Gang graffiti paints Wichita, Kan.

BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

Wichita's young gang members often express themselves in graffiti -- sometimes in 7-foot-tall letters.

That happened recently in north Wichita.

One section is particularly telling: On Dec. 13, someone from the Surenos, a Hispanic gang from the south side, painted graffiti on a building at 26th North and Broadway.

Soon after, someone from the Vato Loco Boys, a Hispanic gang from the north side, painted the number 187 over it. That number is the California penal code for homicide; the Vato Loco Boys were threatening to kill the Surenos.

It's why police try to get graffiti removed quickly.

Police asked that the graffiti be removed, but the property owners had to sign a document giving city crews permission to paint over it. It took about a week.

Normally, police decline to discuss specific gang names or symbols; they fear it might make gangs think they are gaining credibility. But Lt. Jeff Easter, supervisor of the Wichita gang unit, shared the story behind the graffiti to help people understand the problem.

Blacks make up more than half the city's total gang membership. But Wichita gangs include every racial and ethnic group, Easter said.

In the darkness of a recent night, gang unit officers Chad Beard and Erik Simon stopped to look at a line of graffiti -- 40 feet long, 7 feet high -- marring the Spanish architecture of an old theater near 21st and Market.

Beard suspected the vandal lived nearby. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the building, he looked south and north on Market and said, "We know of people that live just down the street, just up the street."

A few blocks north, someone had painted graffiti along a two-block section of 25th Street, on a storage building and a bridge.

Outdoor lighting is one way to deter graffiti vandals, Beard said.

According to Beard and Simon, graffiti often seems to be the work of 15- and 16-year-olds manipulated by older gang members.

Graffiti also shows up in schools, the main gang recruiting ground, police say.

The Wichita school district is aggressive about removing it, usually within six hours after it's reported, said Galen Davis, the district's safety services director.

Graffiti is closely entwined with other gang expressions, which appear in clothing and tattoos.

Consider shirts imitating the powder-blue No. 23 jersey Michael Jordan wore when he played for the University of North Carolina.

Some boys wear it because it matches their gang color -- and because of the number. Some gang names include street numbers where the gangs originated. Gang-related street numbers also appear on belts.

But it's not always clear-cut. A cap turned a certain way or a pant leg rolled up can be a gang symbol, or it can be innocent.

A color consistently worn in clothing, hair beads or shoelaces might represent a gang -- or simply a preference. Parents should take note if a teen always wears the same colors as his friends, gang experts say.

Tattoos often bear clearer evidence: gang names or initials and gang hand gestures.

Wichita police have a collection of pictures of gang members' tattoos obtained during investigations.

On a computer screen, Beard displayed a photo of an Asian boy whose back was tattooed with a map of Vietnam.

Other tattoos said "RIP" -- for "rest in peace" -- followed by a slain gang member's name.

And he noted some other symbols in tattoos that might be gang-related: pitchforks pointed up or down and a five-pointed crown, sometimes inverted.

In carrying out search warrants over the years, Wichita police have amassed a collection of gang group portraits, taken at parks and homes.

Beard paged through some of them, including members posing in gang colors, flashing gang signs and sometimes holding guns.

Many of the faces were hardened.

Many of the faces belonged to boys.

Wichita Eagle (http://www.kansas.com/)