iolence towards other Street gangs. The Crips are a very large gang spread across the country and “should the Crips ever become more structured, they could present more serious problems than created by other recognized prison gang or STG’s” (F.B.P., 1994, p.58). The reason that the Crips are such a security hazard is that the average age is 20 years old and the mentality is more towards violence to solve disagreements instead of reasoning. The Crips do not use tattoos as identifying marks except for their street name. They identify themselves with the color blue and are known to wear clothing of that color in the free world. Other trends include the wearing of British Knights tennis shoes because the B/K signifies “bloods killers”. Crips have their own alphabet and usually replace the letter “B” with the letter “C” in writing or will put an “X” in the top of the letter “B”. When writing the letter “A” the Crips will write it upside down to show disrespect to the Bloods, since “A” comes before “B”. The Crips are allies with anyone who considers the Bloods an enemy.La Hermanos De Pistoleros Latinos is more commonly know as HPL, which stands for “Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen”. “The HPL is comprised mostly of Mexican nationals incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice” (F.B.P., 1994, p.36). It is currently one of the largest S.T.G.’s in the state of Texas, just below the number of members to the Mexican Mafia and Texas Syndicate. A member must be of Latin origin, such as from Mexico, Cuba, or Puerto Rico. The executive rules of the HPL states, “I will not be able to induct as a Latino-brother any White or Black but only Latinos. Latinos should be any Latin origin; Chicanos, Mexicanos, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans and all persons that speak Latino or are descendents of ...
