Blog - Gangs

Don't let anyone tell you that gang life is part of any ethnicity's culture. It's not.

I would have them imagine that we were going on a trip to a faraway land, to a country and a culture with very different customs, clothing, family values, and religions. We were going to visit a place where various warring tribes spoke different languages.

You are now in the middle of a kill zone between two rival and highly agitated gangs. You watch in slow motion as they drop their wounded and draw their guns. It is as though they cannot even see you or recognize your uniform or police vehicle. You are not the intended target, but you could easily be collateral damage.

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

We had just saved the founder of the Mexican Mafia’s life by arresting him and sending him to prison. But he wouldn’t be grateful. He would quickly eliminate anyone he suspected of making the heroin buy for the police that got him arrested until he narrowed it down to Buzz.

Each former or active Sheriff’s detective was there to pay his last respects to a neighborhood hero. No one made them come, and many of their peers would have probably ridiculed them for coming to the funeral of a “snitch.” But none of the ridiculers knew what Mad Dog had done to make Los Angeles a safer place. Not many people knew, not even his own family.