NCJ Number
173356
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 46 Issue: 3 Dated: March 1998 Pages: 52-56
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
After describing the origins and development of a white supremacy gang linked to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, this article focuses on one of its factions, the Nazi Low Riders (NLR).
Abstract
The NLR is the fastest growing prison gang in California. The tenets of the gang are rooted in white supremacy, which translates into racial hatred of blacks; Hispanic associates also participate in the criminal activities of the NLR because of their shared hatred of blacks. The NLR was formed within a correctional institution. Membership has grown out of necessity and popularity, absorbing other white gangs, generically called Peckerwoods, into the ranks. There are now NLR members in custody in the Federal system who have been implicated in at least one murder in a Federal institution in 1997. As NLR members parole into California communities, criminal gang activity flourishes exponentially among whites as never before. A driving force behind the NLR is the manufacture, sale, and use of methamphetamine. Connections have been found between the NLR and outlaw motorcycle gangs such as the Hells Angels. These associations and investigations have led many in law enforcement to conclude that the NLR is the new enforcement arm of the Aryan Brotherhood. Some lessons have been learned through the profiling of white supremacy gangs. First, these gangs are contenders among street and prison gangs, and members should be treated with vigor and aggressiveness by law enforcement. Second, no one single agency can monitor and combat the NLR; multiagency cooperation and support are required. Also, females are entrenched in criminal gang activity and should not be overlooked in investigations.