Nine of Utah's most dangerous street gangs have formed a loose but alarming alliance to share profits from illegal drug activity, gun-running and the sale of stolen property, police say.
They call themselves "Murder One Family," claim a membership of 119 (at last count) and have patterned their organization after similar alliances in the eastern United States.Detectives across the Salt Lake Valley are concerned about the development but can't yet cite any specific examples of how it has increased crime. They emphasize that "M1F" seems to be more a marriage of convenience than a crime syndicate.
"I don't think society is feeling any more of an impact," said Salt Lake County gang detective Brad Harmon. "I think that it's gang life with somewhat more structure to it. We're not used to seeing that here."
Still, they acknowledge the alliance is a disturbing indicator that gang activity in Utah is becoming more sophisticated.
"We've seen this in larger cities. The gangs come together with the idea that each of them has a specialty the others can profit from . . . it's a trend we would have predicted," said Kent Cravens, a former gang detective who is now an investigator for the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office.
Just how long M1F has been around is debatable. Several of the youths involved say it's been nearly two years. Gang detectives believe eight to 18 months is more accurate.
The group was born, like similar mergers in Chicago, in one of the state's juvenile prisons - Decker Lake Youth Center. Detectives began focusing on it in February after a few members in detention provided a roster to police and the graffiti assault on area businesses intensified.
Two of the members, who we will call Jason and Brian, agreed to speak with the Deseret News about their group on the condition of anonymity.
One of the boys, who is still behind bars, said he doesn't know all the teens affiliated with M1F, but he's willing to fight and even die for them.
"I'll go toes for any of them . . . even if I don't know them," Jason said without hesitation.
He was one of the young men involved in organizing and maintaining the alliance of smaller gangs, which all consider themselves "Bloods."
Both boys said they and the other M1F "homies" spent so much time together and in such close quarters that they decided to join forces.
"All the OG's (original gangsters) were locked up together," Jason said. "We all had the same interests, the same enemies."
Both said members conduct regular meetings, deciding what the group should do. They were vague about what crimes they're involved in, if any.
"I can't talk about that," Brian said, turning his head away. "We just do stuff together. We hang together."
Detectives believe that all in the alliance have profited at least from drug sales and the pawning of stolen property, particularly firearms.
More than money binds thegangs, however. They have mutual enemies - other gangs and the police.
"If push comes to shove, we'll back each other," Jason said, noting gangsters from out of state - one from the East - helped them decide how to run M1F.
"We're more organized. We know what's coming down in this part of the neighborhood and they (other allied gangs) know what's going on in their part."
Jason is not sure if the links make each gang stronger,but he adds, "You're going to be doing more pushing than getting shoved."
Brian agreed, "Can't nobody beat us. There's too many of us."
A look at history, even in Utah, shows that alliances between gangs on any scale can be dangerous. It was such a relationship gone bad that triggered a number of violent crimes, including murder, in 1992, notes Midvale gang detective Tony Mason.
In 1992 the leader of one of the state's largest gangs, QVO, was killed. Police officially ruled it a suicide, but many gangsters believe it was murder. They said the larger gang had aligned with a smaller gang and the shooting was an attempt by the smaller gang leader to take over QVO.
After the leader's death, the valley suffered a number of violent incidents, including the shooting of a cab driver, dozens of drive-by shootings and the killing of one member of the smaller gang. Police said the strife was linked to the crumbling alliance.
Salt Lake District Attorney Neal Gunnarson is worried enough about the new ties that he discussed his concerns this month with Footprinters, a law-enforcement support group.
"Of course, you know what Murder One stands for don't you? It's first-degree murder," he said. "If that doesn't concern you, I don't know what would. If you have any suggestions, let me know."
Detectives from Chicago do have some advice: Stop the alliance, no matter how unorganized, from expanding its membership.
"They (officials in Utah) have to pay attention to the minute details . . . the things that indicate increased activity," said Lt. Daniel Sampila, a member of the Chicago Police Department's gang investigation section.
He said his city's gangs have formed dozens of friendly arrangements over the years to share profits, mostly from drug activity. The mergers began when cocaine gave way to crack about eight to 10 years ago.
"Before that, the gangs would steal property - TVs, radios, guns, etc. - to finance their activities but now it's almost exclusively drug activity . . . it's so profitable for them," Sampila said.
Most notable were two mergers occurring about 15 years ago in the Illinois prison system dubbed "The People" and "The Folks."
Members from dozens of gangs now claim affiliation with the two groups and share intelligence about police activity once paroled, Sampila said. "There are still factions within both that fight each other but it sounds somewhat similar to what's occurring there (in Salt Lake City)."
He said the links have blossomed into sophisticated operations that extend beyond traditional gang culture.
"It's absolutely like organized crime."
Cravens won't go that far when describing Murder One Family. He said the only comparison that can be drawn between the group and the Mafia is that the gangs making up the alliance have a lot of interfamily connections.
"They don't have extensive networks to perpetuate criminal activity. They don't have elections or officers or a known system of advancement within the ranks," he said.
On the other hand, Utah officials should pay close attention to the development, Cravens and other detectives agree.
"There is some effect (from the alliance) because there's a feeling of unity among the smaller gangs. That unity hasn't translated itself into more crime, or more visible organization. But that doesn't mean it won't," Harmon cautioned.
He said national connections can be seen in many of Utah's better-known gangs. And there is another alliance forming among Utah's Crips gangs.
Jason and Brian laughed when asked if they'd heard about it. But Harmon said that's what most people did when they first heard about Murder One Family.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Some of the more well-known gangs involved in M1F:
QVO...one of Utah's largest gangs. The death of its leader in 1992 sparked a string of violent incidents, including the attempted murder of a cab driver and the killing of a South Salt Lake man and a Salt Lake teenager.
BMG, Black Mafia Gangsters, involved in one of the state's deadliest string of retaliatory crimes, which ended when two teen killed each other outside a Rosepark Smith's Grocery store.
NPF, North Paw Family, alligned with BMG and involved in the killing of a rival gangster in 1994.
21st Street, police say they're a very active gang, especially in graffiti.