New gang "sign" (possibly just local?)

[rubyrose]

I've seen something new on the streets in the last few days. Guys wearing t-shirts half on, half off.

That is, one arm hole (trying to remember which) is empty, with head through the neck hole and the other arm through the other arm hole, so the shirt hangs diagonally.

It just popped up all of a sudden.

Anyone else seen this?

(And no, the women don't do this. Although they will pull their t's up to just below the bra line [not that they wear bras].)

A guess of mine: these are either buyers or sellers of drugs.

[Tucker6900]

edited-------------deleted.

[exComptonCop]

They're doing it to vex you

[BPD_126]

hmmm, I'm wondering what Tucker's response was.....LOL

[ERMDPD]

I think it's just "the cool thing to do". I've seen it for years here in Miami. Kinda like wearing your shorts under your butt, "the cool thing to do".

[injunwil]

i don't know, but maybe i'll try it on my next day off and see who i'm approached by. i'll have to figure out some alternate concealment method, i guess.

[rubyrose]

No.

If you want to believe I don't know what i am doing, I am happy to let you.

PS. What do you do for a living? Are you "that guy" that calls the police every hour, because someone walked infront of your house and was suspuscious?

[rubyrose]

Having shorts hanging out showing the butt is sometimes the "cool thing to do." In some contexts however, it means something specific. The difficulty is in distinguishing the fashion statement from the meaning signifier.

No, this is not just because the wearer of the T is hot. If that were the case, well, we've had a lot of hot days this summer and until the last couple of days I had not seen this. Also, if it's hot, for heavens' sake, why not take the WHOLE T off? If it's hot, go bare-chested (if you are a guy anyway).

No, this likely means something specific, though what exactly it means is a question mark.

Obviously it's not just local.

I think it's just "the cool thing to do". I've seen it for years here in Miami. Kinda like wearing your shorts under your butt, "the cool thing to do".

[Back to NYC]

Left side of shirt up = possible Crip/Crip-affiliated gang.
Right side of shirt up = possible Blood/Piru/Blood-affiliated gang.

Note that I say possible. "Gang signs" are not universal, and not always what we think they are...and are frequently thrown up by wannabes or kids just trying to be cool.

[rubyrose]

Yeah, I know. The big problem with interpreting these is that kids who don't know what they are about start emulating the "big boys" because it looks cool.

One thing very new is I have seen some color change-ups -- rival gang members (I know they are ACTUAL gang members -- or at least they present themselves that way on MySpace) wearing their rival's colors. Normally my street and the immediate surroundings are red (Bloods) or tan (local gang affiliated with Bloods). Whereas the local gang on the competing nearby territory are purple (local gang) or blue (Crips).

Last two days I've seen C Avenue in blue & purple and T road in tan and red -- the opposite of the norm. Again, remember, these are people who are self-identified as one or the other gang on MySpace and are known to the police as such. So this is not my imagination working overtime.

It could be the two are joining in a common objective to run me out one way or another, since my presence impacts them both.

Maybe. Maybe not. But I'm not going to take any chances. I'd rather be a live fool than a dead one.

I've also found a page with a photo of my neighbor's son directly across the street from me joined by two other self-identified gang members. And this is a neighbor who as purported to me that she "has my back." Umm, yeah. Well, there are other ways to interpret that.

I found that photo on the page of a gang member who has a coded reference to me and "Bang Bang" in that same reference.

That boy has been flashing red up to this point. Now he is flashing blue.

Tomorrow I am going down to the county clerk and applying for a gun permit. I plan to follow through with some serious training. I am doing so on the advice of a patrol officer I had a good long conversation with last night at our National Night Out celebration. He knows these guys and identified a few to me. He offered to call me directly any time he sees my name on a 911 report while he is on patrol on my streets.

It's clear to me that this is getting beyond psychological warfare. I have calls into several PD folks. Meanwhile I'm finding things to do away from my house. I might even "burb it" for a while and stay with friends, at least until I am certain something is in place to afford me better protection than I have now.

And thanks for this. It is very helpful.

Left side of shirt up = possible Crip/Crip-affiliated gang.
Right side of shirt up = possible Blood/Piru/Blood-affiliated gang.

Note that I say possible. "Gang signs" are not universal, and not always what we think they are...and are frequently thrown up by wannabes or kids just trying to be cool.

[exComptonCop]

It's clear to me that this is getting beyond psychological warfare. I have calls into several PD folks. Meanwhile I'm finding things to do away from my house. I might even "burb it" for a while and stay with friends, at least until I am certain something is in place to afford me better protection than I have now.

Getting outta Dodge while the getting is good huh? Wise move.

[nuthead]

wannabes or kids just trying to be cool.

The big problem with interpreting these is that kids who don't know what they are about start emulating the "big boys" because it looks cool.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, treat it as a duck! I don't "believe" in "wannabes" - if they act or in any indicate that they are a member of a gang, I treat them as such. We have some specific laws passed in SC for gang-related activity (I have no idea if NY does) so if some kids want to "act" like gang members, I'm more than happy to charge them under those laws.

And Ruby, you might want to keep another thought in mind - in several of your posts you seemed to be more concerned with the older gang members than the young kids - juveniles typically face much lighter sentences than adults and they know this. Also, the younger kids want to earn respect and what better way to do it than to take care of a problem for the gang? Taking you out might result in a few years in juvie jail (again, I have no clue about NY laws and such) but would gain him much respect when he got out.

[rubyrose]

Had a nice long chat with one of our sector CPOs about this. He has some ideas he's going to push upstairs. If need be I can push "downstairs" too -- one of my buddies just got promoted DC of operations. I'll let the CPO do what he can do before pushing anything from the other direction.

Meanwhile, lying low for a while.

[rubyrose]

Yes, nuthead, you are right.

But for a while all we had were some loosely affiliated kids who grew up on the same block together. When the older ones showed up I knew things were getting tougher.

The presence of the older ones usually indicates that the leaders are feeling the need to check things out so they can give orders to the younger ones on how to handle the situation.

I tried a little change-up tonight. Put my bike on the back of the car and drove down to a new restaurant I wanted to try, about half a mile away. After dinner I rode my bike down to the sector office to catch Off. LR, & we talked over everything that has been going on. Then I got back on my bike. LR said he would meet me at my car, just for safety.

On my way riding back to my car, however, I noticed two boys on bikes who seemed to be following me. This went on for several blocks. They were the same two I had seen just outside the sector office when I left, but they were up the street about half a block.

Called 911 while on the bike and asked the operator to let LR know. He was supposed to meet me at my car but he wasn't there when I arrived. The two on the bike rode past me, went down one block, and sat there. LR apparently was caught up in doing something so he sent the nearby bike patrol. Then a cruiser showed up. He followed me back home and hung around while I took my bike off the car. Meanwhile 5 other cars "casually" passed by, turning on my corner. I wouldn't dream of asking for that big of a show, but it sure was nice!

No more bike riding in my own neighborhood unless accompanied.

Rather be a live fool than a dead one. My mantra.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, treat it as a duck! I don't "believe" in "wannabes" - if they act or in any indicate that they are a member of a gang, I treat them as such. We have some specific laws passed in SC for gang-related activity (I have no idea if NY does) so if some kids want to "act" like gang members, I'm more than happy to charge them under those laws.

And Ruby, you might want to keep another thought in mind - in several of your posts you seemed to be more concerned with the older gang members than the young kids - juveniles typically face much lighter sentences than adults and they know this. Also, the younger kids want to earn respect and what better way to do it than to take care of a problem for the gang? Taking you out might result in a few years in juvie jail (again, I have no clue about NY laws and such) but would gain him much respect when he got out.

[TheKansan]

First let me just say that I understand your position rubyrose. I love my city too, and it is indeed known for it's severe crime problems. The thing is that the moment I no longer feel safe and comfortable in my home, I will leave. No house, and no neighborhood, is worth my life.

I know I am taking the position of a scared suburbanite and running away, but I can fight for this city my whole life and sometimes nothing will ever change. I'm just saying this because you have implied in a few threads that you felt threatened lately. You have stated in other threads that gang members, and other criminals roam your neighborhood. I believe you said many murders took place in close proximity to where you live.

It sucks that good people are sometimes forced out of an area where they live, but that is better than them ending up as victims.