Echo Park (gang)
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The Echo Park Locos Gang (also known as theExPLS or Ex(WS)PLS), is a Mexican-American street gang in Los Angeles, California. One of the older gangs in the city, at its peak in the 1990s, the gang had up to 200 active members with upwards of 1,000 non-active "veteranos" still living in the neighborhood. As the neighborhood they claim is now gentrifying, their numbers have decreased dramatically. It is speculated that their current active membership is approximately 200 to 300.
The gang originated in the World War II period and chose the rat as its symbol. The gang originally controlled the territory around Echo Park Lake, and along Echo Park Avenue beyond Elysian Heights Elementary School, but as the neighborhood declined in the 1970s and 1980s the gang's control spread from Glendale Boulevard to Elysian Park, including areas south of Sunset Boulevard including Angelino Heights.
The Echo Park Locos Gang is known to feud with The West Side Crazys (WSCrazys), Frogtown (FTR).
[edit] Cultural reference
The Echo Park Locos and their milieu formed the backdrop for American filmmaker Allison Ander's coming-of-age story, Mi Vida Loca.