Young Brutal Taggers (YBTc)

LostSolider · May 20, 2024

Tagging crew's have spread throughout South San Andreas. Police have identified more than 600 tagging crews only in LS County. They are also known as tag-bangers, posses, piecers, housers and snappers. They compete with other tagging-crew to see who does the most graffiti in a given time period, in a given area, or both. They differ from traditional downtown ethnic gangs in that their names can change (YBT, Young Badass Taggers, Young Brutal Taggers, etc). In addition, some graffiti artists prefer to work alone. Police report that the behavior of tagger groups is no longer just a fad. Older graffiti taggers now carry guns for protection or to be ''gangsters''. Some have moved on to committing other crimes, such as robberies and car thefts. The taggers interviewed for this study consider tagging to be an art and an expression of themselves rather than a crime. Tagging groups tend to be made up of people of different ethnic backgrounds and male or female members. Boys are "Kings" and girls are "Queens". The most prolific taggers are 13 to 20 year olds. Taggers dress like other people, but may adopt gang-like attire. They usually wear baggy, dark-colored clothing or perhaps professional sports team clothing. In the mid 90s, independent tagging crews in Los Angeles were forced by the traditional big gangs to become subgroups or cliques of traditional street gangs such as Florence 13, 18th Street and Mara Salvatrucha. Some resisted and became gangs of their own such as Krazy Ass Mexicans or DIAx3.