According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department, there are approximately 20,000 Asian gang members in Los Angeles County. Based on a survey conducted by Streetgangs.com in 2009, we have estimated that number to be substantially smaller, between 9,000 and 12,000 members county wide. We found that many of the gangs that the County regards as active have become defunct as members have matured out the gang, and other gangs were just much smaller than originally estimated. We also found that Asian gangs that are identified as being affiliated with Hispanic and Black gang structures (i.e. Bloods, Crips or Surenos) are included in the tallies of those gangs, while also being identified a second time in the Asian category. Most Asian gangs are composed of several independent identities that are mostly either Chinese, Filipino, Cambodian or Vietnamese. In Monterey Park, is where several Chinese gangs have formed which mostly included different “sides” of Wah Ching, a gang that has...
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