Watts Gang Task Force

In December 2005, over a 31-day period, violence in the Watts community escalated. There were 18 gang related shootings, seven of which were homicides. Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn called a meeting of community leaders, the Los Angeles Police Department, school representatives, service providers, gang intervention workers, and city departments and facilitated by Patricia Villasenor of the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, to see how, together, they could stop the violence and improve police and community relations. This was the beginning of the Watts Gang Task Force. Since that first meeting in January 2006, the task force has met every Monday in Councilwoman Hahn's Watts office, and facilitated by the Human Relations Commission.

The greater Watts area has one of the highest concentrations of gangs within Los Angeles County. LAPD estimates that there are at least 59 known and active gangs in the Southeast Division. Specifically, the Watts/Southeast GRYD contains an estimated 14 known and active African American and Latino gangs, of which three are Blood cliques, eight are Crips cliques, and three are Latino cliques. The most active gangs in the GRYD according to law enforcement are African American gangs, due to the longstanding rivalries between the Bloods and the Crips, and the dominant gangs within the public housing developments.