Mr. Phillips

The Crips, originating in Los Angeles, California, are one of the oldest, largest, and most notorious gangs in the United States. They have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing in the Los Angeles area. The Crips are mostly identified by the blue color worn by their members. What was once a single gang is now a loose network of "franchises" around the United States. The gang primarily (but not exclusively) comprises African Americans. The Crips have an intense rivalry with the Bloods and are also known to feud with Chicano gangs.

The Crips were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1969 by 15-year-old Raymond Washington. Washington initially called the gang the Baby Avenues in an attempt to emulate older gangs and activities carried out by the Black Panthers with which he was fascinated. This evolved to Avenue Cribs and then Cribs as nicknames for the age of the members.[1] The name Crips was first introduced in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper in a description by crime victims of young men with canes, as if they were crippled (though there is some discussion that it may have initially been a simple spelling mistake). The name stuck.

Stanley Tookie Williams, generally acknowledged as co-founder of the Crips, [2] started his own gang called the Westside Crips. The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more youth gangs joined it; at one point they outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1, sparking disputes with non-Crip gangs including the L.A. Brims, Athens Park Boys, the Bishops and the Denver Lanes. The Crips eventually became the most powerful gang in California. In response, all of the other besieged gangs, including the Pirus, formed an alliance that later became the Bloods.

Along with friends, Williams and Washington created the initial intent of continuing the revolutionary ideology of the 1960s. These aspirations were unattainable because of a general lack of political leadership and guidance. Washington and Williams were never able to develop an agenda for social change within the community and instead became obsessed with protecting themselves from other gangs in the community.

By 1971 the gang's notoriety had spread across Los Angeles. The gang became increasingly violent as they attempted to expand their turf. By the early 1980s the gang was heavily involved with drug trade

N 1971 a Crip set on Piru Street, Compton, known as the Piru Street Boys was formed. After two years of peace, a feud began between the Piru Street Boys and the other Crip sets. It would later turn violent as gang warfare ensued between former allies. This battle continued until the mid 1970s when the Piru Street Boy wanted to call an end to the violence, and called a meeting with other gangs that were targeted by the Crips. After a long discussion, the "Pirus" broke off all connections to the Crips and started an organzation that would later be called the "Bloods," a streetgang infamous for its rivalry with the Crips.

Since then, other 'beefs' (conflicts) and feuds were started between many of the remaining sets of the Crips gang. It is a popular misconception that Crips sets feud only with Bloods. In reality, they also fight other Crips sets Ð"ўв‚¬Ð²Ð‚Ñœ for example, the Rollin' 60s and 83rd Street Gangster Crips ("Eight-Tray") have been rivals since 1979. In Watts, Los Angeles, the Grape Street Watts Crips and the PJ Crips have feuded so much that the PJ Crips even teamed up with local Bloods set the Bounty Hunter Bloods to fight against the Grape Street Crips[4]. A clique (a still smaller group within a gang set) within the PJ Crips is even called 'Tha GK (Grape Killa) Boys.' The Hoover Crips developed huge rivalries with many Crip gangs in Los Angeles. Because of this they decided to stop being Crips and changed their name to the Hoover Criminal Gang.

In the 1980s, Crips moved into the sale of crack, a form of the drug cocaine. It was developed as a simpler alternative to the process of freebasing, which necessitates the use of controlled and dangerous chemicals such as ether. Inexpensive and highly addictive,