The first Crips appeared on the streets of South Central Los Angeles in blue bandanas, leather jackets, and starched Levis between 1969 and 1971. Co-founder Stanley “Tookie” Williams described their mission as protecting South Central residents from racism, police brutality, and rival gang violence. In just a decade, that mission had exploded into a criminal enterprise, and the crack cocaine epidemic pushed Crip sets into at least 41 states. “By 1980, there were approximately 15,000 Crips and