Gang Nation
Estimated Chicago membership:
30,000.
Racial makeup:
Black.
Symbols:
Six-pointed star, upward crossed pitchforks, BOS (Brothers of the Struggle), and a heart with wings.
Slogans:
"All is One" and "What Up G?"
Alliances:
Folks.
History:
Gangs in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side formed this "nation" of gangs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The founder was David "King David" Barksdale, who was seriously wounded in an ambush in 1969 and died of kidney failure in 1974. The gang adopted the Jewish Star of David in his honor. The star and the other symbol, the upward pitchfork, are used in the gang's graffiti, jewelry and tattoos. Larry Hoover, serving a life term in prison, is still considered the gang's chairman. When he was convicted in 1997, prosecutors estimated the gang was netting $100 million a year.
Estimated Chicago membership:
20,000.
Racial makeup:
Black.
Symbols:
Pyramid with a crescent moon, the letters "VL," a top hat with a cane and gloves, a pair of dice, champagne glass, Playboy bunny head, crescent moon with a five-pointed star, a dollar sign and globes.
Alliance:
People.
History:
The oldest street gang in Chicago, the Vice Lords can be traced to the 1950s when the gang was formed as a club in the Illinois State Training Center for Boys at St. Charles. It evolved into a gang when members returned to their Lawndale neighborhood.
The Vice Lords controlled federal grants to run a teen center and job-training classes for youths on the West Side, allowing the gang to control the neighborhood, experts say. The Chicago police say Willie Lloyd is the leader of the Vice Lords Nation, which comprises eight factions including the Unknown Vice Lords, which he founded. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Lloyd said he called the faction the "Unknown" Vice Lords as a joke, referring to police reports in which unidentified perpetrators were listed as "unknown."
Estimated Chicago membership:
18,000
Racial makeup: Predominantly Mexican and Puerto Rican.
Symbols:
Three-pointed crown, five-pointed crown, five-pointed star, five dots, cross, king's head with a crown, lions, lion's head and letters "LK."
Slogans:
"King of Love" and "Behold Latin King."
Alliance:
People.
History:
Founded more than 30 years ago, the Latin Kings are the oldest Hispanic street gang in Chicago. The gang began in Chicago's Humboldt Park and Southeast Side neighborhoods. Now the gang is in almost every Hispanic community in Chicago. The gang is known for eulogizing slain members in the form of wall murals. Gustavo "Gino" Colon, sentenced to life in May 2000 for running a drug ring while behind bars for murder, is considered the leader of the gang, police say.
SOURCES: Chicago Police Department, National Gang Crime Research Center