In a genre flooded with sensationalized headlines and shallow storytelling, Less Tagging More Killing stands apart as a raw, unflinching look into the gritty realities of gang life, law enforcement, and the deadly intersections in between. Whether you’re a true crime enthusiast, a law enforcement professional, a criminology student, or simply someone looking for the […]

The public believes the FBI represents the pinnacle of American law enforcement. When it comes to dismantling criminal organizations, citizens expect federal agents to succeed where local police cannot. This perception creates dangerous misconceptions about FBI gangs operations and the federal government’s actual capacity to address street violence. I spent years working FBI gangs cases. […]

When most people think of gangs they don’t think of gang culture. They picture street violence, tattoos, and hand signs. But beneath the surface lies an intricate web of rituals, rules, and hierarchies that shape every facet of gang life. Culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, and social behaviors of a particular group of people, […]

Gang related crime statistics should be a priority for all law enforcement. When I first began studying gang activity in Southern California, I was surprised there was not data on the crimes gangs committed. I spoke to agents and detectives and they had general ideas of gang crimes but no one had gone through gang […]

Roles in gangs define everything from who gives orders to who carries the product. When outsiders look at a gang, they see chaos. Gang investigators see structure. Mapping those roles is the first step to understanding how a seemingly loose assortment of criminals can survive police raids, internal feuds, and prison sentences. My years working […]

Laws on gangs were created to help communities fight back against violent crime, but too often those laws fall short when applied inconsistently or without the will to enforce them. As someone who spent years investigating gangs across Southern California, I’ve seen firsthand what works—and which laws simply don’t. Understanding the difference can make or […]

When it comes to gang culture, few aspects are as colorful and revealing as the gang names that members adopt. Whether in Oxnard, Santa Paula, or Santa Barbara, gang names are not random — they reflect a deep subculture of loyalty, reputation, and identity within the criminal world. Understanding the logic and history behind gang […]

The gang initiation fight that begins a gang member’s life is more than a physical beating—it’s the culmination of a host of failures of parents, cultural dynamics, and individual despair. I’ve investigated hundreds of gang members throughout my career in law enforcement. Each one started their criminal journey the same way: through a gang initiation […]

Gang culture is dominated by males, but gang initiation for females has a darker, often more degrading reality. While male gang members are typically “jumped in”—enduring a violent beating to earn their place—gang initiation for females can include being “sexed in,” where sex with multiple gang members acts as the entry ticket. It’s not about […]

What to do about gangs? It’s easy to get lost in a jungle of academic jargon and overcomplicated models. I’ve read reports from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Justice— titles like Police Response to Gangs: A Multi-Site Study and Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Model for Problem Solving. Academic researchers […]