The Jungles faction of the Black P. Stones street gang is a "set" of the Bloods gang alliance in Los Angeles. Originating in Los Angeles' Baldwin Village neighborhood in the 1960s, the Black P. Stones became one of the largest gangs in the city.[1] The gang has been linked to various crimes, including murders, assaults, robberies, narcotics violations and firearms violations, and has been the subject of numerous FBI and LAPD investigations.[3]
Overview
History
The gang was founded in the 1960s by T. Rodgers and originated as the West Side faction, or "set", of the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation in the Baldwin Village neighborhood of Los Angeles — known as "the Jungles".[1] Rodgers had moved to the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles from the South Side of Chicago and was given permission by Black P. Stones leaders in Chicago to establish a faction of the gang in Los Angeles.[2] The Black P. Stones also operated in the West Adams area of the city.[5] The gang became affiliated with the Bloods alliance when the Pirus began protecting Black P. Stones members from the Crips.[1]
The Black P. Stones' membership grew to approximately 500, and the gang became one of the largest in Los Angeles.[1] The gang's founder, T. Rodgers, later became a community activist, brokering truces between warring gangs. He died at the age of 65 in August 2021.[2]
Territory
The Black P. Stones in Los Angeles once consisted of two separate gangs; the City Stone Bloods, in the Mid-City/Arlington Heights area, and the Jungle Stone Bloods, in the area that was once known as "the Jungles" during the 1960s to the early 2000s, now officially known as Baldwin Village, on the West Side of South Central Los Angeles.[6] Although Baldwin Village is less than a mile square, the area is home to 700 to 800 gang members, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 2005.[7]
Intergang relations
The Black P. Stones are affiliated with the Bloods alliance and especially with the Piru coalition. The gang is a rival of the Crips.[1] The Black P. Stones have also been involved in a long-running conflict with the 18th Street gang, a Latino gang which is based in a territory north of Baldwin Village.[4][8]
Investigations and prosecutions
On November 10, 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Los Angeles Office and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) served 16 federal drug indictments and arrested at least 18 members of the Black P. Stones accused of conspiracy and drug trafficking in a joint effort called "Operation Stone Cold".[9] Almost 1,000 law enforcement personnel took part in the operation, carrying out police raids in Baldwin Village, Hawthorne and Inglewood, and seizing stashes of crack cocaine and weapons, including an AR-15 assault rifle and an AK-47.[10] The indictments followed an investigation which lasted over a year, and involved informants infiltrating the gang and making videotaped drug buys from members.[7] 17 people were convicted on federal charges, and another 12 were convicted on state charges following the investigation.[3]
In 2006, a gang injunction was filed against the Black P. Stones by the Los Angeles City Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, prohibiting members from congregating in public.[1] Police alleged the gang was responsible for 1,500 aggravated assaults and 28 murders between 2000 and 2005.[8]
75 members and associates of the gang were indicted on a variety of state and federal drug charges as a result of "Operation Red Dawn", a year-long investigation by the FBI and LAPD, which culminated in a series of raids involving over 900 federal agents and police officers in Southwest Los Angeles, on May 19, 2011.[11][12] 135.5 grams of PCP; 41.2 grams of methamphetamine; 25 kilograms of marijuana; 1.7 kilograms of cocaine; and a variety of firearms were seized as a result of the operation.[3]
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and prosecutors heavily targeted property owners and managers of the Chesapeake Apartments, a 425-unit apartment complex spread over more than 17 acres which was a longtime stronghold for the Black P. Stones, to crackdown on gang crime. Between July 2013 and November 2017, Feuer filed 98 nuisance abatement lawsuits and secured 96 injunctions related to specific properties with documented gang and/or narcotics activity.[13] The LAPD also conducted raids and arrests among the apartment buildings which decreased crime within that area dramatically.[14]
