Denver Gangs on YouTube

Author’s name withheld by request

Yes, we all float along life thinking it is “those people over there,” those unknown people that you hear about in the news, those people that seem like movie characters that are causing the trouble. Gangs aren’t here, not in our Mile High City. Okay, so maybe there are a few small ones, but they just don’t know any better: they must have moved here from L.A. and just aren’t familiar with our laid back Colorado ways.

Wake up! They are on youtube showing off their gang styles in front of places like our beloved Mile High Stadium. They are on the streets we drive, showing signs of business we patronize, and promoting themselves. Often we don’t think it is there and thus, we don’t see it.

Denver has the same issues as other big cities in the world. We have gang problems. In speaking with the Denver Police Department Gang Bureau, “80% of crimes in the Denver Metro area are gang related.  Seven of the last eight police officers shot in the line of duty, have been killed by gang members.”  The officer interviewed is not named in this article out of respect for his privacy as he continues to work in the Gang Bureau. He did say that, “Gang member means criminal.”  If you are in a gang, or affiliated with a gang, you are supporting criminal activity, most notably the narcotics trade.

There is a tier system of gang organization. At the top are the corporate gangs; these tend to be older gang members who do not want any attention from the law. They operate on a national and international level. Below that are the more “business men” who tend to be under long term surveillance. These are the ones who have things structured, have meetings, and have even set up non-profits to hide money, and not pay taxes. The street gang members work for the upper tiers, moving and selling their enterprise, narcotics. One of the most notable changes is that the areas are becoming more transient, and less tied to a specific neighborhood or area of town.

For Bronco fans, it seemed ridiculous that kids can’t sport the new quarterback jersey number 18 to school. The officer stated, “Youth are more disrespectful towards parents and authority [now] than any other time.” Identifying with a gang, and recruitment, starts very young. There are, unfortunately, a lot of things gang members do and wear to identify themselves and their affiliation. There is a list of numbers that correlate to territories, like 29, 18, 33, 60, and so on. These numbers are only part of showing your colors, blue CRIPS, red BLOODS. The schools are doing all they can to prevent gang activity on school grounds, so they and the police are constantly learning, as the clues are always changing. There are subtle ways to show which gang you are in, for instance: how you wear your hat, or pants, or tennis shoes, and this is not just to show your loyalty, but also a part of recruitment. “Young teens recruit from schools and families, and look for the wanna be gangster and help them take the step to gonna be.” Granted, many kids are born into generations of gang members. The officer said, “It was such a triumph to see Serena Williams win at the Olympics only to be immediately horrified as she did the Crip dance as her victory dance.” Finding good heroes for youth is hard and you want to cheer on your country, and then the moment is tarnished with gang-related behavior, a very poor choice on her part.

The lure of the gangs is acceptance and protection, but also financial success, fancy cars, power, women, and respect. Yes, there are female gang members too. The gangs have gone so far as to post “music” videos on youtube but these are also recruitment tools. In some of these videos, a specific gang shows you need white Nike shoes with the red swipe or with the white swipe, the identifying number is 14, color is red, and includes images of a blue bandana. There are still shots of what they can offer: cars, colors, weapons, and alcohol. One of the most abhorrent videos shows a little kid in full colors throwing gang signs along with full thug contingent doing the same, they’ve even a puppy, a pitbull puppy is it cute or a future of fighting for this dog?

The scary thing is that you can type in Gang Music Colorado and get a plethora of videos, yes it is music, yes it is entertainment, yes, it is gang promotion in disguise.

Category: Exclusives