The GANGSTER DISCIPLES: A Gang Profile

George W. Knox, Director, NGCRC

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DO NOT USE WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION

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WARNING: This document is copyright protected in its entirety. A copyright is on file with the U.S. Copyright Office, Washington, DC, United States Library of Congress. The NGCRC strictly forbids reproducing, copying, distributing, or disseminating its “gang profiles”, also known as gang threat analysis research reports. No portion of the contents of these NGCRC gang profiles may be copied, reproduced, stored, or distributed in any form whatsoever without the prior written permission of the National Gang Crime Research Center.

Introduction

The Gangster Disciples, formed in 1974 as a 60-man operation, by 1995 had matured into a centralized criminal organization with nearly 30,000 members in Chicago alone, spreading its tentacles out to at least 35 other states and several thousand more members.

With an estimated annual revenues in excess of $100 million from Chicagoland narcotics sales and street tax (its total income from various front organizations, social service scams and other illegal income sources is difficult to assess), the gang is one of Chicago's most successful, albeit illegal, home-grown corporations in the modern American underground economy.

The Gangster Disciples' entrenched presence in city life, from West Side drug sales to political protests at City Hall, is a painful reminder that Chicago has a long and well-earned reputation as a gangster town.

It is also a testament to the gang's reach.

Like an aggressive, mutating virus, the Gangster Disciples gang has penetrated and exploited legitimate authority structures and democratic processes that could have endangered its existence: media, government, social service agencies, academia, church, even the penal system.

Reminiscent of the U.S. Army's recruitment promise to "be all you can be" the gang has lured members with opportunities far overreaching illicit financial gain from narcotics sales, from merchandising "prison fashion" to meeting with the President of the United States.

As they climb within the gang hierarchy, GD members have increased access to political internships, media exposure, preaching engagements, contracts and jobs with social service agencies and high schools and the prestige of associating with national leaders.

Chicago's Gangster Disciples have benefited from a societal vulnerability created in part by the naivete, ignorance-- and often apathy-- of journalists, politicians, religious leaders and government officials.

In this article, we will provide an overview of this powerful and dangerous gang, including information on: recent federal indictments and ongoing investigation; thumbnail sketches of gang leaders; organizational chart; historical overview with gang constitution; political and social service fronts; use of religion; and media strategies.

This article will conclude with an assessment of the gang's current power in light of recent federal indictments. Also included: excerpts from a yet-to-be released study by the National Gang Crime Research Center, prepared from a survey of Atlanta law-enforcement officials, including data on their beliefs of the gang's intent and ability to menace the upcoming Atlanta Olympic Games.

This document provides the basic gang profile of the Gangster Disciples originally published in the Journal of Gang Research. More recently, a follow-up study has been completed on the impact of the federal prosecution against the Gangster Disciples. This is not available on-line.

Federal Indictments: United States of America v. the Gangster Disciples

On Aug. 31, 1995, U.S. Atty Jim Burns boasted in a Chicago news conference that a five-year federal investigation had "torn the head off the snake" by indicting 39 GD members and associates, including leader Larry "The Chairman" Hoover. Hoover and 38 other GD middle management gang leaders now face long federal prison sentences for among other things using juveniles in their large scale drug sales operations. Hoover himself faces a federal life sentence if convicted.

Officers and officials from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Marshal's office, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Customs, Illinois State Police, Chicago Police and Chicago Housing Authority Police were also to savor that day. "Operation Headache" culminated in 21 arrests without injury to either officers or arrestees.

Hoover himself was flown from prison in Dixon, Ill. into Meigs Field, and subsequently taken to the Dirksen Federal Building.

But did "Operation Headache" cut off the head of the gang? Was it a beheading-- or merely a migraine?

By the middle of September, a community activist with acknowledged ties to the gang led a serpentine chain of self-identified GDs into City Council chambers, where they claimed every public seat for a hearing on how the State's Atty. had handled a political hot potato homicide investigation.

And on Sept. 22, Chicago Police officers who had enjoyed the televised August spectacle of handcuffed GDs got a CPD Special Bulletin advising them that 10 men named in the indictment were still free.

The bulletin read:

"Published herein is Federal Arrest warrant information on individuals wanted in connection with 'Operation Headache'... this bulletin concerns those 10 subjects who are still wanted on outstanding Federal arrest warrants. All are members of the Gangster Disciples street gang and should be approached with caution. Though all the wanted subjects have southside addresses, investigation revealed a strong Gangster Disciple presence in westside and northside districts."

The bulletin featured 10 booking photos of the wanted men, along with their addresses, ages and descriptions.

As this issue went to press, Darryl "Pee Wee" Branch, William "Too Short" Edwards, Russell "Poncho" Ellis, Johnny "Crusher" Jackson, Dion "Knuckles" Lewis, Sherman Moore, Timothy "Willa" Nettles, Quan "Q" Ray, Kevin "K-Dog" Williams and Tirenzy "Bible" Wilson remained at large. All but one were quickly captured, or turned themselves in. In early 2000, the one final remaining fugitive was caught as his place of work at a cheese factory in Wisconsin.

Jackson (IR# 899836) is reputedly a member of the gang's Finance and Communication Division, while Edwards (IR# 887190) was listed among the GD Governors/Area Coordinators, as was Darryl "Pee Wee" Branch, also known as Darryl Brent (IR# 350360). (See An Introduction to Gangs, 1995).

Brief Historical Sketch: Evolution of the GDs

The gang's genesis dates to 1960, with a South Side gang called the Devil's Disciples had become sufficiently large to warrant being given an outreach worker by the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago Youth Services (source: Chicago Historical Society). The Devil's Disciples were mostly male African-Americans, 15-18 years of age, frequenting the intersection of 53rd St. and Kimbark Ave., and operated from 53rd and Woodlawn to 49th St. and Dorchester Ave. In the early 1960s this gang known as the Devils Disciples became the "Black Disciples" (see Explosion of Chicago's Black Street Gangs: 1900 to Present, 1990, by Useni Perkins). The three major players in the Devils Disciples were David Barksdale, Shorty Freeman, and Don Derky.

Most accounts date the founding of the Black Disciples to the year 1966 as a southside gang. The founding leader of the Black Disciples was David Barksdale, referred to in gang materials as "King David." As a boy, Barksdale trained as a boxer at the Better Boys Foundation, later making an unsuccessful attempt to turn pro in New York City before returning to Chicago.

Even in the 1960's, the Black Disciples were enemies or rivals of the Black P. Stone Rangers led by Jeff Fort.

The center of their influence in the 1960's appeared to be in the Englewood community of Chicago, where "to raise money to fund their illegal enterprises Disciple leaders staged fundraising parties at the Maryland Theatre, located at 63rd and Maryland" (See Illinois Police and Sheriffs News, "Paying the Price of Our Neglect: Street Gangs are the New Organized Crime", Spring, 1994).

Barksdale, seriously wounded by gunfire from a rival gang member in 1969, died in 1974 of kidney failure related to those injuries.

Barksdale's arrests consisted mostly of disorderly conduct, weapons and drug possession (i.e., marijuana), with no actual convictions of drug pushing, according to one relative interviewed in July 1995.

Regardless of Barksdale's own arrest record, by the early 70's it was clear that his gang was involved in narcotics trafficking. And when he died, the narcotics territory and leadership of the Black Disciples was up for grabs.

Two men attempted to fill the power void: Jerome "Shorty" Freeman rose to become the leader of the existing Black Disciples; and Larry "King" Hoover created his own thing --- the Black Gangster Disciples.

Freeman tried to secure Barksdale's territory for the benefit of his gang, the Black Disciples or BD's (which continues today as a separate organization with its own unique by-laws and constitution.)

From prison, Hoover fused remnants of Barksdale's organization with that of his own gang, "The Family." Hoover had founded "The Family" at age 23, about a year before Barksdale's death. (See Chicago Tribune, Dec.11, 1973). Members of the Supreme Gangsters, a transition gang identity, became the Gangster Disciples.

Mississippi-born Hoover lived at 121 E. 104th St., in what today is called the "hundreds" area of Chicago's southside.

His gang's territory stretched from Chicago to Gary, Ind. On Nov. 5, 1973 Hoover was found guilty of the kidnap murder of reputed addict William Young. Joshua Shaw was prepared to testify against Hoover, but he too was murdered Sept. 27, 1974.

But Shaw had already given his deposition at a preliminary hearing, detailing how he saw Hoover and his lieutenant, Andrew Howard, kidnap Young from 69th Street and Wentworth Avenue on Feb. 26, 1973. Young, whom Hoover suspected of stealing from The Family's narcotics supply, was found shot to death in an alley at 6814 S. Lowe St. later that day.

Both Howard and Hoover received sentences of 150 to 200 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. When Barksdale died in 1974, Hoover was ideally positioned to begin organizing his own gang following.

Howard, later known as "Dee Dee" was to continue his association with Hoover, and would himself be included in the Aug. 31 indictments.

Hoover flourished in his quarters at the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), growing in influence and power.

How powerful? Hoover was indicted for ordering the inmate uprising in Pontiac Correctional Center in 1978 in which three officers died. Charges against Hoover were dropped because of the difficulty of getting other GD's to testify against their leader.

How powerful? We can add the comments of a high ranking gang informant on this issue:

"I heard through the grapevine, when Mike Lane was the director of IDOC, Lane used to fly down there (to Vienna) a lot and walk the yard with Hoover; Lane is the one who put him down there (in Vienna). The rumors were that he had somebody on the outside who would deliver an envelope of money through third parties to Lane. They would use third parties so it would not come back to any of them."

"Hoover practically masterminded the riot in 1978. He ordered his members to burn the commissary down. Three guards got killed; he looted it first, then burned it. He also had one of our guys killed back in Pontiac in 1982, a kid named Smiley. Which started a big thing. One of his guys, a GD named Shannon, has a statewide hit out on him from our gang becase of it; Shannon is still alive though, he is inside, he was one of the GD hitmen."

"Hoover was hit only once, after Barksdale died, there was a guy named Nissan. Nissan was a BG. Nissan had a homosexual hit Hoover because he wanted to humiliate Hoover. The homo stabbed Hoover two or three times before Hoover's security got a hold of him. This guy Nissan is in Danville now, he made a training trape for the corrections academy on how to disarm an inmate with a weapon."

In 1993, when Hoover began serious efforts to win parole through political and public pressure, he would appear at the parole board hearing "dressed as though on a European vacation: black loafers, black pleated slacks and a white, short-sleeve shirt" (George Papajohn, "Killer Hoover Pleads to Go Free: Broker, Even Ex-Prosecutor Stand Up For Convict", Chicago Tribune, 8-11-93).

And Hoover was until the Fall of 1994 held in the Vienna Correctional Center in Vienna, Illinois --- a very comfortable, minimum security, college campus style facility with no fences. The historical issue is what major type of power brokerage was Hoover able to use to gain a transfer to this Vienna facility.

How could a gang leader serving a life sentence for murder wield such clout? One explanation is that prison officials and gang members alike believed that Hoover held the power of life and death in his hands.

Hoover was able to order all GD's incarcerated in the IDOC to not assault a correctional officer or employee without his direct authorization --- thus, any assaults against prison staff anywhere in Illinois would be considered a major "violation" in the gang laws that GD's live by behind bars.

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Gang Leader's Prison Status: Ability to Lead From Behind Bars

This ability of a gang leader to operate from behind state prison walls amazes most people who do not understand modern gangs. The public is equally unaware of how in the Federal Bureau of Prisons such gang leaders would face a no human contact status facility like that of California's Pelican Bay Correctional Center. Illinois state facilities have a long history of trying to manage gangs by providing special concessions to gang leaders such as Hoover.

If the story of the Gangster Disciples and Hoover has any lesson, it is that negotiating with gangs is a futile strategy. The gang will not be coopted, it will be strengthened by the recognition and implied delegation of authority that such recognition brings.

There have been several major efforts over the years by the collective bargaining units for line staff correctional officers to stop correctional administrators from the practice of granting special favors, concessions, and privileges to gang leaders in Illinois state correctional facilities.

The Illinois Department of Corrections has a very confused and therefore politically vulnerable policy on gang issues. First, it denies it has much of a gang problem. Some background history is useful here. Secondly, the historical record is quite clear: a national pattern of serious mistakes about handling gangs behind bars was detected early in Illinois. Prison administrators did negotiate with gang leaders. Gang leaders were able to hold banquets and picnics on their "Nation days", thereby undermining the authority of the line correctional officers who dealt with these gang members on a daily basis.

The official central office administration in the Illinois Department of Corrections forbids its wardens and administrative staff from revealing information to the public, particularly researchers, about gangs. Other states having a strong gang denial syndrome at the state correctional level include: California, New York, and Virginia.

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Alliances

The Gangster Disciples are the leading national group in the "Folks" alliance system for gangs, which flourishes within correctional settings, but somewhat less strong when gang members operate in the larger community.

Inside a jail, juvenile or adult correctional setting, Folks gang members, including the Gangster Disciples, are mixed in with their rivals (i.e., People or Brothers), and find a powerful motive to create a mutual assistance pact.

The Gangster Disciples are also aligned with the Los Angeles-founded Crips, and both brandish the colors blue and black.

The GD ties with the Crips were evident during the series of national Gang Summit meetings held in various U.S. cities during 1993, when the gangs claimed they held the key to create "peace."

The GD-Crip alliance is also apparent in smaller cities that lie between Los Angeles and Chicago. In cities located in the "heartland", where comparatively small numbers of the two gangs exist, they will often "ride together".

The 1993 Maneuvers to Get Hoover A Parole

The 1993 parole board hearing showed the ability of Hoover to orchestrate a large public relations campaign for his release. A petition for his release with 5,000 signatures was submitted to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Thus, when on August 10, 1993 Hoover sought a parole, he was able to appear as if the entire community wanted him back in town. The fact is, however, some signatures on the list were in fact coerced; as one of the present writers did interview a female who asserted that the GD's basically showed up at her home one night (she had been a former member of the gang, and she had no idea how they had found her, it was somewhat unsettling to her she stated) and did not ask her, they directed her to sign the petition. The National Gang Crime Research Center did attempt to secure a copy of the complete list from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board by a FOIA request for purposes of gang research; but this effort was not successful, as the Board chairman reported that the list had been destroyed.

It was at this 1993 summer parole hearing that Hoover had felt comfortable enough that the GD public relations campaign had been successful, that he himself claimed at the hearing that he had now converted the Gangster Disciples into a new pro-social group called "Growth and Development". Thus, he was basically claiming that the group that he led was no longer involved in blood, guns, and drugs --- rather his new organization was that seeking better growth and development.

While a number of important community leaders, business leaders, and politicians (including former Chicago mayor Eugene Sawyer) had come to testify in favor of his release, Hoover was denied a parole.

The 1995 Parole Gambit Enlists the Help of Two University Professors

The modus operandi used by Larry Hoover to obtain expert testimony on behalf of his bid for a parole involved having his attorneys basically contact the university-based professors in the midwest who had previously been quoted in the newspapers on gang issues. Two professors did in fact testify on behalf of Larry Hoover at his parole hearing in early 1995. As a side note, Hoover's attorney did contact the NGCRC, and we said we might be able to determine if Hoover was in fact rehabilitated because we use facts: we would have to give Larry a series of tests and do some serious interviews on him before we could be certain he was "rehabilitated", needless to say the attorney quickly gave up on the NGCRC in Chicago as a source of manipulating gang apologists to benefit the gang itself.

One of these was Clemens Bartollas, a professor of sociology at the University of Northern Iowa. The other was Dwight Conquergood, a professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Dr. Bartollas not only testified for Hoover, but also came to the benefit of the GDs in another way: by writing a OP-ED piece as a guest editorial in the Chicago Tribune (July 13, 1995) to defend the "gang deactivation program" at Englewood High School (formally now referred to as the Englewood Technical Preparatory Academy, a Chicago public school). The GD's are the single largest gang in the student population at Englewood High School. Recall, that during the 1993 Gang Peace Summit Meeting held in Chicago, that Englewood High School was also the scene for the infamous award ceremony that gave awards to gang leaders like Larry Hoover. Bartollas presented his credentials as a gang expert thusly:

"for the last 35 years, I have been involved with gang and hard-core youth. I have worked with gangs in the community in two states, have interacted with them in correctional settings in three other states and have written a number of books about youth and adult crime in which gangs were discussed" (see Chicago Tribune, 7-13-95, p. 22, section 1).

Bartollas went on to defend the school's gang questionable gang program that involved gang members acting as hall monitors where they would physically punish students who violated discipline codes or did not attend school. The defense was his impression the school environment was delightfully innovative and effective. Earlier (Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1995) Bartollas was quoted as follows: "you have the deviant and quite radical suggestion that the gangs can, in fact, monitor themselves to promote a learning experience that is constructive to everyone" and on the basis of two visits to the school also said "it is working remarkably well".

Efforts to Get Hoover Released by Legislative Change: The Effort to Convert "C-Numbers"

At the NGCRC we realized several years ago that Larry Hoover had several plans to get out of state prison, one of which included changing state law to convert "C-numbers" to the current determinate sentencing system (i.e., thus allowing for the immediate release of most C-number inmates like Hoover). It is a simple issue: among the inmates in the I.D.O.C. today are the older cons having "C-Numbers", these are inmates sentenced to prison before 1978. The "C-Number" inmates basically were sentenced under the indeterminate system of prison sentences (i.e., zero to five years, 10 to 20 years, etc). If legislation were passed to convert C-numbers to the fixed or determinate system of prison sentencing that affected all inmates sentenced in the 1980's and 1990's, then basically most of the C-number inmates would have to be immediately released on an issue of parity or equivalence in sentencing standards. Today in Illinois, while such a bill for converting C-numbers to fixed sentences was previously introduced in the Illinois legislature by a politician whose name appeared on the petition for getting Hoover released and who also showed up in a photograph at the huge GD picnic in Kankakee in 1993, it was a legislative effort that was quickly killed: and today, C-number inmates are still going up for parole every year, because they are eligible for parole under the old sentencing guidelines.

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GD's Take Leadership in Gang Peace Media Manipulation

Although Wallace "Gator" Bradley, an admitted enforcer for the Gangster Disciples, the GD's have also been able to manipulate the mass media and gain press for their gang. Bradley was the primary mover and shaker for the Chicago branch of "United In/For Peace" nationwide gang truce movement: a feeble effort to manipulate the media into thinking gang leaders from the GDs and Crips and Vice Lords could some how be "peace makers" to serve and protect American communities today. It is important, perhaps, to note the problem Bradley had over time with the gang identity. During the peace treaty meeting held in Chicago in 1993, Bradley represented himself as a "gang member" but "not a gang banger", implying of course that one can be in a gang and still be a good citizen. Later during an election campaign where he sought a seat on Chicago's city council, he portrayed himself as an "ex-gang member", and finally when he was celebrating his run-off election he admitted to being an active Gangster Disciple.

Bradley's counterpart in Minneapolis, Minnesota was Samuel Sharif Willis, a Vice Lord leader turned political activist.

The Gang Peace Summit Meeting held in Chicago in October, 1993 was headed up by Bradley. It was a media circus, with marches, protests, symbolic gestures in church and mosque settings, and formal meetings on a variety of topics of organizing for the future held at the Congress Hotel in Chicago's loop.

Gang Written Codes, Memos, Constitution and By-laws

The Gangster Disciple gang operates as a centralized authoritarian formal organization, with written codes, regularly-appearing memos, a lengthy written constitution and membership rules and regulations. The gang uses a membership application form, which is used in conjunction with a background check in the same way an legal corporation such as United Parcel Service or IBM cautiously investigates potential employees. (For a list of gang prayers, statutes of the constitution, by-laws and a recent chain of command see An Introduction to Gangs, 1995).

Female Involvement

Women and teenaged girls are allowed gang membership, but rarely exercise command or even symbolic authority. In this aspect, the Gangster Disciples is typical of a centralized authoritarian gang headed by male convicted offenders.

School-aged girls are organized in a subsystem called the "Sisters of the Struggle" or "Intellectual Sisters," while male members of the Gangster Disciples are regarded as "Brothers of the Struggle."

The chivalry hypothesis operates for the most part in the Gangster Disciple gang with regard to the treatment of women.

But the underlying misogyny is sometimes revealed. During the 1995 aldermanic runoff, 21st Century V.O.T.E. candidate Hal "Mad Maniac Maine" Baskin said his opponent, incumbent Ald. Shirley Coleman (16th) was responsible for the horrendous crimes of her ex-husband. Baskin told reporters for the City News Bureau and Sun-Times that a major faux pas (spelling) made by a GD member running for political office in 1994-1995 in the Chicago city council race, involved a strong sexist insult to the woman incumbent and ultimate winner of the same election.

Gangster Disciples treat women much the same way any ordinary criminal offender would treat a woman: exploitation is the key word. Further information on female members of this gang is available elsewhere (see Journal of Gang Research, Volume 2, Number 3, Spring, 1995, pp. 61-71; An Introduction to Gangs, 1995).

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Gang Identifiers and Symbols

While many different gangs are allied under the umbrella of "Folks" or the "Folks Nation", they use two common methods of identifying themselves: display of the six-pointed Star of David and "signing to the right."

A gang member may thus cock his hat to the right, roll up his right pants leg, cross his arms to the right, or modify the shoelaces on the right shoe.

The Gangster Disciples also code messages using the "7 4" alpha-numeric code system; where 7 stands for the seventh letter of the alphabet (i.e., G), and 4 stands for the fourth letter of the alphabet (i.e., D).

The six points of the Star of David symbol used by the Gangster Disciple gang have symbolic significance, which is recorded in the written constitution of the gang.

From clockwise, beginning at the one o'clock position on the star, the points correlate with the six "King David" principles: Love, Life, Loyalty, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding. The principles are also called the universal laws of existence and/or the six principles of "Growth & Development".

A common coded ritual of greeting for Disciples is "All is One", just as "All is Well" is the greeting of Peoples or Brothers gang members. More common to the GD's is the greeting ritual of "What's Up G?", just as "What it Be?" is common among Brothers/Peoples gang members. "What's up moe?", being a common greeting ritual of Black P. Stone Nation gang members.

Special codes and a complex linguistic system tend to characterize the subcultural argot of gangs like the GDs today. Rival gangs (i.e., Peoples/Brothers) have special "put downs" or insults for Disciples, they call the Disciples "Donuts", they call GD's "Glazed Donuts". Similarly, GD's call Vice Lords "hooks" because of their use of the waling cane symbol. These type of "put-downs" are commonly used as status threats and constitute serious insults to the rival or opposition gang.

Folks use the term "eeples" as a term of derision against all Peoples gang members. Folks use the phrase "Eye to eye, we never die, we just multiply" as a group solidarity expression. Similarly, rival or opposition groups (i.e., peoples/brothers) use the phrase "Five to the sky, the six gotta die". Folks use the phrase "G's up, hoes down" as a put-down on Four Corner Hustlers and "Moes" (i.e., people gang members).

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Influence and Control in Chicago Public Housing Buildings

The GD's have been particularly effective in controlling public housing buildings for their use in highly organized drug retail distribution systems. In the Robert Taylor and Stateway Gardens public housing buildings on Chicago's southside, GDs as recently as this spring of 1995 controlled the following buildings: 4444 S. State, 4429 S. Federal, 4410 S. State, 4352 S. State, 4331 S. Federal, 4101 S. Federal, 4037 S. Federal, 4022. S. State, 3919 S. Federal, 3737 S. Federal, 3739 S. Federal, 3651 S. Federal, 3653 S. Federal, 3542 S. State, 3544 S. State, 3717 S. Federal, and 3719 S. Federal. All other buildings in the two complexes were controlled primarily by the Black Disciples.

Drug distribution systems using public housing buildings are often very complex. It involves the use of gang members "on security" in the lobby, who literally search persons entering the building, as well as the extensive use of "look outs". Once a drug customer enters the building he/she is directed to the "spots". There may be separate apartments being used as "spots" for separate types of drugs: heroin, cocaine, marijuana, etc.

Influence and Control in Key Government Agencies

1. A Chicago public high school: Englewood awards ceremony for gang leaders. This happened in the fall of 1993 at the time of the "gang peace/truce summit meeting" held in Chicago. Students at the Englewood High School were told to go to the auditorium with teachers where they were joined by others coming to attend this "awards ceremony". The awards ceremony involved giving out awards for "COMMUNITY SERVICE" and "leadership excellence" to the likes of Willie Lloyd and Larry Hoover. The same school administrators are still in place today in the same school.

2. Government grant: $1/2 million for Poverty Program.

The Illinois Department of Public aid awarded three contracts in excess of $500,000 to the "Save the Children" group said to be a front group for the GDs (see Chicago Sun-Times, 9-3-95). Also known as the "D & D Save the Children Community Organization", the group received the funding to providing training and provide job placements for the "Earnfare" program: an anti-poverty program that is designed to get people off of welfare and into mainstream employment opportunities.

3. Police officers helping the gang. There have been rumors about how gang members were able to become police officers and even more rumors about how police officers were able to be corrupted by the gang. Some of these rumors, unfortunately, have been confirmed and are now a matter of public record. One of those 39 indicted in Operation Headache was a female police officer by the name of Sonia Irwin.

4. Ability to corrupt correctional officers. There have been reports over the years in Illinois, of continued ability of large gangs to corrupt correctional officers. This includes the ability of gangs to operate prostitute rings involving female correctional officers to provide service to other inmates. This includes, obviously, a long list of contraband smuggling operations.

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Threats to Disrupt the 1996 Democratic National Convention

It is a matter of public record, that in ongoing political protest situations in Chicago, political activists with strong ties to the Gangster Disciples threatened to make the 1996 Democratic National Convention to be held in Chicago "look like a slumber party" compared to the 1968 event.

Law enforcement beliefs about the seriousness of the threat could be based on fear and speculation, but appear to exist is our finding regardless of the cause. As discussed in the next section of this profile, the GD's have spread throughout the United States and are well known to many law enforcement agencies in the State of Georgia. The Georgia study was undertaken as a follow-up on an inquiry about the potential for GD's to disrupt the 1996 International Olympics event to be held in Atlanta. The findings, discussed in the next section in this profile, suggest much support for the belief that such a threat exists. Additional research data is now being processed for the entire State of Wisconsin, the preliminary results do suggest that similar trends will appear supportive of the conclusion that the GD's are perceived outside of Chicago as a genuine threat to both major public events (see Project GANGWISC, A Service-Research Task Force Model of Useful Knowledge Development Collaboration Between Law Enforcement Agencies and Academic Research Agencies: A Study of Local Gang Problems in the State of Wisconsin, 1995, NGCRC, not yet released).

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The GD's Go Down to Georgia

A report about to be released, a joint research undertaking of both the National Gang Crime Research Center and the Chicago Crime Commission, examined among other issues the GD connection in Georgia using a sample of N = 107 law enforcement agencies in Georgia (see Gangs in Georgia: An Assessment of Law Enforcement Agencies, NGCRC, 1995). Among the other findings were these pertaining to the GD's:

* Among Georgia law enforcement agencies experiencing gang migration, a fourth (24.4%) report the Chicago-based Gangster Disciple gang as having had contact in their Georgia communities.

* Half (51%) of the law enforcement agencies surveyed in Georgia felt the GDs could be considered a form of organized crime.

* A small number of Georgia law enforcement agencies (15.2%) reported the spread of the Chicago-based public relations gang gimmick (i.e., Gangster Disciples masquerading under the title of being a group dedicated to "Better Growth and Development" for their community).

* Only two of the Georgia respondents indicated the GD front group known as "21st Century V.O.T.E." had been active in their jurisdictions. Gangs involved in politics in Georgia is still a small problem there at this time.

* Most of the Georgia respondents (84.3%) did believe that some of the more organized gangs like the Gangster Disciples could pose a crime threat to major events like the 1996 Olympics to be hosted in Atlanta next year; just as most (80%) believed the GD's could be a crime threat to the 1996 Democratic National Convention to be held in Chicago.

* Statewide, the GD's are among the top gangs represented in the State of Georgia according to this study about to be released.

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Twists on the Gang Identity

The Gangster Disciple (GD) (also known as the Black Gangster Disciple (BGD) or by its original name, the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN). It is also referred to as the "Brothers of the Struggle", and thus females are also called "Sisters of the Struggle". As indicated below, the GD's have also effectively used modern "public relations" gimmicks, including efforts to convince some politicians they have made a transition from "Gangster Disciples" or gangbanging to a new prosocial gang called "Growth and Development". Similarly, rather than BGD's (Black Gangster Disciples) spokespersons for the BGD's will portray themselves as representing a group dedicated to "Better Growth and Development". That was how Wallace "Gator" Bradley presented himself when he had a personal meeting with President Clinton in the White House in 1994.

Proliferation of the GD's Outside of Chicago

In recent years the GDs have spread to at least 35 states throughout the continental United States (see National Gang Resource Handbook: An Encyclopedic Reference, 1995). This is considered a conservative estimate.

Rivalry With Other Gangs

The rule of thumb is this: while in a correctional setting (prison, jail, juvenile facility, etc), GDs will "ride with" other Folks in a pact of alignment necessary to deal with the present threat of Peoples/Brothers gangs, however outside of the correctional setting the GDs can have conflict with any gang, including Folks gangs. Some factions of the GDs often fight with each other, leading to the prediction that the removal of top leadership from the gang could contribute to decentralization or some type of successive fractionation of the gang into smaller, more autonomous, less centralized factions, units, or "sets".

How Hoover Was Able to Operate His Gang From Behind Bars.

Shortly before the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections transferred to another state agency outside of the field of corrections, he published an interesting account of gangs in the Illinois prison system (Lane, 1989). This article in Corrections Today estimated that "between 80-90 percent of the inmates in the Illinois system have some affiliation with street gangs" (Lane, 1989: p. 99). Implied in this article is that if prison administration is lax or incompetent, then the prison will be de facto "gang administered". That is, the gangs will literally exert such power and influence that they will control the prison, not the warden. Recent reports tend to suggest this is close to being the reality now inside IDOC:

"According to one highly placed source, the gangs control the Stateville tiers and the correctional officers are cowed and intimidated by them. "If the officers refuse to allow friends and relatives to bring contraband into the prison for the inmates the correctional officers are shown that the prisoners possess photographs of their homes, their wives, and children".

Multiple sources same to say the same thing adding greater validity to this story. Correctional officer Lawrence Kush was one of 30 on a gang's hit list at Stateville, these were prison employees who did their job, not taking any crap from the gangs, and not being compromised. Kush was assassinated by the same gang on July 1, 1989, by the same gang that warned in a letter this would happen unless the employees "eased up" on gang operations. A level three gang operates as a formidable terrorist group behind bars is what the evidence suggests. The official record indicates correctional officers are being undermined in their work when administrators negotiate with gang leaders under the pretext of avoiding prison riots.

In early June 1994 correctional officers at Pontiac prison in Illinois complained through their union that the prison administrators were making deals with the gangs and demanded more of a zero tolerance approach to gangs. The authority of line correctional officers is systematically undermined when wardens grant special privileges and "discretion" to gang leaders. This 1994 problem is possibly a holdover from a previous administration, as once the gang has been "negotiated with" it is difficult to go back to a zero tolerance approach without inducing much change and population restructuring and staff reassignment. Gang violence is not limited to the maximum security units, but has also spread to the medium and minimum security facilities in Illinois.

One of the early less than rigorous studies, a survey of corrections regarding gangs, was that by Camp and Camp (1985) conducted in 1983. It focused on prison systems (i.e., one prison system per state), the adult component of corrections. It found prison gangs existed in 33 states. State leaders in prison gang membership were Pennsylvania, Illinois and California. Some 29 states reported a combined gang membership of 12,624. Basically, Camp and Camp (1985) claimed that only 3 percent of the American adult prison inmate population were gang members.

The Camp and Camp (1985) study was basically replicated by the American Correctional Association (ACA) with a federal grant from the National Institute of Corrections to conduct a national assessment of gangs in corrections. The ACA report (1993) estimated that only six percent of the American prison inmate population were gang members. This definition of gang members included security threat groups (STG's) like Muslims, or groups of two or more with a bad attitude. This gang density estimate is believed to be notoriously unreliable and more fictional than factual. Simple math helps us here: if only 6 percent of the one million inmates in America are gang members, that means we have a small problem nationwide, only 60,000 gang members behind bars to worry about. California is said to have more than that number alone in its adult system. The California gang density rate is estimated to be comparable to that in its juvenile division (CYA), about 75 percent.

Needless to say, other research such as the yearly survey of prison wardens by the National Gang Crime Research Center since 1990 to present, tend to suggest the reality of gang density is significantly higher than government claims. Research like that by Camp and Camp (1985) and the ACA study basically allowed systemwide denial to continue to coverup the high gang density rates that currently exist in American correctional institutions today.

Gangs inside major urban jails operate very similarly to their counterparts in state adult correctional institutions. The larger gangs issue memos to their members, these gangs even maintain their own "disciplinary system" to control their members. So the modern gang member inmate has several codes of conduct to obey: that of the prison system itself and the "official rules and regulations", and the rules imposed by the gang --- the latter probably being the rules that get obeyed more often. Consider the following handwritten memo from the Brothers of the Struggle (BOS), an actual example:

"DATE: 9-01-92

SUBJ: Violations

FROM: 4ou C.O.S.

TO: Decks C.O.S.

Greetings my 7/4 brothers, this memo is to inform you that there will be no head to toe violations given out unless you are given word from 2ft C.O.S. or BLD. C.O.S.. Anyone who goes against this will be bogus and violated on spot. Also all C.O.S. are to attend church on Sundays if not they are subject to disciplinary Actions. Pass word to your decks that all B.O.S. are to lace their right shoe by missing the bottom 2 holes. Example (||:) This is so that we can identify each other. Brother security is to be on the entire yard; rec. when ever called. I leave as I came with plenty much love.

Important - all reports are to be in code, all minor and major incidents must be in report.

In the vision of our great leader and through his vision, we can become a more reckoning power of people beyond boundaries without measures.

2-15-19

(19-3-15-14-5-25) (7-4)".

As seen in the above B.O.S. memo, an elementary code is used: 1=a,2=b,3=c, etc. Thus the expression 7/4 means "G.D.". The expression "2-15-19" means "B.O.S.". The B.O.S. includes G.D.'s (Gangster Disciples), and B.D.'s (Black Disciples), and naturally, Black Gangster Disciples. It's Honorable Chairman of the Board is "King" Larry Hoover. "C.O.S." means chief of security. For additional information on GD's in the jail setting see: American Jails magazine (January/February, 1993, "Gang Organization in a Large Urban Jail", by George W. Knox).

The Fall 1995 Federal Indictments Against the GDs

Dubbed "Operation Headache", three separate series of federal indictments were brought against leaders of the GD's in the Northern District of Illinois. In one of these, Hoover himself now faces a high likelihood of receiving a life prison sentence and could shortly find his new residence next to Jeff Fort in the new supermax federal facility in Colorado.

A total of 39 high-ranking GD's were indicted in the three series of federal indictments in what must be assumed to be an ongoing investigation. All have now been convicted. Larry Hoover is serving a federal life prison sentence; and in the federal system a "life sentence" means exactly that. All 39 of the GD leaders were able to be easily convicted given the help of 263 informants inside the GD gang, some of whom did provide open court-room testimony. What really "convicted" Larry Hoover, though, was his own mouth: talking openly about the criminal exploits of the gang when a federal "bug" had been implanted into the badges of the visitors who came to see him at his prison location.

Thus, it would be fair to assume additional indictments could surface, particularly surrounding the financial and political affairs of the GDs.

Projected Short-term Impact of the Federal Prosecution

Most of the media attention to the 39 indicted GDs during September 1995 looked at a short-term negative scenario in terms of the projected impact of Operation Headache. Gang-wise journalists were able to point to the succession effect: by prosecuting one gang, another gang would be able to step forward in the aftermath, that is other gangs would fill the void left by the GDs. Clearly, the dismantling of Jeff Fort's El Rukn gang empire in the 1980's --- also through federal prosecution ---was a context that allowed the GD's to take control of the turf previously held by the El Rukns.

Thus, the first major reaction to the 39 indicted GD leaders was a focus on how other gangs might now be able to become more effective. No programs of prevention and intervention were basically put into place in areas or buildings controlled by GDs at the time of the indictments. So, one cannot conclude that a "Weed and Seed" operation had been achieved. Only some weed whacking had been done on the largest criminal gang in the USA. It seems a reasonable fear, therefore, that in the cracks and crevices of social disorganization that we can expect other weeds to arise as an immediate short-term effect.

Two gangs stand to benefit directly from the effects of putting the GD leadership into disarray: (1) the Black P. Stone Nation (BPSN), and (2) The New Breed (or B.G.'s). Two factions exist in the BPSN, one being headed up by Jeff Fort's son. Both factions of the BPSN have been historical enemies of the "Folks" and GDs. Thus, the BPSN gang could see a strong revitalization. Even more likely, however, is that another faction of the Disciples will grow stronger. Two other Disciple factions most likely to benefit from the GD prosecution are: the BD's and the BG's. The BG's are today known as the New Breed, and are a very violent aggressive growing enterprise. Both the BD's and the BG's have their own separate and different written constitutions and by-laws and leadership structures. So in the short-term, the gangs most likely to benefit from the displacement of GD influence are opposition gangs like the BPSN and other Disciple factions like the BG's and BD's.

Projected Long Term Impact of the GD Prosecution Efforts

The projected long-term impact of Operation Headache consists of significant membership demoralization, significant organizational destabilization, substantial collateral impact, a strong deterrent effect, and a healthy dose of restoring public confidence in law enforcement's ability to counteract the gang threat. Each of these will be discussed briefly.

1. Significant Membership Demoralization Within the GDs. We cannot lose sight of the fact that the GDs are the single largest centralized authoritarian formal organizational gang structure in the United States today, having 30,000 members in the Chicago area alone. One projected long-term impact of Operation Headache (and we are willing to assume that Hoover will be convicted and he will receive a life sentence to federal custody) is therefore the significant demoralization within the GD membership apparatus. The message sent to the other GD's after nearly a quarter of a century of a reign of terror is that their leaders are not invincible. Their gang leaders will no longer be able to call by phone to provide long speeches broadcast over a P.A. system to annual gang picnics, as Hoover was able to do in the past. For example, at the 1993 picnic on a private farm in Kankakee, Illinois with nearly 10,000 GD's and sympathizers listening, Hoover was able to provide an inspirational speech to the crowd from behind bars, calling over the phone to a public address system.

Any leadership succession in the GD's is likely to be a violent struggle over coveted positions of power. Thus, significant demoralization will occur over the next three years would be a prediction for the GD's here.

2. Significant Organizational Destabilization.

We must recognize that the GDs have grown over the last twenty years into a formidable crime threat. This is a threat not just to Chicago, not just to the State of Illinois, but to many midwestern cities, indeed GD activity is now known to exist in about 35 states. Over the years, with millions in illegal income, with attorneys, with training seminars for the gang's middle management, with forays into political life --- this gang has proven its ability to undermine and corrupt existing democratic structures. So one long-term impact of Operation Headache is that it will basically dismantle that leadership infrastructure of the GDs.

Hoover will now be effectively neutralized as a hands-on micro-manager of his gang empire. He will not be able to continue to run his gang from behind bars. Once he receives a life sentence he will be serving time in federal prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, unlike many state correctional systems, does not tolerate such machinations. While in state prison Hoover lived the life of riley, he could have access to the phone anytime, and call a number on the outside that basically amounted to a "bulletin board" conference, where he could have a phone teleconference with gang leaders on the outside and in all other prison environments. While in state custody, he was able to sponsor "parties" in his correctional center to impress other inmates and staff. Hoover's power will no longer be so freely exercised from federal custody. Thus, Hoover will regret having such a centralized authoritarian structure, and without his ongoing control it can be expected that significant organizational destabilization will occur in the GD organization. It could fractionate into smaller units, it could become more decentralized, its "sets" could become more autonomous, and thus the GD organization will be significantly disrupted over time is the prediction here.

3. Substantial Collateral Impact.

That the GD's did exercise enormous power and influence seems unquestioned at this point in time. That Hoover was able to continue to orchestrate his gang activities even while serving a murder sentence in a state correctional system is also a matter of historical record. Thus, with the effective federal prosecution of Hoover and many other GD leaders, the astute gang analyst will also realize that the greater the gang threat, the greater the positive collateral impact from a law enforcement point of view. What this means is that with Hoover effectively neutralized, GD members who may have wanted to defect, who may have wanted to "flip" or snitch, will now feel more comfortable in cooperating with investigators.

Secondary positive impact could therefore involve other informants coming forward, as GD members may face the risk/benefit situation of facing greater costs of staying in the gang than trying to get out. Those GD members who had hero-worshipped Hoover, who may have wanted to erect a statue of Hoover, will now realize he is gone from public life and he will experience the civil death that the penal sanction in America is supposed to induce. In state custody, Hoover was able to create the myth that he was a legendary leader: he was not out on the gang line everyday, they are the ones making mistakes, not Hoover, so if something went wrong it was never Hoover's fault, it was someone else's.

Current research on gangs throughout the United States (see Project GANGECON, 1995, National Gang Crime Research Center) indicates that about one-third of all gang members, regardless of the nature of their gang, would "flip" or "snitch" given the right conditions. Such conditions are now ripe for the GDs.

It is important to understand that many types of crimes for which no statute of limitation exists (murder, homicide, arson, etc), can be traced to gangs like the GDs. It seems reasonable to expect substantial collateral impact in this regard in the future. Other GD crimes such as homicides will now be able to be solved and effectively prosecuted, as potential informants will feel safer to provide testimony, knowing that Hoover is locked up in supermaximum "no human contact" status in the new federal Alcatraz in Colorado.

4. Strong Deterrent Effect.

From a long-term impact perspective, we should expect a strong deterrent effect from Operation Headache. Again, the logic is as historical as the presumed negative short-term effect discussed earlier. Recall the federal prosecution of the top leadership of the El Rukn gang, where the straw that broke the camels back of public outcry was the fact that here was a gang that had sought to commit acts of terrorism "for hire" for hostile foreign terrorist organizations. What message got sent to other American gangs by the rapid dismantling of the El Rukns? The deterrent effect seems to have been effective in preventing hostile foreign and domestic terrorist organizations from manipulating ideal groups for such operations: gangs. We have not seen subsequent examples of major gangs becoming involved in political terrorism since the effective prosecution of Jeff Fort and his El Rukn gang back in the 1980's.

So the message sent to other gangs in the United States today is also very clear from Operation Headache: it can be risky business to try to achieve the status of being a supergang, for the moment one becomes the largest gang in the USA, the leaders are the first to be targeted for federal prosecution. It may therefore achieve the deterrent effect of forcing gangs into a more localized, less formalized style of organizational apparatus. Some shift from the vertical and formally organized style of gang organization to the more horizontal and loose knit style of organization could occur. This effectively reduces the gang threat as well. Why? Because the greater the organizational sophistication of a gang, the greater its objective crime threat.

Therefore it seems reasonable to expect a kind of lasting deterrent effect in the case of the GDs. Gang leaders throughout the United States who may have lusted for Hoover's status may now modify their lofty aims. For gang leaders will realize that the moment they "profile" in this way, they could be facing the same fate as Jeff Fort, John Gotti, and now hopefully Larry Hoover --- a life behind bars in no human contact status.

5. Restored Public Confidence in Law Enforcement.

Whether it was Al Capone, John Gotti, Jeff Fort, or now Larry Hoover, when a criminal organization is able to effectively operate over time in any community that same community experiences a decay in respect for the law. The fact that successful federal prosecution neutralizes such powerful crime figures is therefore also a factor that over time can be expected to restore public confidence in law enforcement. This is also a long-term prediction for Operation Headache.

Community support for anti-gang initiatives could be expected to rise with the effective neutralization of the largest gang in the United States. Community fear could be transformed into community mobilization against gangs. In Chicago neighborhoods where the GDs had operated for nearly a quarter of a century, the news of the 39 GD leaders being indicted by the federal government was equivalent to a kind of quiet individualized "D-day" celebration. Many prayers had been answered by victims of gang crime and gang violence. Those who celebrated the most with the news of the federal indictments in Operation Headache were those in communities who felt the daily devastation of GD influence. In many gang-infested communities today gangs like the GDs have successfully prevented millions of citizens from stepping forward to provide the eyes and ears necessary for law enforcement to successfully target the gang menace today. It is a matter of pervasive fear itself. So by alleviating that fear, we can extrapolate a long term positive benefit. This is true because gang tenure varies directly with the amount of fear the same gang can induce in a community. By reducing that fear, we believe the stranglehold of gangs on some communities can be broken.

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SELECTED PRISON GANG READINGS:

Baird, L.H.

1986 "Prison Gangs: Texas", Corrections Today (18)(July): 22.

Bartollas, Clemens

1990 "The Prison: Disorder Personified", Chapter 1 (pp. 11- 22) in Are Prisons Any Better: Twenty Years of Correctional Reform, John W. Murphy and Jack E. Dison (Eds.), Sage Criminal Justice System Annuals, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Buentello, Salvador; Robert S. Fong; and Ronald E. Vogel

1991 "Prison Gang Development: A Theoretical Model", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(2)(Fall-Winter): 3-14.

Caltabiano, Michael L.

1981 "National Prison Gang Study", Unpublished report prepared for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (August).

Conrad, J.P.

1979 "Who's in Charge? The Control of Gang Violence in California Prisons", in Correctional Facility Planning edited by Robert Montilla and Nora Marlow, pp. 135-147, Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath.

Cox, V.

1986 "Prison Gangs - Inmates Battle for Control", Corrections Compendium (10)(9)(Apr): 1,6-9.

Earley, Pete

1992 The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison. New York: Bantam.

Fong, Robert S.

1990 "The Organizational Structure of Prison Gangs: A Texas Case Study", Federal Probation (54)(1)(Mar): 36-43.

Harland, Alan T.

1991 "Prison Gangs: Introductory Overview", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(2)(Fall-Winter): 1-2.

Hunt, G.; S. Riegel; T. Morales; and D. Waldorf

1992 "Keep the Peace Out of Prisons: Prison Gangs, An Alternative Perspective". San Francisco, CA: Institute for Scientific Analysis, Home Boy Study.

1993 "Changes in Prison Culture: Prison Gangs and the Case of the Pepsi Generation". San Francisco, CA: Institute for Scientific Analysis, Home Boy Study.

Social Problems (forthcoming).

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Knox, George W.

1991 "Gangs and Social Justice Issues", Chapter 1 (pp. 1-19), in Sloan T. Letman (Ed.), Prison Conditions and Prison Overcrowding, Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.

1993 "Gang Organization in a Large Urban Jail", American Jails, January/February, pp. 45-48.

1995 An Introduction to Gangs. Wyndham Hall Press.

Knox, George W. and Edward D. Tromanhauser

1991 "Gangs and Their Control in Adult Correctional Institutions", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(2): 15-22.

1991 "Gang Members as a Distinct Health Risk Group in Juvenile Correctional Facilities", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(2): 61-66.

1993 "Gang Training in Adult Correctional Institutions: A Function of Intensity, Duration and Impact of the Gang Problem", Journal of Correctional Training.

Krajick, K.

1990 "The Menace of Supergangs", Corrections Magazine, (June): 11-14.

Lane, Michael

1989 "Inmate Gangs", Corrections Today (51)(4)(July): 98-99, 126-128.

Lotter, J.M.

1988 "Prison Gangs in South Africa: A Description", The South African Journal of Sociology (19)(2)(May): 67-75.

Padilla, Felix and Lourdes Santiago

1993 Outside the Wall: A Puerto Rican Woman's Struggle.

New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Pelz, Mary E. (Beth); James W. Marquart; and C. Terry Pelz

1991 "Right Wing Extremism in the Texas Prisons: The Rise and Fall of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(Fall-Winter)(2): 23-37.

Ralph, Paige H.; James W. Marquart; and Ben M. Crouch

1990 "Prisoner Gangs in Texas", paper presented at the 1990 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Baltimore, MD.

Ralph, Paige H.; and James W. Marquart

1991 "Gang Violence In Texas Prisons", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(Fall-Winter)(2): 38-49.

Scallan, J.H.

1987 Prison Codes and Communications. Texas Department of Corrections, unpublished.

Shelden, Randall G.

1991 "A Comparison of Gang Members and Non-Gang Members in a Prison Setting", The Prison Journal (LXXI)(Fall- Winter)(2): 50-60.

Endnotes: Not available for this on-line version (sanitized version) of the document.

Editors note: to see an analysis of the IMPACT of the Federal Prosecution of the Gangster Disciples (the NGCRC Gang Profile figured prominently in getting the gang leaders effectively prosecuted) see the link at the bottom of Accomplishments Section of the Home Page of the NGCRC.

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