20 Years Later: 1992 Cease Fire Agreement

Guests:

Aqeela Sherrills, Regional Director, Resources for Human Development CA
Coach Cornell Ward, Executive Director, UnityOne Foundation
Freeway Ricky Ross, ex-drug trafficker, filmmaker

Background:

On April 28, 1992, gang members in Watts, both Crips and Bloods alike, signed a “Cease Fire Agreement,” an unprecedented agreement between rival gangs in Southeast Los Angeles. The “Peace Treaty” simultaneously sought to deal with “human capacity building” in an area blighted by social ills induced by poverty, abuse, neglect and oppression. Gangs such as the Bounty Hunter Bloods, PJ Watts Crips, Hacienda Village Bloods and Grape Street Watts Crips were part of the treaty of 1992that mitigated violence and tensions between these rival neighborhoods.

The success of the Cease Fire led to an immediate decline in violence in Los Angeles the following year, and laid a strong developmental foundation for many community members, gang andnon-gang youth and adults notably included, to seek to change their environment.

As a direct result from the gang’s efforts, Los Angeles is currently experiencing a 40-year low as it relates to gang homicides and gang related violence.

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KABC-7 Los Angeles