Now being noticed more and more are the creation of hybrid gangs. It is not as though they haven’t been around, but they are now being noticed more often. According to Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, hybrid gangs have been around since the 1920’s. Hybrid gangs consist of mixed race or mixed ethnicity individuals. (QJJDP Pg. 1) The most well known gangs have been Crips, Bloods, Nortenos, and Surenos, but now a days it seems as though there are more hybrid gangs than that of the original known gangs.

            Working with juveniles for almost five years has given me a clear picture as to what these hybrid gangs are all about. Talking to the members it seems as though these gangs are just made up one day. Still, usually a group of people from the same “hood” like original gangs, but they now branch out and look elsewhere for members. They create what color rag they will wear and with every gang an enemy is established. Many of these sorts of gangs have popped up in the last few years and it seems as though it will continue to grow.

 

“A new breed of street gangs has arrived in Las Vegas and cities across the nation, with violent results. Squad Up, one of the newest Las Vegas gangs, was formed by smaller gangs, some of the rivals, which band together to form a larger hybrid gang.”(Ortega and Calderoni) As found in a piece of an article above, this is not just a local or a California problem, it has become nation wide. Handling the original forms of gangs has plagued law enforcement for years, but with more added to the table were do they turn.

    
Ortega, Francisca, and Valeria Calderoni. "Hybrid Gang' Violence Sweeping Nation." Www.policeone.com. Police One, 30 Sept. 2007. Web. 8 May 2011. <http://www.policeone.com/gangs/articles/1359371-Hybrid-gang-violence-sweeping-nation/>. 

Starbuck, David, James C. Howell, and Donna J. Lindquist. "Hybrid and Other Modern Gangs." Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2001): 1