The Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, also known as the Bounty Hunter Bloods, is a predominantly African American street gang situated in the Nickerson Gardens public housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles.

History

The gang was originally established in 1969 but became well established by 1972. Whilst today it is a set of the

Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includ ...

, it was originally known as the Green Jackets. Gary Barker and Bobby Jack are believed to be the set's founders. The gang is perhaps most known for its longstanding rivalry with the Grape Street Watts Crips which has been described by gang experts as “the most violent and long lasting feud between two gangs that are in the Watts area”. In 1992, the

Watts truce The Watts truce was a 1992 peace agreement among rival street gangs in Los Angeles, California, declared in the neighborhood of Watts. The truce was reached just days before the 1992 Los Angeles riots and, although not universally adhered to, was ...

was declared which saw a rapid decline in violence between the two street gangs. However, by 2005, the truce had reportedly imploded with the homicide rate increasing to at least seven. In 1993,

Regis Deon Thomas Regis Deon Thomas (born June 16, 1970) is an American convicted murderer and Bloods gang member who was sentenced to death for the 1993 murders of Kevin Michael Burrell and James Wayne MacDonald, two officers in the Compton Police Department who ...

, a member of the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, shot and killed two Compton Police Department officers during a traffic stop. They were the first Compton police officers to be killed in the line of duty in the department's 65-year history. In 1997, members of the 118 East Coast Crips shot a school bus in the hopes of killing members of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, killing 17-year-old bystander Corie Williams instead. In 2003, shots were fired at Los Angeles Police Department patrol officers in two incidents in the Nickerson Gardens projects. In 2000, the FBI convicted 30 Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods members on federal drug violations for the distribution and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. An injunction was imposed on the gang in 2004 which limited the movements of members. In 2013, O.F.T.B. rapper and Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods affiliate, Kevin “Flipside” White, was shot dead by alleged members of the Grape Street Watts Crips.

Overview

The gang is situated within Nickerson Gardens, the largest government housing complex west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. The complex forms the majority of its territory which is the largest of any African-American street gang in Watts. The gang has over 2,000 documented members and is subdivided into numerous subsets and cliques, including the Lot Boys, Block Boys, Bell Haven, Ace Line, Duece Line, Tray Line, Four Line and Five Line. Like all Bloods gangs, the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods affiliate themselves with the color red. Its members tattoo themselves with the letters "B" and "H" which refer to "Bounty Hunters" and also use the letters in hand signs. Its members have been known to attend Centennial High School in Compton. In addition to its feud with the Grape Street Watts Crips, the gang is also known to feud West Side Piru, which is based in nearby Compton, and 118 East Coast Crips. There are other street gangs across the United States which claim the same name, such as the 59 Bounty Hunter Bloods in Houston, Texas and the Bounty Hunter Bloods in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Notable members

Jay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1983), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. He signed to indie label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), in 2005. Under TDE, Rock secured a rec ...

* O.F.T.B. *

References

Organizations established in 1969 1969 establishments in California Bloods sets African-American organized crime groups Watts, Los Angeles {{gang-stub