Search the Community

VERONA SHORELINE CRIP GANG The Ghetto By The Sea The Verona Shoreline Crips formed in the Oakwood neighborhood of Verona—a part of the city that was originally labeled a "servant's zone" by Verona's founder, Abbot Kinney. It was one of the few areas within a mile of the San Andreas coastline where Black people were allowed to own property. The name "Verona" came from a dream Kinney had in 1900 while living in Verona, Italy. He imagined recreating the romantic Italian city on the coast of San Andreas, complete with canals and singing gondoliers. Five years and 16 miles of canals later, that vision became reality, and the city of Verona was founded. Kinney’s dream eventually became a reality. However, because of restrictive covenants that enforced racial segregation, Black residents of Verona were not allowed to live along the canals, and they were only permitted to ride in black-painted gondolas. By the 1950s, the City of Los Santos had neglected Oakwood so severely that it became known as “the ghetto by the sea.” The neighborhood had narrow, unpaved streets that led to run-down bungalows, many of which were built without proper foundations. It was also nicknamed “Ghost Town” because there were no streetlights in the area during those early years. As a result, many new arrivals settled down just outside of Verona, in what became the historic African American community of Oakwood. A few years later, Kinney met a 17 year-old on the working on the Verona Pier by the name of Irving Tabor. Irving was an African American from Louisiana who left his sharecropping family with his cousin Arthur Reese to explore west for new opportunities. Shortly after his arrival he stumbled upon a chance to meet the Doge, Kinney, at the pier. Kinney was impressed by Tabor's can-do attitude and asked if he could drive, Tabor immediately said yes although he had never seen a car in his life. He ended up learning over the next few days and served as Kinney's chauffeur for years to come until Abbot Kinney's death. In a twist, upon his death, Kinney left his luxe villa at the tip of the Grand Canal to Tabor. Thumbing his nose at canal residents who didn’t want a Black family in their midst in the era of racist housing covenants, Tabor and his brothers cut the house in three pieces, transported it by mule, and rebuilt it in place on 6th and Dupont in Oakwood, where the house stands today with a designation from the city as a Historic Cultural Monument. Tabor went on to found the first Black-owned maintenance company in Verona and became an elder statesman and historian of the neighborhood before his passing in 1987. Jataun Valentine, Tabor’s descendant, carries on his work of leading Verona’s Black community through her advocacy for the First Baptist Church of Verona. Oakwood was set aside as a settlement area for blacks and the population increased rapidly as hundreds moved to Verona to work in the oil fields during the 1930s and 1940s. While unemployment surged following the closure of the oil fields, the 1960s introduced both narcotics and heightened racial tensions to Oakwood, leading to a rise in gang membership within the already established Verona 13 gang. Influenced by the Black Power Movement and following a series of militant Black uprisings in Verona during the late 1960s, the Shoreline Crips were founded in parallel with some of the original Crip sets formed by Tookie Williams and Raymond Washington in South Central Los Santos. In the 1980s, with the introduction of crack cocaine and a shift in gang focus from political motives to financial gain, the Shoreline Crips became significantly involved in the narcotics trade throughout Oakwood and along the Verona Boardwalk. Leading into the 1990s, gunfire became a nightly occurrence as the Shorelines engaged in conflict with the rival Culver City 13, following the displacement of Shoreline cliques from the Mar Vista Gardens housing projects. Soon thereafter, Oakwood experienced a surge in violence as a territorial war erupted between the Shorelines and Verona 13 over control of the Verona-area drug trade, ultimately leading to a brokered ceasefire between the two gangs. During the 1980s and 1990s, newly arrived white homeowners began settling in and around the neighborhood, prompting the City of Los Santos to initiate efforts to address gang activity. However, despite a series of raids, gang injunctions, and other enforcement measures, the Shorelines have continued to maintain consistent control over their territory, with membership estimated in the several hundreds. Verona Beach Crips The Real V's In recent years, the current and older generations of the Shoreline Crips, which is one of L.S.'s most historically rooted Crip sets, have faced a radically shifting environment in Verona Beach. As waves of gentrification continue to transform the area from its grimy past into a more trendy, high-class, and technologically driven area, many longtime Black and Latino residents have been displaced due to the rise in such things. The constant shift deeply impacted the younger members of the Shoreline Crips, as many members have been pushed into other parts of Verona, like where the Graveyard Gangster Crips are active, or further out into Culver City, where the Blasten Fools Gangster Crips reside. This shift has put immense pressure on the remaining community and the current youth who are still gangbanging in the neighborhood of Verona. Surrounded by a neighborhood that used to be known for its raw street culture, it is now seen clashing between old and new worlds. While million-dollar condos and tech companies like Eyefinder have now moved in, along with this, there are still remnants of an active street life that persists on certain streets and areas of Verona. The younger members of Shoreline grow up caught between these realities: on one side, a city that no longer accommodates them; on the other, a legacy of gang affiliation that demands loyalty and respect. For the members that are still a part of this lifestyle, old and new, they face many challenges from not only their enemies but also poverty, violence, and the local LSPD and LSSD due to high surveillance. They have the constant threat of death or incarceration hanging over their heads every time they leave the house. Some seek ways out—through music, sports, or social media—but for many, the set is more than just a gang; it's family, identity, and protection, just like any other gang. Despite the changing landscape, things like gang rivalries still remain active and dangerous. The Shoreline Crips have long-standing rivalries with several sets, one of those being Culver City 13, a Sureño gang, and one of Shoreline's most violent enemies. Historically, one of the most intense and complex rivalries for the Shoreline Crips was the Verona 13's, a Sureño gang based in the same neighborhood. This feud has a strong racial element, with tensions between Black and Latino communities playing out violently on the streets of Verona throughout the '80s and '90s. The rivalry shaped much of the local gang politics for decades. However, in the more recent years, that relationship has shifted. Today, the Verona Crips and Verona 13 are at a ceasefire, and in some situations, they can even be seen acting as allies, especially when confronting mutual enemies like Culver City 13. While not a full-blown alliance in the traditional sense, the truce shows a new page in Verona gang relations, influenced by gentrification, prison politics, and generational change. That said, Shoreline still maintains active and violent rivalries with several other gangs. Chief among them is Culver City 13, with a long and bloody history against Shoreline. Additional enemies include the Playboy Gangster Crips and By Yourself Gangster Crips, both Crip sets, showing that gang politics often override affiliations. Others consist of the Black P Stone Bloods, Rollin 20s Neighborhood Bloods, and Santa Maria 13 gang, a Sureño gang not too far from them. All of these rivalries continue to fuel street-level violence, especially as younger members engage in online call-outs and disrespect that escalate quickly into real-world retaliation. In the cultural space, the newer generation of Shoreline Crips has taken to rap, street fashion, and social media to represent their identity. While this has created new ways for some of them to gain attention and possibly exit the streets, it also brings increased surveillance, clout-chasing conflicts, and exposure to rivals. The modern Shoreline youth exist in a difficult in-between, caught between the fading legacy of their Verona turf and the realities of a new city that has largely pushed them out. The physical territory of the gangs ruling shrinks, but their cultural and social influence continues to adapt and survive.