Too Good to Be True?

When members of the Crips and the Bloods--the notorious black street gangs that are violent and longtime rivals--began talking just before the riots, a wary Los Angeles doubted that any lasting peace was at hand. But gang-related homicides have dropped during the last two months in South Los Angeles, and police point to the much ballyhooed truce as a factor. Something is happening here that deserves a closer look.

Drive-by shootings and other gang-related murders have declined, reports Deputy Police Chief Matthew Hunt, who commands the LAPD’s South Bureau--which covers an area long terrorized by street gangs.

The cautiously optimistic Hunt believes violence is down in general and the gangs have come together, though he doesn’t know precisely what prompted the warring rivals to stop trying to kill each other. Nor does he know the answer to the question on everybody’s mind: How long will the truce hold?

Remarkably, several ex-gang members who want to formalize the truce looked for peacemaking inspiration in the diplomatic details of the treaty ending the 1948 war between Israel and Egypt. These former gangbangers have rewritten that armistice agreement with their own neighborhood wars in mind. The proposed Watts gang armistice would prohibit the brandishing of firearms in rival turf, the writing of graffiti and the use of profanity--actions that often trigger deadly violence and then revenge.

Many architects of the gang peace accord are members of Amer-I-Can, the anti-gang organization founded by former football star Jim Brown. In the spirit of that self-esteem group, these street diplomats also developed a “United Black Community Code,” to encourage positive behavior such as attending school, registering to vote, sponsoring a food bank and holding cultural events. The code also discourages negative behavior such as abusing alcohol and drugs, raiding rival turf and using common slurs for women or black people. The gang treaty is expected to circulate initially in the housing projects in Watts, where the gang truce started.

It’s too early to tell how real all this is, of course, but if the Los Angeles Police Department is somewhat impressed, who’s to say miracles can’t happen?