The Region - News from March 16, 1987

Police in Portland, Ore., said members of the South Los Angeles Crips gang are involved in criminal enterprises in that city, where membership in the gang has become a new status symbol. Patrolman Neil Crannel told the Portland Oregonian that as many as 20 members of the Los Angeles gang have moved to Portland, though police can only guess at the number living there because some criminals claim membership as a status symbol. “There’s a perceived problem in Portland and a real problem,” Crannel explained. “Gang members are definitely committing crimes, but they’re also being tagged with crimes they were not involved with.”