The T-shirts look innocent enough, sporting cartoonlike characters, some holding a spray can labeled "187" on the front, others firing a machine gun. On the back, there is a police baton, the number "187" and the word "Hudda."
The shirt is apparently a hot seller, and at least one Salt Lake store carries the shirt in several colors. The buyer for the California-based JMR Chalk Garden, Jeff Barnard, said he didn't know there was a hidden meaning in the shirts."All I know is that they're selling fast, very fast," he said.
However, Salt Lake County Metro Gang detective Kent Cravens, who began seeing the T-shirts about two months ago, sees the shirts as "a personal insult," since the slang found on them translates to "kill cops."
It's evidence that gang slang is seeping into mainstream fashion in Salt Lake City, especially in the past three weeks.
The "187" number is the California penal code for homicide and in gang slang means "to kill" when painted over something.
The arrangement of the baton, "187" and "Hudda" on the back of the shirts says, to those who understand, "kill a cop."
There is also a space to write either the gang one belongs to, a street name or nickname on the back of the shirt.
"We're kind of taking it as a personal insult," Cravens said. "Nothing's surprising anymore. There's no accounting for poor taste."
Cravens said when members of the gang unit see the shirts they ask the wearers if they know what the slang means.
"Some of them know, and some of them just don't care," he said. "They don't see a problem with it."
If the person wearing the shirt is under 18, the detectives call his or her parents.
"We explain to them what their child is wearing," he said. "I've gotten some good responses from a couple of parents. They say, `No, we didn't know, but we sure appreciate your calling us.' Some parents even allow us to go ahead and take the shirt."
Because he didn't know about the shirt's meaning until questioned by the Deseret News, Barnard said he wasn't prepared to comment on whether the store would continue carrying the shirts.
"It does sound like something I need to look into, though," Barnard said. "I've been buying them for a few months. I've just been buying as many cartoon character shirts as I can find."