Crips

{{short description|Street gang from Los Angeles, California}} {{Other uses|Crip (disambiguation){{!}}Crip}} {{pp-semi-indef}} {{pp-move-indef}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox criminal organization | name = Crips | image = File:Crip tattoos.jpg | image_size =  | caption = Tattooed Crip | founded = ~1969–1971 | founders = Raymond Washington<br>Stanley Williams | named_after = | founding_location = Los Angeles, California, United States | years_active = ~1969/1970s–present | territory = 41 U.S. states,<ref name="Criminal Street Gangs">[https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ocgs/gallery/criminal-street-gangs "Criminal Street Gangs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201234000/https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ocgs/gallery/criminal-street-gangs |date=February 1, 2021 }}, United States Department of Justice (May 12, 2015)</ref> Canada<ref>Matt Kwong (January 19, 2015), [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-s-gang-hotspots-are-you-in-one-1.2912442 "Canada's gang hotspots — are you in one?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420210658/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-s-gang-hotspots-are-you-in-one-1.2912442 |date=April 20, 2021 }}, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation</ref> and Belize<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-the-us-exported-a-bloods-and-crips-gang-war-to-belize/ | title=How the US Exported a Bloods and Crips Gang War to Belize | date=July 15, 2021 | access-date=March 31, 2023 | archive-date=March 31, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331154610/https://www.vice.com/en/article/88ndmp/how-the-us-exported-a-bloods-and-crips-gang-war-to-belize | url-status=live }}</ref> | ethnicity = Predominantly African American<ref name="Criminal Street Gangs"/> | membership_est = 30,000–35,000<ref name="justice">{{cite web|title=Appendix B. National-Level Street, Prison, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Profiles – Attorney General's Report to Congress on the Growth of Violent Street Gangs in Suburban Areas (UNCLASSIFIED)|url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs27/27612/appendb.htm|website=www.justice.gov|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-date=June 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601213733/https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs27/27612/appendb.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> | leaders = | activities = Drug trafficking, murder, assault, auto theft, burglary, extortion, fraud, robbery<ref name="Criminal Street Gangs"/> | allies =  {{ubl|American Mafia<ref name="masslive">{{cite web |title=In our world, killing is easy': Latin Kings part of a web of organized crime alliances, say former gangsters and law enforcement officials |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/12/in-our-world-killing-is-easy-latin-kings-figure-in-web-of-organized-crime-alliances-say-former-gangsters-and-law-enforcement-officials.html |website=MassLive |date=December 28, 2019 |access-date=18 December 2021 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218100536/https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/12/in-our-world-killing-is-easy-latin-kings-figure-in-web-of-organized-crime-alliances-say-former-gangsters-and-law-enforcement-officials.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | Black Guerrilla Family<ref name="dc.state.fl.us">{{cite web |url=https://dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/prison2.html |title=Major Prison Gangs(continued) |work=Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness |publisher=Florida Department of Corrections |access-date=June 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312183629/http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/prison2.html |archive-date=March 12, 2010 }}</ref> | Black Power<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/9400/gilbert_thesis.pdf|title=The rise and development of gangs in New Zealand|first=Jarrod|last=Gilbert|access-date=23 September 2023|archive-date=October 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019203449/http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/9400/gilbert_thesis.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> | Folk Nation<ref name="dc.state.fl.usLA">{{cite web |url=http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/la.html |title=Los Angeles-based Gangs — Bloods and Crips |work=Florida Department of Corrections |access-date=June 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20021027173052/http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/la.html |archive-date=October 27, 2002 }}</ref> | Gangster Disciples<ref name="Here's what we know about the Gangster Disciple governor who was sentenced to 10 years in prison">Echo Day (December 12, 2019), [https://covingtonleader.com/news/courts/gangster-disciple-gov-rob-jones-sentenced-to-10-more-years-in-prison-heres-what-we-know-about-him/ "Here's what we know about the Gangster Disciple governor who was sentenced to 10 years in prison"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201230640/https://covingtonleader.com/news/courts/gangster-disciple-gov-rob-jones-sentenced-to-10-more-years-in-prison-heres-what-we-know-about-him/ |date=February 1, 2021 }}, ''The Leader''</ref> | Juggalos<ref>{{cite web|url=http://info.publicintelligence.net/NGIC-Juggalos.pdf|title=Juggalos: Emerging Gang Trends and Criminal Activity Intelligence Report|date=February 15, 2011|website=Info.publicintelligence.net|access-date=December 11, 2017|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129093748/http://info.publicintelligence.net/NGIC-Juggalos.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> | Sin City Deciples MC<ref name="Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Recruiting Military? Report Cites Colorado Murder">Michael Roberts (July 10, 2015), [https://www.westword.com/news/outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-recruiting-military-report-cites-colorado-murder-6882646 "Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Recruiting Military? Report Cites Colorado Murder"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006093633/https://www.westword.com/news/outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-recruiting-military-report-cites-colorado-murder-6882646 |date=October 6, 2021 }}, ''Westword''</ref> | Tiny Rascal Gang<ref name=CS&R>[http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2008/02/los-angeles-gangs-and-hate-crimes.aspx "Los Angeles Gangs and Hate Crimes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730212209/http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2008/02/los-angeles-gangs-and-hate-crimes.aspx |date=July 30, 2017 }}, ''Police Law Enforcement Magazine'', February 29, 2008</ref>}} | rivals = {{ubl| Aryan Brotherhood<ref name="ABabout">{{cite web |url=http://crime.about.com/od/gangsters/a/aryanbrothers.htm |title=The Aryan Brotherhood: Profile of One of the Most Notorious Prison Gangs |publisher=About.com |last=Montaldo |first=Charles |date=2014 |access-date=July 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721073746/http://crime.about.com/od/gangsters/a/aryanbrothers.htm |archive-date=July 21, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | Bloods<ref>Rhian Daly (May 1, 2019), [https://www.nme.com/news/music/rival-gangs-crips-bloods-talk-historic-coming-together-following-nipsey-hussle-murder-2483082 Rival gangs Crips And Bloods talk "historic" coming together following Nipsey Hussle's murder"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011946/https://www.nme.com/news/music/rival-gangs-crips-bloods-talk-historic-coming-together-following-nipsey-hussle-murder-2483082 |date=November 12, 2020 }}, ''NME''</ref> | Florencia 13<ref name="Gang rivalry grows into race war">Sam Quinones (October 18, 2007), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-18-me-firestone18-story.html "Gang rivalry grows into race war"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113085433/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-18-me-firestone18-story.html |date=January 13, 2021 }}, ''Los Angeles Times''</ref> | Latin Kings<ref name="Gangs of New York">Brad Hamilton (October 28, 2007), [https://nypost.com/2007/10/28/gangs-of-new-york/ "Gangs of New York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205160128/https://nypost.com/2007/10/28/gangs-of-new-york/ |date=February 5, 2021 }}, ''New York Post''</ref> | People Nation<ref>[https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/getattachment/Police/GangInformation-(1).pdf.aspx?lang=en-US "Gang Information"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205165147/https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/getattachment/Police/GangInformation-(1).pdf.aspx?lang=en-US |date=February 5, 2021 }}, bethlehem-pa.gov (2019)</ref> | Playboys<ref>[https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4246341/people-v-parsley-ca28/ ''People v. Parsley''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114143317/https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4246341/people-v-parsley-ca28/ |date=January 14, 2021 }}, ''Court Listener'' (August 11, 2016)</ref> | Santa Monica 13<ref>Herbert C. Covey (2015), [https://books.google.com/books?id=F5RzCQAAQBAJ&dq=santa+monica+13+shoreline+crips+rival&pg=PA158 ''Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409081951/https://books.google.com/books?id=F5RzCQAAQBAJ&dq=santa+monica+13+shoreline+crips+rival&pg=PA158 |date=April 9, 2023 }}</ref> | Tiny Rascal Gang<ref name=MilwaukeeJournalSentinel2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160513133704/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19940728&id=xZhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JxMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6722,7471615&hl=en "Not on our turf: California gangs create havoc here"],{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', July 28, 1994.</ref> | United Blood Nation<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bloods-gang-members-sentenced-life-prison-racketeering-conspiracy-involving-murder-and-other "Bloods Gang Members Sentenced to Life in Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Murder and Other Crimes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318111140/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bloods-gang-members-sentenced-life-prison-racketeering-conspiracy-involving-murder-and-other |date=March 18, 2021 }}, United States Department of Justice (October 27, 2020)</ref> | Venice 13<ref>Ben Ehrenreich (July 21, 1999), [https://www.laweekly.com/ganging-up-in-venice/ "Ganging up in Venice"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119204403/https://www.laweekly.com/ganging-up-in-venice/ |date=January 19, 2021 }}, ''LA Weekly''</ref>}} | notable_members = {{plainlist|

* Orlando Anderson * Tiequon Cox * Duane Davis * Kelly Jamerson * Kody Scott * Colton Simpson * Darren Taylor * Cameron Terrell }} }} The '''Crips''' are a primarily African-American alliance of street gangs that are based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips began as an alliance between two autonomous gangs, and developed into a loosely connected network of individual "sets", often engaged in open warfare with one another. Its members have traditionally worn blue clothing since around 1973.

The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States.<ref name=US1>U.S. Department of Justice, ''Crips''.</ref> With an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members in 2008,<ref name="justice"/> the gangs' members have been involved in murders, robberies, and drug dealing, among other crimes. They have a long and bitter rivalry with the Bloods.

Some self-identified Crips have been convicted of federal racketeering.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Failla |first1=Zak |title=Maryland Gang Member Who Goes By 'Crazy' Sentenced For Assaulting Fellow 'Crip' Behind Bars |url=https://dailyvoice.com/maryland/baltimore/news/maryland-gang-member-who-goes-by-crazy-sentenced-for-assaulting-fellow-crip-behind-bars/843165/ |website=Daily Voice |date=September 9, 2022 |access-date=8 October 2022 |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008150236/https://dailyvoice.com/maryland/baltimore/news/maryland-gang-member-who-goes-by-crazy-sentenced-for-assaulting-fellow-crip-behind-bars/843165/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Meghann |first1=Cuniff |title='Boss of Bosses' Crips Gang Leader Sentenced to Decades in Federal Prison for Racketeering Murder Conspiracy |url=https://lawandcrime.com/federal-court/boss-of-bosses-crips-gang-leader-sentenced-to-decades-in-federal-prison-for-racketeering-murder-conspiracy/ |website=Law & Crime |date=August 8, 2022 |access-date=8 October 2022 |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008150237/https://lawandcrime.com/federal-court/boss-of-bosses-crips-gang-leader-sentenced-to-decades-in-federal-prison-for-racketeering-murder-conspiracy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Etymology == {{Main articles|Debate over the origins of the Crips gang}}

Some sources suggest that the original name for the alliance, "Cribs", was narrowed down from a list of many options and chosen unanimously from three final choices, over the Black Overlords and the Assassins. Cribs was chosen to reflect the young age of the majority of the gang members. The name evolved into "Crips" when gang members began carrying around canes to display their "pimp" status. People in the neighborhood then began calling them cripples, or "Crips" for short.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/inside/3533/Overview |title=Los Angeles |work=Inside |publisher=National Geographic Channel |access-date=June 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804140907/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/inside/3533/Overview |archive-date=August 4, 2009 }}</ref> In February 1972 the ''Los Angeles Times'' used the term.<ref name=US1/>

Another source suggests "Crips" may have evolved from "Cripplers", a 1970s street gang in Watts, of which Washington was a member.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dunn | first = William | title = Boot: An LAPD Officer's Rookie Year in South Central Los Angeles | publisher = iUniverse | year = 2008 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x9fUttiz9bkC&pg=PP1 | pages = 76| isbn = 9780595468782 }}</ref> The name had no political, organizational, cryptic, or acronymic meaning, though some have suggested it stands for "Common Revolution In Progress", a backronym. According to the film ''Bastards of the Party'', directed by a former member of the Bloods, the name represented "Community Revolutionary Interparty Service" or "Community Reform Interparty Service".

== History == {{Main articles|Debate over the origins of the Crips gang}}

Gang activity in South Central Los Angeles has its roots in a variety of factors dating to the 1950s, including: post-World War II economic decline leading to joblessness and poverty; racial segregation of young African American men, who were excluded from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, leading to the formation of black "street clubs"; and the waning of black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement.<ref>{{cite video | title=Crips and Bloods: Made in America | url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/cripsandbloods/film.html | medium=TV-Documentary | date=2009 | access-date=May 15, 2009 | publisher=PBS Independent Lens series | people=Stacy Peralta (Director), Stacy Peralta & Sam George (writers), Baron Davis et al. (producer), Steve Luczo, Quincy "QD3" Jones III (executive producer) | archive-date=April 19, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419042628/https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/cripsandbloods/film.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Timeline: South Central Los Angeles | url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/cripsandbloods/timeline.html | date=April 21, 2009 | access-date=May 15, 2009 | publisher=PBS (part of the "Crips and Bloods: Made in America" TV documentary) | archive-date=February 20, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220014511/http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/cripsandbloods/timeline.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Review: 'Crips and Bloods: Made in America' | url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-crips6-2009feb06,0,7721785.story | last=Sharkey | first=Betsy | date=February 6, 2009 | access-date=May 16, 2009 | work=Los Angeles Times | archive-date=April 17, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417185052/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-crips6-2009feb06,0,7721785.story | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite video | title=Bastards of the Party | url=http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/bastardsoftheparty/synopsis.html | medium=TV-Documentary | people=Cle Sloan (Director), Antoine Fuqua and Cle Sloan (producer), Jack Gulick (executive producer) | publisher=HBO | date=2009 | access-date=May 15, 2009 | editor=Keith Salmon | archive-date=August 30, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830180426/http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/bastardsoftheparty/synopsis.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

Stanley "Tookie" Williams met Raymond Lee Washington in 1969, and the two decided to unite their local gang members from the west and east sides of South Central Los Angeles in order to battle neighboring street gangs. Most of the members were 17 years old.<ref name="BlueRage-BlackRedemption"/> Williams however appears to discount the sometimes-cited founding date of 1969 in his memoir, ''Blue Rage, Black Redemption''.<ref name="BlueRage-BlackRedemption">Williams, Stanley Tookie; Smiley, Tavis (2007). ''Blue Rage, Black Redemption''. Simon & Schuster. pp. xvii–xix, 91–92, 136. {{ISBN|1-4165-4449-6}}.</ref>

In his memoir, Williams also refuted claims that the group was a spin-off of the Black Panther Party or formed for a community agenda, writing that it "depicted a fighting alliance against street gangs—nothing more, nothing less."<ref name="BlueRage-BlackRedemption"/> Washington, who attended Fremont High School, was the leader of the East Side Crips, and Williams, who attended Washington High School, led the West Side Crips. [[File:Crip handsign.gif|thumb|right|A Crip gang signal]]

Williams recalled that a blue bandana was first worn by Crips founding member Curtis "Buddha" Morrow, as a part of his color-coordinated clothing of blue Levis, a blue shirt, and dark blue suspenders. A blue bandana was worn in tribute to Morrow after he was shot and killed on February 23, 1973. The color then became associated with Crips.<ref name="BlueRage-BlackRedemption"/>

By 1978, there were 45 Crip gangs, called sets, in Los Angeles. They were heavily involved in the production of PCP,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leonard |first1=Barry |title=National Drug Threat Assessment 2008 |date=November 2009 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-1-4379-1565-5 |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mxP_duKXb7QC&dq=%22crips%22+%22produce+pcp%22&pg=PA30 |language=en |access-date=January 29, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409081953/https://books.google.com/books?id=mxP_duKXb7QC&dq=%22crips%22+%22produce+pcp%22&pg=PA30 |url-status=live }}</ref> marijuana and amphetamines.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Finley |first1=Laura L. |title=Gangland: An Encyclopedia of Gang Life from Cradle to Grave [2 volumes] |date=1 October 2018 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-4474-4 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0FvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR39 |language=en |access-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125013846/https://books.google.com/books?id=T0FvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR39 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Vigil |first1=James Diego |title=The Projects: Gang and Non-gang Families in East Los Angeles |date=3 November 2021 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-79509-9 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMg7-DvAQdwC&pg=PT60 |language=en |access-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125013846/https://books.google.com/books?id=LMg7-DvAQdwC&pg=PT60 |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 11, 1979, Williams, a member of the Westside Crips, was arrested for four murders and on August 9, 1979, Washington was gunned down. Washington had been against Crip infighting and after his death several Crip sets started fighting against each other. The Crips' leadership was dismantled, prompting a deadly gang war between the Rollin' 60 Neighborhood Crips and Eight Tray Gangster Crips that led nearby Crip sets to choose sides and align themselves with either the Neighborhood Crips or the Gangster Crips, waging large-scale war in South Central and other cities. The East Coast Crips (from East Los Angeles) and the Hoover Crips directly severed their alliance after Washington's death. By 1980, the Crips were in turmoil, warring with the Bloods and against each other.

=== Nicaraguan Revolution, Contras, and increased drug trafficking === {{see also|Crack epidemic in the United States|CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking}} After the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979, many of the former government people of Anastasio Somoza Debayle fled to the U.S. and were supported by the CIA to counter the communists. Enrique Bermúdez was allegedly picked by the CIA to head the contras, who met with Oscar Danilo Blandón and Norwin Meneses to discuss fundraising. They decided to use drug trafficking to raise funds, and targeted black communities in South Los Angeles.<ref name="leavitt1">{{cite book |last1=Leavitt |first1=Fred |title=The Real Drug Abusers |date=1 September 2004 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-0-585-46674-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ebscAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |access-date=30 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The gang's growth and influence increased significantly in the early 1980s when crack cocaine boomed and Crip sets began distributing the drug. Large profits induced many Crips to establish new markets in other cities and states. As a result, Crips membership grew steadily and the street gang was one of the nation's largest by the late 1980s.<ref name="google.co.in">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3LiWVoCoNoC&q=crips+1978&pg=PA51|title=Gangland|isbn=9780976111245|last1=Harris|first1=Donnie|date=October 2004|publisher=Holy Fire }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk7A7bdaELsC&q=bloods&pg=PA153|title=Black Los Angeles|isbn=9780814773062|last1=Hunt|first1=Darnell|last2=Ramon|first2=Ana-Christina|date=May 2010|publisher=NYU Press }}</ref> In 1999, there were at least 600 Crip sets with more than 30,000 members transporting drugs in the United States.<ref name=US1/>

== Membership ==

As of 2015, the Crips gang consists of between approximately 30,000 and 35,000 members and 800 sets, active in 221 cities and 41 U.S. states.<ref name="Criminal Street Gangs"/> The states with the highest estimated number of Crip sets are California, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Members typically consist of young African American men, but can be white, Hispanic, Asian, and Pacific Islander.<ref name=US1/> The gang also began to establish a presence in Canada in the early 1990s;<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.insideprison.com/prison_gang_profile_CR.asp|title=The Crips: Prison Gang Profile|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=May 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510233607/https://www.insideprison.com/prison_gang_profile_CR.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> Crip sets are active in the Canadian cities of Montreal and Toronto.<ref>=Alliances, Conflicts, and Contradictions in Montreal's Street Gang Landscape, Karine Descormiers and Carlo Morselli, ''International Criminal Justice Review'' (October 17, 2020)</ref><ref>[https://globalnews.ca/news/7429993/toronto-police-ontario-project-sunder-eglinton-west-crips-gang/ Toronto police, numerous other forces, dismantle 'violent street gang' known as Eglinton West Crips] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212033051/https://globalnews.ca/news/7429993/toronto-police-ontario-project-sunder-eglinton-west-crips-gang/ |date=February 12, 2021 }} Jessica Patton, Global News (October 29, 2020)</ref>

In 1992 the LAPD estimated 15,742 Crips in 108 sets; other source estimates were 30,000 to 35,000 in 600 sets in California.<ref name="crbl">{{cite book|last1=Covey|first1=Herbert|title=Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture: A Guide to an American Subculture|pages=9}}</ref>

Crips have served in the United States armed forces and on military bases in the United States and abroad.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.military.com/news/article/gangs-increasing-in-military-fbi-says.html |title=Gangs Increasing in Military, FBI Says |agency=McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |publisher=Military.com |date=June 30, 2008 |access-date=June 21, 2009 |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604092748/http://www.military.com/news/article/gangs-increasing-in-military-fbi-says.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Practices ==

[[File:BK graffiti.jpg|thumb|"BK" ("blood killer") graffiti, Alexandria, Virginia]]

=== Language ===

Some practices of Crip gang life include graffiti and substitutions and deletions of particular letters of the alphabet. The letter "b" in the word "blood" is "disrespected" among certain Crip sets and written with a cross inside it because of its association with the enemy. The letters "CK", which are interpreted to stand for "Crip killer", are avoided and replaced by "cc". For example, the words "kick back" are written "kicc bacc", and block is written as "blocc". Many other words and letters are also altered due to symbolic associations.<ref>Smith, Debra; Whitmore, Kathryn F. (2006). ''Literacy and Advocacy in Adolescent Family, Gang, School, and Juvenile Court Communities''. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. {{ISBN|0-8058-5599-8}}.</ref> Crips traditionally refer to each other as "Cuz" or "Cuzz", which itself is sometimes used as a moniker for a Crip. "Crab" is the most disrespectful epithet to call a Crip, and can warrant fatal retaliation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Colton|title=Inside the Crips: Life Inside L.A.'s Most Notorious Gang|year=2005|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-32930-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/insidecripslifei0000simp/page/280 280]|url=https://archive.org/details/insidecripslifei0000simp/page/280}}</ref> Crips in prison modules in the 1970s and 1980s sometimes spoke Swahili to maintain privacy from guards and rival gangs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Colton|title=Inside the Crips: Life Inside L.A.'s Most Notorious Gang|year=2005|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-32930-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/insidecripslifei0000simp/page/122 122–124]|url=https://archive.org/details/insidecripslifei0000simp/page/122}}</ref>

=== Criminal rackets and street activities ===

As with most criminal street gangs, Crips have benefited monetarily from illicit activities such as illegal gambling, drug-dealing, pimping,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/los-angeles-area-gang-member-and-longtime-pimp-gets-40-year-federal-prison-term-sex | title=Los Angeles-area gang member and longtime pimp gets 40-year federal prison term for sex trafficking of children | ICE | date=October 8, 2020 }}</ref> larceny, and robbery.<ref name="Criminal Street Gangs"/> Crips also profit from extorting local drug dealers who are not members of the gang.{{fact|date=April 2023}} Along with profitable rackets such as these, they also participate in vandalism and property crime, often for gang-pride reasons{{fact|date=April 2023}} or simply enjoyment.{{fact|date=April 2023}} This can include public graffiti (tagging) and "joyriding" in stolen vehicles.{{fact|date=April 2023}}

The gang's current primary source of income is street-level drug distribution,{{fact|date=April 2023}} however many Crip members also make notable amounts of funds from the black market sale of illicit firearms. The gang's size and power was greatly augmented by the profits from the street sale of crack cocaine throughout the 1980s.{{fact|date=April 2023}} The gang's initial phase of growth and popularity was due to the explosion of crack cocaine in the United States during the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

== Crip-on-Crip rivalries ==

The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more youth gangs joined; at one point they outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1, sparking disputes with non-Crip gangs, including the L.A. Brims, Athens Park Boys, the Bishops, The Drill Company, and the Denver Lanes. By 1971 the gang's notoriety had spread across Los Angeles.

By 1971, a gang on Piru Street in Compton, California, known as the Piru Street Boys, formed and associated itself with the Crips as a set. After two years of peace, a feud began between the Pirus and the other Crip sets. It later turned violent as gang warfare ensued between former allies. This battle continued and by 1973, the Pirus wanted to end the violence and called a meeting with other gangs targeted by the Crips. After a long discussion, the Pirus broke all connections to the Crips and started an organization that would later be called the Bloods,<ref>Capozzoli, Thomas and McVey, R. Steve (1999). ''Kids Killing Kids: Managing Violence and Gangs in Schools''. St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, Florida, [https://books.google.com/books?id=paCVN9ECUc4C&pg=PA72 p. 72]. {{ISBN|1-57444-283-X}}.</ref> a street gang infamous for its rivalry with the Crips.

Since then, other conflicts and feuds were started between many of the remaining Crip sets. As well as feuding with Bloods, they also fight each other — for example, the Rolling 60s Neighborhood Crips and 83 Gangster Crips have been rivals since 1979. In Watts, the Grape Street Crips and the PJ Watts Crips have feuded so much that the PJ Watts Crips even teamed up with a local Blood set, the Bounty Hunter Bloods, to fight the Grape Street Crips.<ref>[http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/war-and-peace-in-watts/455/ "War and Peace in Watts"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416031421/http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/war-and-peace-in-watts/455/ |date=April 16, 2007 }} (July 14, 2005). ''LA Weekly''. Retrieved 2007-05-04.</ref> In the mid-1990s, the Hoover Crips rivalries and wars with other Crip sets caused them to become independent and drop the Crip name, calling themselves the Hoover Criminals.

== Alliances and rivalries ==

=== Rivalry with the Bloods === {{Main article|Crips–Bloods gang war}}

The Bloods are the Crips' main rival. The Bloods initially formed to provide Piru Street Gang members protection from the Crips. The rivalry started in the 1960s when Washington and other Crip members attacked Sylvester Scott and Benson Owens, two students at Centennial High School. After the incident, Scott formed the Pirus, while Owens established the West Piru gang.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3LiWVoCoNoC&q=Sylvester&pg=PA51|title=Gangland|isbn=9780976111245|last1=Harris|first1=Donnie|date=October 2004|publisher=Holy Fire }}</ref> In late 1972, several gangs that felt victimized by the Crips due to their escalating attacks joined the Pirus to create a new federation of non-Crip gangs that later became known as Bloods. Between 1972 and 1979, the rivalry between the Crips and Bloods grew, accounting for a majority of the gang-related murders in southern Los Angeles. Members of the Bloods and Crips occasionally fight each other and, as of 2010, are responsible for a significant portion of gang-related murders in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk7A7bdaELsC&q=bloods+1972&pg=PA153|title=Black Los Angeles|isbn=9780814773062|last1=Hunt|first1=Darnell|last2=Ramon|first2=Ana-Christina|date=May 2010|publisher=NYU Press }}</ref> This rivalry is also believed to be behind the 2022 Sacramento shooting, where six people were killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-06/sacramento-massacre-likely-a-shootout-sources-say |title=At least five shooters involved in Sacramento massacre, gang ties likely, police say |work=Los Angeles Times |last1=Winton |first1=Richard |last2=Garrison |first2=Jessica |last3=Mejia |first3=Brittany |last4=Chabria |first4=Anita |date=April 6, 2022 |access-date=April 21, 2022 |archive-date=April 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420191109/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-06/sacramento-massacre-likely-a-shootout-sources-say |url-status=live }}</ref> On June 15, 2025, a teenager allegedly opened fire during a festival in West Valley City, Utah, killing three people including an eight-month-old infant and wounding two others; one of the two wounded was pregnant and the fetus was not delivered as a result, thus leading a fourth murder charge. The shooter was suspected to be a Titanic Crip Gang member and was feuding with alleged Bloods members as gang epithets were being espoused during a friction; at least one of the victims had ties or friendships with the Bloods gang.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gruver |first1=Mead |title=Teen charged with 4 counts of murder in Utah carnival shooting |url=https://apnews.com/article/utah-salt-lake-carnival-shooting-west-valley-b85c6ced560150077a2c28d3379c1c04 |access-date=7 September 2025 |work=AP News |date=20 June 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Alliance with the Folk Nation ===

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as many Crip gang members were being sent to various prisons across the country, an alliance was formed between the Crips and the Folk Nation in Midwest and Southern U.S. prisons. This alliance was established to protect gang members incarcerated in state and federal prison. It is strongest within the prisons, and less effective outside. The alliance between the Crips and Folks is known as "8-ball". A broken 8-ball indicates a disagreement or "beef" between Folks and Crips.<ref name="google.co.in"/>

== References ==

=== Footnotes === {{reflist}}

=== General === {{refbegin}}

* Leon Bing (1991). ''Do or Die: America's Most Notorious Gangs Speak for Themselves''. Sagebrush. {{ISBN|0-8335-8499-5}} * Yusuf Jah, Sister Shah'keyah, Ice-T, ''UPRISING : Crips and Bloods Tell the Story of America's Youth In The Crossfire,'' {{ISBN|0-684-80460-3}} * Capozzoli, Thomas og McVey, R. Steve (1999). ''Kids Killing Kids: Managing Violence and Gangs in Schools''. St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, Florida, side. 72 {{ISBN|1-57444-283-X}} * {{Cite book |author=National Drug Intelligence Center |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2417p.pdf |title=Drugs and Crime: Gang Profile: Crips |year=2002 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |access-date=June 21, 2009 |archive-date=November 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109200159/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2417p.pdf |url-status=live }} Product no. 2002-M0465-001. * Shakur, Sanyika (1993). ''Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member'', Atlantic Monthly Pr, {{ISBN|0-87113-535-3}} * Colton Simpson, Ann Pearlman, Ice-T (Foreword) (2005). ''Inside the Crips : Life Inside L.A.'s Most Notorious Gang'' (HB) {{ISBN|0-312-32929-6}} * Smith, Debra; Whitmore, Kathryn F. (2006). ''Literacy and Advocacy in Adolescent Family, Gang, School, and Juvenile Court Communities''. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. {{ISBN|0-8058-5599-8}}. * Stanley Tookie Williams (2005). ''Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir'' (PB) {{ISBN|0-9753584-0-5}}

== External links == {{Commons category}}

* [https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/cripsandbloods/ PBS Independent Lens program on South Los Angeles gangs] * [http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/crip.htm Snopes Urban Legend] – The origin of the name Crips

{{Crips}} {{Organized crime groups in the United States}} {{Organized crime groups in Los Angeles}} {{Organized crime groups in New York City}}

Category:African-American gangs Category:African-American history in Los Angeles Category:Crips Category:Gangs in Los Angeles Category:American organizations established in 1969 Category:South Los Angeles Category:Street gangs Category:1969 establishments in California