The letter "B" for "Barrio" is also used in the same way (i.e. BN, Barrio Nuevo; or Barrio Mesa St.) .

The letter "L" often is used as the last letter in a gang acronym (i.e. MCL, Moon City Lokos) to abbreviate the term "lokos"or "locos" ("crazy ones"). A gang member who is "down" for his group is often said to be "loco/loko", or "so down he will do anything 'crazy' (zealously, or in full spirit) for his hood."

The letter "M" has commonly been used by gangs in El Paso for the last five to ten years to signify the term "Mexican". (i.e. MPK, Mexican Posse Kings; MCK, Mexican Crazy Killers).

In 2007, an El Paso gang group has incorporated the term "Wetback" into its name. In Laredo, Texas, a gang group refers to itself as with the the words "Mojado Power."

Some gangs and tagging crews use the letter "K" in their gang acronyms to signify the word "Kings" or "Killers", which is part of their name (i.e. AK, Alvarez Kings; OFAK, Out For Action Kings). In tagging vocabulary, the word "kings" signifies "lettering or artistic experts". Tagging gangs also use the letter "K" to indicate the term "crew" or "Krew."

Some gangs refuse to use certain letters owing to issues of rivalry. Crips, for example, will not use the letters "b" or "p" or will mark these letters with a cross-out notation to signify their distaste for these letters.

Why do gangs do or use graffiti?

Other forms of gang communication

Graffiti (gang placazos): aerosol or marking material writing of a gang name, gang acronym, gang symbology, declared message, and/or gang member name(s) deliberately placed on a wall, trash dumpster, street curb, mailbox, street asphalt, billboard, street sign or other highly visible object/location. Gang-related graffiti has been termed "the newspaper of the streets", as graffiti messages often convey territorial delineation or control, encroachment into a neighborhood, affiliation with other gangs, the names of gang members in a given group, and intentions to war with or harm gang groups or individuals. The marking out with an "x" or simple line through the name of a graffiti-ed gang or gang member name by a rival (a "crossing out") is common in territorial bickering. Graffiti may also be used to honor a dead fellow gang member, typically with the words "Rest in Peace" or the abbreviation R.I.P." Not all gangs use graffiti, as some of the highly-structured gangs explicitly prohibit vandalism or proscribe the casual use of the gang name for reasons related to sacredness. By contrast many older street gangs take pride in the elaborate lettering used in placazo writing in Gothic or Old English script.

In the State of Texas graffiti done on a public building, cemetary or school is treated as a felony. The charge carries up to a two-year sentence and a maximum fine of $10,000. The cost of graffiti goes far beyond dollars. Neighborhoods that are plagued with graffiti also suffer from a lack of pride and continued deterioration, blight.

Markings done on buildings, dumpsters, sidewalks, trees, restrooms and other places where the public is sure to see the markings is vandalism when done without permission from the property owner.

Hand signs, hand signals or sign language: Some gangs, such as Barrio Azteca, have developed elaborate sign language intelligible only by members.

Whistling combinations: Some gangs have elaborated unique whistling tone combinations to convey their arrival, a call for meeting, or as a war cry when fighting or threatening another group or individual. In El Paso the whistling tones often incorporate the mouthed sound "cha" with an in-breathed high-pitched ascending whistling sound. Many of these whistling tones are similar to bird calls.

Secret code lettering: Some of the older gangs have developed secret alpha-numeric and object codes which can only be decoded by higher-level or privileged gang members. Letters and written messages of a secret nature are often written in this code unique to the gang originating the message.

Gangs will often associate their group with either the colors blue or red in order to indicate their sureno or norteno status, if it applies. Other groups will select a set of colors such as red, white and black as their group colors. Graffiti will often be done in these colors and the members will often dress in their group's color scheme. Bandanas worn will also come in one of the colors.

Some groups who are in a truce will sport bandanas of a brown or gray color to so indicate. Some Hispanic gangs in the Southwestern United States "fold the flag", or suspend use/display of the bandana during times of internal gang crisis or conflict.