Bloods gang are sometimes called Piru, which signifies the street where the gang originated. The main gang is based out of Los Angeles, California and has many sets across the nation. Many of the larger cities in Texas have their own set. When the members get to prison they become one group of Bloods. Since the Bloods is mainly a street gang they are very different in their recruiting methods. They do not recruit inside the prison system. The recruiting efforts only take place in the cities where the sets are. In order to become a member the recruit must do a robbery in the presence of other gang members, do a drive-by shooting, or get “rolled” or beat-up by members. “The Bloods present a significant threat to correctional administrators not only due to their predatory and violent behavior, but more importantly due to their intense rivalry with the Crips” (F.B.P., 1994, p.53). The Bloods do not usually wear a tattoo signifying their affiliation, but will wear some type of red clothing. In the correctional setting the members will try to wear red shoestrings or red shoes, since they are unable to wear street clothing in prison. When the bloods are on the streets they are easily identified by the wearing of red bandanas and red clothing. The Bloods have their own cipher and use graffiti to get their message across. Some of the most common graffiti is negative towards the Crips or is used to mark their territory. The Bloods are allied with any gang that considers the Crips an enemy. The Crips Street gang is a violent black gang that was formed in South-Central Los Angeles, California in 1969. “During the early 1970’s, the gang grew and branched out to other parts of Los Angeles County; these new subsidiary, or realigned existing gangs were known as sets, and they used the term Crips in their individual gang name” (F.B.P., 1994, p.58). The Crips concentrate mostly on extortion and v...
