To Escape Gang Label, Erase Gang Labels

Mr. Shadow is escaping his past, inch by painful inch. . . .

As a 16-year-old street tough on the west side of Orange, he wound up in prison for assault and battery during a fight with the enemy, a street gang on the city’s east side.

You knew he was tough by his tattoos. His gang’s initials on a bicep, his woman’s name on an arm, a star with “OC” for Orange County on an elbow. Plus a “1” on one arm and a “3” on another. That stood for Zone 13 in California Youth Authority parlance; it let other prisoners at the CYA prison in Northern California know that he was from Southern California--i.e., someone you don’t mess with.

But by the time he left prison three years later, Mr. Shadow wanted to drop his gang name to go back to being just plain old Albert Hernandez and enjoy life with his new wife and new baby son.

One problem: He discovered that jobs were difficult to get. It was the tattoos, he was told.

Now, at age 24, he’s doing something about it.

For almost five years, the Orange County Probation Department has offered free tattoo removal for people on probation. And a few months ago, the agency received a state grant to expand the program to anyone deemed “at risk” of clashing with the criminal justice system.

Special community credit is due here: The idea first came from John Uttz of the North Santa Ana Rotary. He approached Capt. Dan McCoy of the Santa Ana Police Department, who was all for it.

“We have a lot of people in our community who have turned their lives around,” McCoy said. “But in their youth, they made some poor choices; their tattoos remain a stigma they have to carry around.”

Uttz and McCoy sought help from the county probation office and got an assist from St. Joseph Health Systems, which is donating doctors’ time to remove the tattoos.

Word has been spreading through parole offices, police departments and Santa Ana’s parks and recreation division.

Enough so that the Probation Department is getting about 30 calls a day from men and women who want to know if they qualify.

“For some, it’s the last thing holding back their freedom from their pasts,” said Deputy Probation Officer Joycelyn Allen. She coordinates tattoo removal for both people on probation and those who might be eligible under the expanded program.

To Start Over With a Blank Slate

Though the tattoo removal is free, there is a price to pay--80 hours of community service. Hernandez served his feeding the homeless at a shelter.

It takes three to four hours to get a tattoo. Getting one removed is much more difficult. For the 27 people going through the program now, tattoo removal takes an hour about every two months--and will continue for up to a year. Hernandez’s will take a little longer because his tattoos were not done professionally.

“Burnt plastic and a stapler while I was at [the Youth Authority],” Hernandez said. “Pretty tough to remove that kind.”

Most heal so that your skin looks like new. For a few, there’s only a slight discoloration. Hernandez doesn’t care what’s left behind. He wants them gone. Even though the “Anna” on his arm is the same woman he married.

“She understands,” said Hernandez, who is an apartment custodian. “It’s not just so I can get a better job. When you’re covered with tattoos, like the gang stuff, people just look at you differently; it’s like they’re frightened or something.”

Hernandez is also worried about what his three children will think about having a tattooed father.

“I don’t want them to think that’s the road to go down,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said he came from a good home and had a wonderful older sister. But when the family moved to the Cypress Street area of Orange, the only guys to hang out with were in a gang. You wanted friends, you joined.

When he got tattooed, Hernandez said, he gave no thought to the consequences. Allen, from Probation, says that’s typical.

“Young people who get tattoos just live for the present,” she said. “They never think about the future. Many never really believe they’ll even have a future.”

To qualify for the new tattoo removal program, applicants have to answer a series of questions about their tattoos.

“I was drunk; I was stupid; I wanted to belong--those are the reasons for a tattoo we hear most,” Allen said.

To qualify, you must be no more than 25 years old and be recommended by someone. It’s generally aimed at those who’ve had difficulties with the legal system, but Probation is trying to accept everyone. Also, the program is for removal of only those tattoos that can be seen when wearing normal work attire--tattoos on the arms, the neck and face, and, for women, the ankles.

If you know someone who might qualify, the number to call is (714) 569-3796.

Anyone who wants a tattoo removed but doesn’t qualify, or has tattoos on other parts of their body, may want to call anyway. The county is putting together a program with St. Joseph’s to provide low-priced tattoo removal for about $600. Some doctors now charge $300 an hour, with total costs $1,200 to $1,800.

By the way, if you’re wondering how Hernandez’s old gang feels about him abandoning ship, this may be an eye-opener. Hernandez had to “jump out” of the gang.

Here’s what that means: You go to the gang’s leaders and tell them you want out. A goodbye committee of five is then assigned to attack you. You are permitted to defend yourself, but essentially what happens is you get one huge walloping. But now Hernandez is free to come and go as he pleases.

He and his wife now live in East Orange, which causes him to chuckle: “I live in the territory of the same gang we were enemies with when I got sent up. But they’re cool about it. They know I’m no longer Mr. Shadow.”

*

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 966-7789 or e-mail at jerry.hicks@latimes.com.