Gangs in Sylmar

The area of interest for my LA Ethnography project was the city and area of Sylmar. The youth of my project with most concentration will be the youth affected by gang life and the gang injunction in Sylmar. I chose Sylmar and the youth in Sylmar because I came from and still continue to visit Sylmar so I can share experiences from my youth, the change through time of Sylmar and study Sylmar from a social, cultural, political and everyday life point of view. I'm concerned and interested of gangs in Sylmar because I have a 17 year old younger brother and two siblings who are babies that may grow up in Sylmar. I also have family and friends that are youth and are impacted from the gang injunction or are in gangs which I naturally reflect on society and use Sylmar as my microcosmic foundation to study the structure and system of social environments of youth in LA.

I believe sharing what Sylmar was like when I was growing up in Sylmar can help set an understanding of the city and youth. Gangbangers amongst the youth were a minority, taggers were more abundant and the trend for youth of my generation was to tag or graffiti on public property for recognition and eventually tagging crews would assemble and have tagging competitions or rivalries in paint and sometimes with fights. Tagging/graffiti and taggers was picked up by youth from elementary, middle school, high school and older teenagers and adults that partook in activities. Tagging in Sylmar was impossible not to see if you looked around and paint was sprawled all over the city, parks, sidewalks, transformers, cars, washes, alleys, freeways, crosswalks, stop lights, bus stops, billboards, traffic signs, stores, private houses and public buildings. Defacing property on a grand scale was so severe in response to fight it was the "Sylmar Graffiti Busters" that came out in utility vans with strong pressured water hoses to remove paint was a constant sight to see daily. Gangs began to partake in the tagging craze and painted their gang for recognition and acknowledgement. Eventually through school and social congregations such as parties, taggers and gangbangers would cross paths and either worked together or fight. So youth if socially involved and interested in the Sylmar youth social scene would want to be a tagger or gangbanger. There were a couple of local Sylmar gangs such as San Fer and regionally close gangs that grew in Sylmar such as Pacoima gangs or 18st. At Sylmar high school they were usually a couple of police units and officers that patrolled within and around the high school to deter illegal activities that taggers or gangs would do such as tagging or fighting. As a youth in Sylmar before and after the gang injunction has been stopped multiple times by the police which they either searched me for illegal or gang causes for arrest, question me of my activity or behavior and sometimes they stop me to play around by abusing their power since I am brown skinned and usually stereotyped as a Mexican. A majority of the youth in Sylmar is Mexican or of Latino descent that are usually lower class status or here illegally for economic or family reasons. Many individuals that are illegal tend to join gangs as an employment/financial opportunity and for social needs as a human animal being and that a gang in Sylmar are consisted mainly of Mexicans or Spanish speaking Latinos. I remember before the gang injunction the public Sylmar parks use to be more populated by youth and the library would also be a place where many youth met up for the use of internet and social congregation. I use to go the library a lot or the park to play basketball and then when the gang injunction was put into the effect, law enforcement new with their acquired power exercised it abusively or in situations and times it was not needed. After Law enforcement shut down the park or restricted the area to people on several occasions less people went and it became a place of harassment or limited use. I remember the police went up and down the streets stopping many youth to question, harass, looking for a cause to arrest or to put individuals under a gang profile under the injunction. I observed police on several occasions when they do find an individual with gang ties and treat them like a common animal they can rough up, they would first put an individual in restraints, force them into the ground to be searched and patted, strip an individual of their clothes for tattoos and scars of gang involvement, take photos of the individual and file under a gang injunction or profile and the police usually had five or more officers due this procedure that became common. After many individuals were placed in gang injunction or arrested, many people especially youth went into public scarcely due to the presence and experiences of the police. Many youth involved or in gangs at a young age because of family or being second or third generation. I knew many families that they were all or majority identified with a gang which become an accepted condition of a socio-cultural identity in Sylmar. Around the same time of the gang injunction, graffiti or defacing property if caught became a felony which consequently diminished and demolished the tagging crews and trend around LA and especially in Sylmar. Eventually the gangs absorbed the taggers and crews into their gangs or the tagging crews became gangs which brought on more fights, rumbles and assaults to the enlarged membership of gangs and rivalries of the taggers which they brought to their gang or gang. The reason I seen the changes of social groups and the progress and knowledge of gangs was because I use to walk or bus everywhere around in Sylmar so I observed and learned the public surrounding such as defacing of property. Also being out in public all the time ran into many individuals from different gangs or social lives such as taggers or bangers so I was always updated of the political status between gangs and taggers and run into other youth that just got paroled or in a placement home to know what’s happening in the juvenile halls and youth social scenes around LA. Due to gangbanging my school life and choices were affected like I was not allowed to go to Sylmar high school because I fought members of San Fer before which school and police automatically label you in a gang if you fight, so I took the bus everyday to another high school in another city which let me be aware of Sylmar youth in Sylmar schools instead of being in and interacting with the youth inside Sylmar. I lived near Sylmar high school to observe the youth and befriend some and in conversation usually brought up social instances in their school such as gangs, taggers and fighting.

My younger brother Johnny is 17 years old, My LA Ethnography project concentration and work has helped realize my younger brother’s choices, problems and way of life around Sylmar. My younger brother has actually helped me greatly with my project due to him still living in Sylmar and interviewing and observing his friends. When I went home to visit and do my project, my brother usually is ready to walk around Sylmar and find others his age to mingle. Accompanying my brother to see what he does on a daily basis and observing his behavior helped me learn a great deal about my brother’s character and the youth that populate the city.

My brother at first was hesitant and resistant to answering my questions or be interviewed for the project so I had to buy him food which was an advantage opportunity for my project because my brother chose places many others his age will go to for food and socializing. My brother and most youth we encountered in Sylmar don’t care about school, education, work and a future productive role in society which made me realized that many youth in Sylmar are conditioned to not care and find ways and means to acquire substances either alcohol, marijuana, pills and cigarettes. Their intentions seem to be focused on reckless social events such as parties and kickbacks to let time pass them by. Strolling around the streets of Sylmar with my brother we encountered several gang members from different gangs but a majority was from Varrio San Fer. Running into many individuals and youth Varrio from San Fer made me realize that the gang injunction doesn’t deter individuals from that gang life in Sylmar. They seem to condition the gang injunction as a game with law enforcement and consequences of being filed as a gang member in Varrio San Fer. I learned that Varrio San Fer grew immensely after the injunction but fractured and loose due to many youth that claim or entitle themselves as San Fer. I asked many individuals why they would be from San Fer and the conclusive answer I got from all the responses and interaction was that they got family or friends or recruited in schools which there are many in Sylmar. When my brother and I returned to the house I actually grew concerned for my brother that he might want to be from San Fer so I talked to him about the consequences and stupidity of being in a gang especially in San Fer since he comes into contact with many youth from that gang in Sylmar. My brother actually got kicked out or expelled from several high schools and adult school programs in Sylmar and in the valley which I’m concerned that he might fall into that gang life for social and economic reasons.

Interviewing my brother with the prepared questions I had didn’t work because he thought I was playing a game so I had to ask him a form of a reminiscent provoking questions for him to answer me indirectly to get responses to go with the questions I had. My brother just like me grew up without a father so he has no fear or a check of discipline to make right choices or consider what’s important of right and wrong. He was also in middle school when the injunction was put into effect and had friends from gangs which he associated with and got in trouble on different occasions. A response my brother gave me that was shocking was that he enjoyed getting trouble but the relief was that he said he won't join a gang and not join San Fer.

One individual I got to interview in Sylmar with great insight through her life story and struggle with gang life and judicial restrictions and police interactions and experiences is Maria.

Maria is 16 years old and freshmen in high school; Maria was cooperative with my questions and also became aware of her situation and problems through the responses to my questions. I met with Maria through my younger brother because they are friends and they both similar situations. As youth and teenagers in Sylmar they are both in contact or associated with gangs. Due to social lives and friends they don’t do well in school and rather do gangbanging interactions or activities. They have also both had been arrested and placed into juvenile hall in Sylmar. Maria has lived in Sylmar her whole life and was even born in Sylmar at Olive View Hospital; Maria spent time in Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and is currently on probation due to school and Sylmar’s handling of juveniles that are impacted by or are in gangs. In Sylmar the most influential and oldest gang is Varrio San Fer, Maria is 3rd generation in the gang, her mother had Maria when she was 14 and Maria’s father is from Varrio San Fer. Most of Maria’s family and friends are in the gang and using her family as a model to exemplify the effect of the gang injunction in Sylmar and how it has changed the community and the impact is has on individuals especially amongst youth. A lot of Maria’s friends or family are imprisoned or under a gang profile under the injunction which makes it hard for the individuals to function around the city and have restriction due to the heavy police presence and enforcement. Due to individuals being under an injunction, they are trapped into their gangbanging lives as a means to survive financially and socially even if it’s illegal. A majority of Maria’s friends are in gangs or want to be in a gang, which keep her tied in that gang life by her social life and family life. Maria and her friends don’t really look forward to a long term future but short term instances of pleasure and trouble. Most of them are behind in grade levels or don’t even go to school no more at all because they don’t believe in an education and just want to socialize and interact with a gang or find and consume illegal substances. Most of the youth that surround Maria and my brother have been arrested, kicked out of school, have trouble with their family and being productive in society. Observing Maria and her youth group, the gang doesn’t directly command them to do bad things or deter them from school; they act on the notoriety of the gang injunction on San Fer on their own for delusional glamorized recognition of being a gang banger. Maria and her friends are not the only youth, there are pockets throughout the city with the same mindset and direction with glorifying the idea of having a notorious identity in Sylmar because of the gang injunction and being filed under it is an entitled position for them to being officially recognized under the gang through the justice system. Maria and youth like her even get the gang tattooed on their body for a physical sense of belonging to the gang and that gang lifestyle. From interviewing Maria and her friends I got the most data and most cooperative detailed responses for my project and left me with support that the youth has accepted the gang life as local socio-cultural trend and identity.

An individual that I interviewed from the opposite spectrum of youth identity and community involvement is an 18 year old police cadet named Alexis. I met Alexis back in Sylmar when I use to take the bus on Foothill and Astoria a heavily gang dominated area. Alexis use to live in the Astoria Gardens housing projects where a notorious gang was located that fought and rivaled with San Fer another Sylmar gang. Alexis attended summer school programs and worked hard to get qualifying grades in a competitive police cadet program. Alexis made me realize that youth in Sylmar choose the gang life because there's no requirements like productive programs like the one Alexis was in that you need to have and maintain satisfactory academic grades. Also in the cadet police program you have to volunteer time towards community service which many youth don't like to or invest time in. Alexis found the police cadet program as a way to make better future for herself because she didn't like the areas she was living where gangs were in or around where she lived. Alexis was accepted into schools outside the area for better accredited high schools such as Granada Hills Charter high school. Alexis said she has not been affected by the gang injunction but has seen the police in action around her neighborhood a lot and is glad of the injunction because she said she seen less tagging and crimes around her area. Alexis was a great addition to my project and crucial with her view that was opposite of the youth that were tied socially into that gang life.

Throughout my experience and dedicated time I put into my LA Ethnography project of an area and the lives of youth within that area, I discovered many answers and social theories to the youth in Sylmar and for my younger brother. My project focused on the youth that is currently in Sylmar and how gangs and a gang injunction in Sylmar impact or influence youth.

In conclusion to the gang injunction in Sylmar and how it affects/effects the youth and the community I believe the gang injunction more harm to the community than good. Negative factors the gang injunction has on Sylmar is an image of notoriety of being full of gangs and violence, labeling and branding individuals under a gang profile system that inhibits them from progressing productively in society and stuck at a dead end within the gang, many youth don’t go to the parks or youth social places due to parents concern or fear of the police or of gang, enables law enforcement and judicial powers to an entity of force that can go unchallenged and abusive of their position on individuals that they consider gangbangers, specialized gang units drain funds and focus police power and community relations to an unneeded amount of interest into gangbanging, and condition youth to the option of gangbanging due to the indifferent attitude many youth have towards law and the injunction and gangbanging as a way to socially and/or financially benefit from. Conducting my research and gathering data I obtained much information of social behaviour and structure of the youth in Sylmar and how the gang injunction affects their movement and location around Sylmar. I got to see different sides of the gang injunction of people who benefited of its existence or harmed by it. I also got a geographical and demographic analysis and data of Sylmar such as the inner area of Sylmar is more condensely populated, impoverish and a majority of Mexicans and Mexican influence in comparison to the higher elevated by the mountains and freeways is more clean, better housing, efficient public services and Anglo populated. The inner area of the city is the focus of police presence and enforcement and not well kept with public servicing. From my travels and observations around Sylmar, I now have a mental image of Sylmar as a dartboard and the middle that is the bull’s eye is the dense population of Mexicans and Latino descent which make the majority of gangs of Sylmar and is the area of concentration of police enforcement and the gang injunction. As a result of interviewing and observing today’s present generation of youth, I see a negative outcome of more youth joining gangs due to the economic crisis of today and the rising price of an education.