Watts truce
The Watts truce was a 1992 peace agreement among rival street gangs in Los Angeles. It was declared between warring gangs in the community of Watts in the days just before the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Although not universally adhered to, the truce was a major component of the decline of street violence in the city during the 1990s. After 20 years of internecine warfare that waged across the public housing projects of Los Angeles two rival "sets" within the infamous Crips gang decided to call a ceasefire.
The Grape Street Crips from the Jordan Downs Projects, the P Jay Watts Crips from the Imperial Courts, and the Bounty Hunter Bloods from the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects met in the Imperial Courts Project gym to negotiate peace.[1] Football legend and activist Jim Brown, and hip-hop artists of the West Coast Rap All-Stars helped the rivals to negotiate their peace accord; the factions would go on to draft a formal peace treaty modeled on a previous ceasefire reached between Egypt and Israel. Within days, despite the raging fires in downtown, most of the black gangs in LA declared themselves at peace. This truce is no longer in effect, though it effectively reduced street violence for the better part of a decade.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ Duane, Daniel (January 2006). "Straight Outta Boston Why is the "Boston Miracle" – the only tactic proven to reduce gang violence – being dissed by the L.A.P.D., the FBI, and Congress?". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ↑ Stoltze, Frank (April 28, 2012). "Forget the LA Riots – historic 1992 Watts gang truce was the big news". 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved November 9, 2013.