The Longos is the oldest street gang in Long Beach, California,[1] made up of several smaller cliques from the 53 gangs active the in the area. [2] "Longo" is the local caló term for Long Beach,[3] but the term has been regarded more specifically as a reference to these gangs since the 1970s. The use of the term for street gangs has been known to police since a shooting in 1979 at the Carmelitos housing project, but the gang may have been active earlier, according to the Long Beach Police Department's Gang Detail.[1]. Multigenerational Hispanic gangs account for nearly two-thirds of all California gangs. [4] The Longos gang was split geographically at an early stage and three gangs are currently known to use the name: The East Side Longos, the West Side Longos, and the North Side Longos. The East Side Longos is a large Mexican-American gang rooted in the Hispanic community along Anaheim Street in Long Beach. In December 2001, the Long Beach Superior Court issued a permanent injunction against the East Side Longos in two areas of the city. One part of the injunction forbids gang members from gathering in public with other gang members.[5]
The West Side Longos hold the smallest area of the three, a small strip of the very western edge of Long Beach bordering Wilmington, Carson and Dominguez. In December 2004, the Long Beach City Prosecutor filed a civil injunction against active members of the West Side Longos, which prohibits members from a variety of legal and illegal activity in the area.[6]
References
- ^ a b Manzer, Tracy. "Gangs still thriving in neighborhoods". The Daily News, online edition, 26 September 2004. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Senate Bill 1803, 21 August 2000. Retrieved 16 September 2007. (This bill created a civil injunction program against criminal street gangs in Long Beach.)
- ^ Arredondo, Gabriela F. (2003), ed. Chicana Feminisms: A Critical Reader. Duke University Press, 2003, ISBN 0822331411, p. 62.
- ^ Willwerth, James. "From Killing Fields to Mean Streets". Time/CNN, online version, 24 June 2001. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
- ^ Details of City Prosecutor's "East Side Longos" Anti-Gang Injunction. Long Beach Report, 1 December, 2001. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
- ^ City of Long Beach. Cache of weapons and ammo seized while serving gang injunction. News service, City of Long Beach. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
External links
- Hispanic Gangs in Los Angeles County - online project by Alex Alonso, University of Southern California
- Gang violence in Southern California - Special report by Daily News
