STREET GANGS; A Growing Dilemma
Are you claiming? Do you belong
to a gang?
Bangin' - Actively involved
in gang activity.
Cuz/Cuzz - Crip, Crips referring to
other Crips.
Deuce and a half - .25 semi
automatic handgun.
Eight track - 2.5 grams of cocaine.
Five-0 - Police, police are coming.
G - Gangster, dark glasses.
Gat - Gun.
Hangin' - Not directly involved.
In the mix - Involved in gang
activity.
Jumped in - Gang initiation
usually involves jumping into a
Sof gang members and
rig them.
Kickin' it - Relaxing with fellow
gang members, partying, killing
time, relaxing.
Lizard butt Ugly girl.
Mackin* - Getting girls.
Nine - 9mm semi-automatic handgun.
One time - Police/Sheriff are near.
Packing - Carrying a gun in your
possession.
Queen - Female member of a gang.
Rag Bandanna/handkerchief the
color of the gang.
Saggin* - Wearing pants low on
the hips, jail house life,
gangstering.
The man Cop.
Tagging - Wearing a hat with the
manufacturer's tag exposed,
applying graffiti.
Up OR it - Have knowledge of drugs,
" in the know on the dmg scene,
a person who's successfully
dealing drugs.
Vlolatlons • To break a gang
rule and receive punishment.
>wn with the set -
/, fine, secure, OK.
Who you dowR with? - what
gang set are you with?
Yg Young gangster.
Source: Omaha Police Department
Two-face
Continued from Page 1
His mother brought the family to
Nebraska to live with Two-face’s
grandmother. The relocation kept him
alive, but not out of trouble.
At age 12, he spent one day in the
Attention Center on three counts of
larceny. The next year, he was ar
rested for third-degree assault. He
spent 16 hours and 11 minutes in the
juvenile jail but was released to his
mother.
As other kids play soccer and take
piano lessons, Two-face’s rap sheet
continues to grow. He spent his 15th
birthday — and 361 other days in
1993 —at the Attention Center.
He insisted he wasn’t given the
same opportunities as schoolmates and
friends in Lincoln’s Northside —
friends he rarely saw because he was
locked in the Attention Center.
“A lot of the white people don’t
have the worries that we do,” he said.
“Whites rap on society, you don’t even
see blacks in society.”
Two-face’s story is typical of how
gangs spread throughout the country.
When families flee ghettos filled with
crime, little gangsters take over in
smaller cities.
w nen i nrsi came uown nere, mere
wasn’t any gangs here,” he said. “I
didn’t see no one saggin.’ I didn’t see
no one buying. Then all of a sudden, I
hear people claiming what I’m claim
ing.”
Lincoln police estimate that half of
the more than 300 identified gang
members are wannabes. The same boys
who wear red on some days wear blue
on another. A real ‘G’ is true to his
colors, Two-face said.
“You can spot a wannabe and a true
gangster,” he said. “You’ve got to
watch what they say. It’s the way they
perform, they don’t carry themselves
right.”
Two-face doesn ’t miss an opportu
nity to brag about his life. At 17, he
has more worldly possessions than
knowledge. When he was on the
streets, he claims he had three cars: A
Lincoln Continental, a Park Avenue
and a Riviera.
“It’s not cool to cruise in the same
car day after day,” he said.
A 17-year-oldkid drivingnear24th
and W streets is suspicious enough,
but when he alternates his car every
other day, police wonder how he paid
for the shiny rims and license plates.
“Police follow me everyday in my
car. You’ve got a nice car with tinted
windowsand you’re black, they’ll pull
you over.”
Police don’t hide the fact they stop
cars more frequently on Lincoln’s
..ii ii'I ill Hi _ .
Two-face says he has a dual personality. His nickname is explained in this photo illustration.
Northside. They say it is the simplest
way to show their presence and regain
control.
“Preventing gangs from joining a
foothold is more effective than deal
ing with the problem after the fact,”
said Lincoln police Sgt. Larry Nelson,
who tracks gang activity in the city.
Two-face says he has been pulled
over for having a loose license plate.
The officer told Two-face he was afraid
it would fall off. But when the vehicle
was pulled over, the officer visually
searched for a gun, money or drugs,
Two-face says.
But the police — those Two-face
calls the “po-po”—say they are using
aggressive policing approaches to
clean up communities. When he’s
walking down the streets, Two-face
tries to blend in with other teen-agers.
“I won’t be buying real fancy
clothes. The po-po will wonder where
I got that from,” Two-face said. “I
didn’t even get a pager.”
That is where the gangster’s mod
esty begins. When details are revealed
about Two-face’s life, he becomes
more and more of a child. Cut through
the repeated f-words and a lengthy
juvenile record, a scared boy is dis
covered.
His gang brothers raised him while
his mother was strung out on drugs.
One day last month, Two-face com
posed a rap about his own demise. In
graphic detail, he describes friends
and families watching his funeral pro
cession on a Monday morning at 10
o’clock.
“Today is the day that my blood gets spilled... ”
TWO-FACE
"The Funeral” rap
The artistic side of Two-face is
revealed as he performs his rap at the
Attention Center. Holdinga handwrit
ten script covered with eraser marks
and misspellings, Two-face puts his
hand at his side, thumps a beat and
does his rap: “The Funeral.”
“Today is the day that my blood
gels spilled...
“Yeah I’m a G, but we was all born
to die.
“So ain’t no screaming, there re
ally ain’t no need to cry.
“So I give it up and quit trying to
fight, and let death take my life as I
float into the light.
“I never thought of people as my
friends, but the nigger I grew up with
is the fool that did me in. I guess he
thought by killing me that he would
get away, but my boys retaliate and
our funeral’s the same day.
“When I get to my destination in
the sky, I hope the Lord will take time,
to answer my one question: Why?
“I try to get my shit straight with
God before I bail, cause even as a ‘G’
I don’t want to go to hell. And I know
the Lord understands that, but it’s
still up to him where I end up at.
“I wish I could have told my mom
I loved her for the last time...
“Now I’ve done dropped some
niggers, to me it’s just another day.
Now that is me, I see shit in a different
way.
“AH the years I lookedfor death, I
guess I finally just found it. They
caught me slippin' and life just goes
on without me. ”
After his five-minute rap, Two
face is somber. He says he will try to
bury his criminal side. After he serves
his time, he says he will retire.
He is tired of the dingy apartments
near 24th and W streets. Tired of
being harassed by police. Tired of
looking over his shoulder.
All of this weariness at age 17.
“I’m going to slow down with the
bangin’ shit,” he said. “I’m just wait
ing for my time to be an old ‘G,’ to sit
on my ass, smoke bud and make
money.”
Life at the Attention Center will
not last forever. He turns 18 in No
vember 1996, when he will likely serve
a few years — this time in a jail with
barred windows — for robbery and
previous charges.
“This is fun and games right here,”
Two-face says, looking around at pool
tables, foosball and a basketball hoop.
“This is a vacation away from trouble.”
Different habits mark gangs
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Reporter
Gangs are marked by colors, signs
and directions.
The Bloods, who are members of
the People Nation, wear their red hats,
belts and rags to the left.
Crips, who are members of the
Folk Nation, wear their blue hats, belts
and rags to the right.
They roll up different pant legs,
polish different fingernails and wrap
different colored bandannas on their
heads.
Although the characteristics seem
similar, they could not be farther apart.
A cross of these details could mean
the difference between life and death
on tough metropolitan streets.
Not in Lincoln.
“You can walk down any block
you want to,” said Two-face, a 17
year-old Crip who moved to Lincoln
from California. “Here, the Vice Lords,
Bloods and Crips walk down the same
street. That wouldn’t happen in Cali.”
Police seen hints of more than 23
different gangs in Lincoln. The ma
jority of the more than 3 00 self-admit
ted gang members come from Blood,
Crip and Baggy Boy sets, said Lincoln
police Sgt. Larry Nelson.
The gangs’ habits are as distinctive
as their colors.
Bloods and Vice Lords are likely
to wear team jackets from the L.A.
Kings, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics,
Green Bay Packers, Washington
Redskins and Minnesota
Timberwolves, said Officer Sharri
Fletcher of the Omaha Police Gang
Unit.
Crips and Disciples typically wear
L.A. Raiders, Los Angeles Dodgers
and Pittsburgh Steelers team gear,
Fletcher said.
“How do you tell if a kid is gang
bangin’ or just a big fan?” Fletcher
said. “Ask him who his favorite play
ers on the team are.”
Tatoos are found on any part of the
body. A teardrop painted on a youth’s
cheek, could indicate a fellow gang
ster died, Fletcher said. The teardrop
also can be painted on an “enforcer,”
or a gang member who has killed
someone, she said.
Local gangs, like the Baggy Boys,
don’t have as many rituals. Police say
they aren’t as organized or particular.
They, too, often wear blue baggy
clothing with pagers clipped on pock
ets. Their low-riding imported cars
with tinted windows are probably the
most distinctive feature of this gang,
police say.
“In our opinion, they commit crimes
together,” said Lincoln police Detec
tive Sgt. Jim Breen. “It doesn’t have
the hierarchical leadership positions
that other gangs do.”
Lincoln
gangs
B Baggy Boys
B Crips I
□ Bloods
Q Gangster Disciples
B Insane Vice lords
B Green Bay Mafia
U Crenshaw Mafia
100 Gang member growth 1994 ■
_is,ill sliisiil. 1M5B
i m
Source: Lincoln Police Department