looking for “Black Pat” police raided his house in the Hill neighborhood in late August and found a stash of drugs, cash and gang recruitment pamphlets.

Most troubling to police was the trove of materials glorifying the culture of the organization known as the “Grape Street Crips.” The Grape Street Crips — a copycat of a violent Los Angeles gang of the same name — had been confined to the Hill neighborhood about six blocks south of Yale’s Medical School campus, and police were determined not to let them expand.Although police doubt the presence of the El Salvadoran gang in the New Haven area, some buildings in Fair Haven have been tagged with graffiti bearing the gang's name.On Aug. 27, members of the New Haven Police Department’s Tactical Narcotics Unit acted on their suspicions and burst into “Black Pat’s” house. Pat, 27, whose real name is Patrick Brown and who is also called “Pizzy,” was nowhere to be found. But the drugs netted the arrest warrants police needed to put Brown behind bars — if they could ever catch him.
Police continued surveillance of the 15- to 20-person gang, arresting another member for a murder in September. But Brown — the gang’s leader — continued to elude capture. Acting on a tip, detectives finally caught Brown after surrounding him in his Chevy Equinox on Orchard Street on Oct. 21. They sealed the block, expecting trouble, but Brown gave up without a fight.The Crips have been relatively quiet in New Haven ever since, according to police. But they are but one of the many gang factions police are now fighting in New Haven. Like a game of whack-a-mole, the New Haven police frequently quash gangs that pop up around the city. But even after a successful strike, another gang always emerges, police say. According to interviews with six New Haven police officials and two outside gang experts, a complex and fluid network of street gangs inhabit the city’s neighborhoods, with constantly shifting allegiances and dealings.While police say few if any gangs have actual ties to national gangs — even if they share a name, such as the Crips — they remain just as dangerous to the city. For example, police said local gangs are behind a majority of drug crimes in the city, a majority of shootings and a significant portion of robberies.
The NHPD now has arguably the most aggressive stance against gangs in decades. Meanwhile, local gangs have showed a greater interest in identifying with larger, more organized national groups such as the Bloods and Crips. Under the direction of soon-to-retire Police Chief James Lewis, the police have taken a tough stance against gangs, but no official doubted that despite the city’s best efforts, gangs are here to stay in the Elm City.

13 members of a Watts street gang have been indicted on charges they ran a PCP drug ring in Southern California over a six-month period.Two indictments, returned by a grand jury last week, charge 13 people who authorities said belong to the Grape Street Crips, considered by police to be one of the city's most dangerous gangs.
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was joined by Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton and other law enforcement officials to announce the indictments.
Those charged are accused of either conspiring to manufacture or sell phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP, between September 2006 and April 2007. The ring produced 54 kilograms of PCP worth an estimated $1 million as well as 40 gallons of the toxic chemicals used to make the drug, prosecutors said.Four of the defendants were expected to make their initial court appearances later Wednesday. Prosecutors said nine people have been arrested, while the other four were being sought.
Mukasey fielded questions from reporters and community members, some of whom suggested the federal government was too distracted by the war in Iraq and terrorism to effectively fight gang violence.Mukasey snapped back, calling domestic crime a high priority — but one that did not overshadow terror threats.
"More attention can always be paid to things that are hurting people and things that are killing people. And we're here to try to pay effective attention to that," Mukasey said.While police statistics show that gang-related violence is down this year in Los Angeles, there has been a recent spate of homicides over the past two months. Among those who have been killed by suspected gang members are a 17-year-old high school running back and a man who was holding a toddler.

Soperry Chea, 18, was placed on the LAPD's most wanted list after investigators say he stabbed a rival gang member to death in downtown Los Angeles and fled the state three years ago. Officers arrested Chea on Tuesday when he returned to visit some of his old Valley haunts. "Gang members, drugs and guns," Bratton said. "It all comes together - the holy trinity."
Bratton made the announcement during a news conference at the 77th Street Community Police Station in South Los Angeles. Joined by U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the mayor and other officials, Bratton announced several other gang arrests and indictments. The gathering was largely a show of force and solidarity between the different levels of government. The city and federal officials revealed a 10-count indictment naming a dozen members and associated with the Grape Street Crips gang, alleging distribution of the drug PCP in the Watts area. Chea, however, was caught without help from the federal government. Los Angeles police started searching for him just weeks after the April 17, 2005, slaying of Harry Yang, 21, who had once been a member of a rival gang. Yang was stabbed to death during a Cambodian New Year celebration. Chea, also known as "Babyface," was 16 at the time.
Police found the slaying weapon - a knife that had been hurled over a nearby fence - but couldn't find Chea. He left the county almost immediately, and later left the state, said Detective Alan Solomon, a homicide investigator for the LAPD's Asian Crime Taskforce. Van Nuys officers learned that Chea might be in town and recognized him at a fast-food restaurant. They later arrested him at an apartment complex in the 14000 block of Valerio Street. As Chea has been caught, Bratton added a new gang member to round out his department's 10 most-wanted list: Gildardo Peña, a 28-year-old member of the Toonerville gang. Peña killed 45-year-old Donald Nelson on Nov. 6, 2005, in Tujunga for talking to police, Bratton said at the formal announcement.