The abuses from professional sports would eventually taint college recruitment. Money under the table, trips to strip clubs and topless bars, and steroid...

Hear Richard Valdemar take part in radio discussions about Los Angeles gangs.

When I first joined the LASD I saw many of these same fine traits in most of the sergeants and lieutenants I worked for. My measure of the leadership...

Hip-hop stars, drug dealers, and notorious gang members frequented every cock fighting derby. Because guns and other weapons were openly exposed, disputes...

Picking the right people, who have the skills and ability to work with gangs and in small specialized units, makes or breaks any gang unit, but the OSS...

Less than 10 percent of the kids from even the worst neighborhoods join criminal gangs. Recognizing and giving gang members: “respect,” after they choose to...

One day my team conducted a parole search of a Nazi Low Rider. Coincidently, it happened on his four-year-old son’s birthday. We found a birthday cake...

An expert should be a credible proponent of the truth, and not an advocate for either the prosecution or the defense. Because of what we do and our...

When interviewed by sociologists, gang members commonly lie. They do this for several reasons including: to appear less criminally culpable, because the...

As we began our shift, we passed a residential area in the Mariana Maravillas gang turf. I saw two middle-aged men coming out of a sliding glass door at the...

Web Extra: Read the National Gang Intelligence Center's Feb. 15 report on gang infiltration of law enforcement and corrections agencies.

The word "war" is not just hyperbole; it correctly describes what is going on. It's estimated that the violence—kidnapping and murder—has driven 400,000...

In the last three years, 23,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Mexican drug gang violence. This daily body count rivals totals from Iraq...

If you are a law enforcement administrator, consider multiplying your gang intelligence resources with a gang liaison officer or gang unit in the jail. If...

It is this use of illicit drugs that first seduces young men into the criminal underworld and later makes the gangs the principal purveyors of this...

Maybe judges should be made to spend some time with prison staff inside the walls to educate themselves in a practical way on the true realities of life in...

In paintball scenarios, you battle multiple adversaries often in close quarter combat in urban or built-up locations. You either assault or defend a...

The transnational gangs, drug trafficking organizations and Muslim terrorists have taken advantage of American apathy and the lack of will in Latin America....

If ending corruption is the real goal, let's apply all the regulations equally across the board. I can support mandatory financial disclosure for all...

What is it going to take before police administrators double up these cars? There is no sane reason to send young cops out in solo units in areas like...

The greatest cost and symptom of our demise as a nation is the lasting affect these criminal gangs have on our system of law and justice. The corruption...

Our Judeo-Christian culture has been challenged in the arena of global conflict. We're locked in the "ultimate fighting cage" of war, a place we've been...

I find it hard to be too stern with teenage pranksters. Some say most of the best cops could have gone either way in their youth. I don't know about that,...

Despite the federal government's politically correct definition of "cross border violence," my experience and intelligence sources tell me that "cross...

Heroin's old dirty image is being revamped to appeal to the younger generation. Heroin that is smokable or snortable can be marketed to avoid the old...

State lawmakers are positioning their budget axe over the heads of the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) and Bureau of...

"10 Years On the Line" is the factual account of Mike Ligon's 10 years as an immigration, customs and border officer. It illuminates and places a critical...

Sometimes separate local, state, or county police are used for physical surveillance. Occasionally when intercepted communications seem to have gone...

We often focus on one puzzle piece rather than the whole puzzle. If we would slow down and step back, we might see the whole of our enemy's tactics and...

The Mexican press estimates that 19.5% of the official ballot boxes were installed in areas controlled by the drug cartels. Many voters avoided the poles...

No matter how small or large a town they work in, and whether they work urban or rural, gang cops need to know about and recognize the signs of criminal...

MS-13 will now be targeted for the seizure of its criminal assets just like infamous foreign-born criminal organizations such the Yakuza of Japan and...

Throughout history gangs have developed, multiplied, and mutated into many forms. Today one of law enforcement’s biggest problems is the inability of law...

All of the experts agree that America will experience more “active shooter” situations in schools in the near future. What can you, an ordinary first...

I have never arrested a gang member who lawfully possessed a gun and who purchased it legitimately. So banning legitimate gun-related purchases only...

The attack team crossed the “frontera” via a well-used tunnel near Nogales. It split up on the U.S. side, one group traveling by night toward Sky Harbor...

Winning potential gang members' minds and hearts occurs early, often as early as grammar school. It is founded in the common experiences almost all...

The bully "Giant" preyed on more than just your skinny crew. Often he picked on the girls. But now they know that you can protect them from the...

I remember riding with another L.A. Deputy Sheriff in an East Los Angeles gang car in 1975. To me, it was a privilege working with a special gang...

Today, it's the street gangs, primarily black and Latino that are the real problem, and until law enforcement and the public puts these gangs in check,...

Any suspect, who may feel cornered, may unexpectedly turn and ambush pursuing police officers. Situations for possible gang-ambush traps may spring from...

Gang members belong to a gangster culture, believing that only lame punks do menial work for "the man." Why be a lowly worker, when you can be the boss? As...

Can you imagine what a gang formed from all aligned Crip and Blood gangs or between the Mexican Mafia and the Nuestra Familia might be capable of?

Mexican drug cartels are now operating deep in the U.S., according to the recent Associated Press report. They're operating not just in border areas....

Recently the FBI published a study entitled "Violent Encounters: A study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's Law Enforcement Officers," which...

When inmates and gang members see cops acting like convicts, they tend to react to them like they do other convicts and gangsters. What little respect that...

Sunday marked the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles. In 1992, major rioting would continue until May 25. Much has...

Airport security means more than just checking passengers for identification and contraband. It should begin with all the airport and airline employees.

To Bryan Stow and the rest of the sane world, his Giants baseball gear represented his love of baseball and his support for his team. To that cowardly pack...

In recent years, attacks against police officers have increasingly become sneaky ambushes rather than direct confrontations. They may involve improvised...