Police Magazine

Richard Valdemar

Sergeant (Ret.)

Sgt. Richard Valdemar retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after spending most of his 33 years on the job combating gangs. For the last 20 years, he was assigned to Major Crimes Bureau. He was also cross-designated as an FBI agent for 10 years of his career when he served on the Federal Metropolitan Gang Task Force. From 1995 until his retirement in 2004, Valdemar was a member of the California Prison Gang Task Force, helping prosecute members of the Mexican Mafia.

Inside the Badge •by Richard Valdemar•May 9, 2007

How to Tell that a Group is a Gang

Throughout history gangs have developed, multiplied, and mutated into many forms. Today one of law enforcement’s biggest problems is the inability of law enforcement intelligence to accurately estimate the number of gangs and gang members. There are several reasons for this, but the key one is that we have no universally accepted definition of a gang. The traditional gangs are those that are territorial or claim turf. This would include your Hispanic “Cholos,” the African-American Blo

Articles•by Richard Valdemar•February 1, 2006

Murder Ink

One afternoon about five years ago, I was summoned from my desk at the detective division of a major Southern California urban sheriff's department and asked to meet one of the staff drill instructors at our academy gymnasium.

Articles•by Richard Valdemar•February 1, 2006

European Gangs Tattoos

Take a close look at the recent media coverage of the rioting in France, and you will see that those young French men of Arab and African descent are wearing identifying tattoos.

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