PJ Watts Gang
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[edit] The PJ Watts Gang
The PJ Watts Gang is a Crips set in the Imperial Courts Housing Project on the border of the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles and the unincorporated community of Willowbrook. The gang has over 400 active members. This may seem a small number to some, but compared to the size of the neighborhood it is large. The neighborhood is based primarily in the Housing Projects themselves, although some members do live on some of the back streets and outskirts. The gang mostly consists of African-American males, but can include Hispanic males and/or even African-American females.
[edit] Origin of name
The name PJ Watts is short for the original name "Project Watts," due to the fact that they were the first Housing Projects built in Watts. At one time, mostly in the 80's, the gang was one of the most feared of all gangs in the Southern Los Angeles area. One of the reasons was that the community itself had a lot of money because of heavy drug trafficking, due in large part to the gang members. This enabled them to afford high-powered weapons to fight off all enemies, not just those in Watts, but in all South Los Angeles. During this same time, the gang-banging lifestyle itself was fairly new to all communities, and primarily on the West Coast, so there were members young and old trying something new and different. Street gangs were becoming more and more common during this time. Many people have said, "Around this time, an individual can find a member as young as 8 years old from some gangs across Los Angeles". [citation needed]
[edit] Rivals
The most fearsome of all rivals for the PJ Watts street gang is the Grape Street Watts Crips gang located in the nearby Jordan Down Housing Projects. This is an ongoing, never-ending saga between the two gangs. When gang-banging first began, it was strictly Crips vs. Bloods, however this was not the case between the two Crips gangs. They were rivals then, and many think they will be rivals forever. Although two leaders from both gangs have tried to put an end to this feud back in 1992 with the "Peace Treaty" and numerous football games held in each other's neighborhood, that seems to have done nothing for the two gangs but allow hostility to spill over during the functions themselves. Every year (mainly in the summer), the two start a new cycle of violence. In other words, the Grapes come and commit a drive-by shooting in the Imperial Courts, wounding or perhaps killing not just a gang member, but possibly an innocent resident; then the PJ's go to the Jordan Downs and do likewise. This makes it considerably hard for those who are just residents or those who are affiliated with the gang members. [citation needed]
However, the police know when there is a turf war going on, so they are constantly patrolling both neighborhoods snatching up those who either dress in gang attire, hang out in groups or crowds, or those who have had previous run-ins with the law.
The other gang that is somewhat of a rival for the PJ's are the Bounty Hunters Bloods from the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects, though many do not use this pronunciation of the gang name. In slang terms the name is pronounced (Bonnie Hanna's). This rivalry has somewhat died down after two leaders had a discussion about putting together a football game that took place in the summer of 2004. Thereafter, the two have created a common ground amongst each other, being invited to one another's neighborhood without having to worry about being uncomfortable in rival territory. [citation needed]
The new and current rival for the PJ's is Compton base gang, Carver Park Crips. Throughout the course of their rivalry, both gangs have had to experience tragic deaths amongst members and affiliates. [citation needed]
[edit] Identity
The members of the PJ Watts gang can be identified by wearing a bluish-black (better known as navy-blue) colored rag or bandanna and a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat (all black with gold lettering). The members mark their territory in any place where they are present, but the graffiti can mostly be spotted at the Rosa Parks/Wilmington metro rail station. The members are mostly between the ages of 13-40, but are not limited to a specific age or sex.
