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Criminal tattoo

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Tattoos are used among criminals to show membership of gangs and record the wearer's personal history - such as his or her skills, specialities, accomplishments and convictions. They are also used as a means of personal expression. Certain designs have developed recognised coded meanings. The code systems can be quite complex and, because of the nature of what they encode, they are often not widely recognised.

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[edit] British

ACAB is an acronym often integrated into prison tattoos in the United Kingdom. It is most commonly rendered with one letter between the knuckle and first joint of each finger, sometimes as symbolic small dots with or without the accompanying letters.

ACAB can stand for All Coppers Are Bastards, or Always Carry A Bible, depending on who is asking and whether the bearer is trying to make a good impression.

[edit] Filipino Gangs

A tattoo of a Question Mark (?) located on any part of the body is a mark of the infamous Filipino gang BNG or Bahala Na Gang ("Come What May"), known for being especially violent and dangerous.

[edit] North American

A tattoo of three dots in a triangle, usually found on the skin between the thumb and forefinger, stands for "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"). Along with the pachuco cross, it is a popular "generic" tattoo among Latino teenagers, and has no direct connection to gangs. The tattoo has also been adopted by Vietnamese teenagers, along with the similar interpretation of "toi khong can gi ca" ("I need nothing"). See Three Dots Tattoo.

A teardrop tattoo is said to indicate that the wearer has killed someone or a friend of his/hers was killed in prison. It is worn by the eye.

A tattoo of a shamrock is sometimes misassociated with the white supremacist prison gang founded in California known as the Aryan Brotherhood. Many people with Irish descent who are not at all affiliated with The Aryan Brotherhood often have shamrock tattoos. The Aryan Brotherhood is also known to use "12" as an identifier, with the 1 symbolizing the letter A, and the 2 symbolizing the letter B. Another white supremacy gang, the Aryan Circle, uses "13" as their symbol, with the same derivation.

A tattoo of an ace of spades was mainly adopted by the Aco Town and Asian Boyz gang, but has been widely used by Asian youths in California. Often an "A" is placed in the middle of the spade: the "A" symbolizing Asian and the spade symbolizing thievery.

A tattoo of the number "13" might indicate membership in the Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS13) gang, who copied and learned about the Mexican gang culture. Because many Central Americans began moving into southern California, the gang was created for protection purposes against the Mexican gangs that outnumbered them. Sureños, created in the California Prison system to show separation between Southern Californians from Northern Californians. The boundary line that separates South and North is in the Bakersfield area. Blue is used by 13 and red by 14. Crips and Bloods later copied the colors for themselves. The 13 or X3 stands for Mexican, M being the thirteenth letter of the alphabet. The Mexican Mafia, called La EME, and affiliated with the Sureños, uses a double M insignia or a hand (usually black).

A tattoo of the number "14" is associated with the prison gang Nuestra Familia, which is associated with the Northern California street gang the Norteños. Sureños and Norteños are sworn enemies both in prison and on the streets.

A tattoo of "13 1/2" means 12 jurors, 1 judge, half a chance.

It is a common practice for California street gangs of all races and ethnic backgrounds to have the telephone area code of their neighborhood tattooed, e.g. 213, 818, 310, 714, 415, 510, 619; with the frequent changes in California area codes, this can quickly become outdated.

A tattoo of a clock with no hands is often found on the upper arm of a convict. Meaning "doing time".

A spider web tattoo (usually on the elbow) is a sign by white supremacists indication that they have killed or severely injured an "opponent".

[edit] Russian

Russian criminal tattoos have a complex system of symbols which can 'read' to give quite detailed information about the wearer. Not only do the symbols carry meaning but the area of the body on which they are placed may be meaningful too. The initiation tattoo of a new gang member is usually placed on the chest and may incorporate a rose. A rose on the chest is also used within the Russian Mafia.

Tattoos done in a Russian prison have a distinct blueish color and usually appear somewhat blurred because of the lack of instruments to draw fine lines. The ink is often created from burning the heel of a shoe and mixing the soot with urine.

In addition to voluntary tattooing, tattoos are used to stigmatise and punish individuals within the criminal society. 'Grins' may be placed on an individual who fails to pay debts in card games and often have very blatant sexual images, embarrassing the wearer.

[edit] The four suits

  • Spades - the "suit of thieves" (particularly where the symbol appears upside down).
  • Clubs - another "criminal" suit.
  • Diamonds - the "chummy suit" (i.e. stoolpigeons and informers). This suit is usually forcibly applied.
  • Hearts - a sexual symbol. It may mark the wearer out as a "passive homosexual" within the prison.

[edit] Other symbols

  • Cross - a cross worn on the chest signifies a "Prince of Thieves", the highest possible rank. Or a scene of the crucified Christ, has no religious meaning but stands for the inmate saying he has been oppressed and sentenced by the authorities just like Jesus.
  • 'Grins' - these are humorous tattoos usually incorporating a grinning face and are often accompanied by text.
  • Snakes - snakes have a particular symbolism and are usually worn by high ranking gang members.
  • Tigers - signifies an 'enforcer', or a sign of an avenger, geared at times at guards and prison authority.
  • Cats - the cat is associated with the characteristics needed by a criminal, or a thief.
  • Skulls - these are usually worn by high ranking gang members, interpreted to mean a murderer.
  • Eyes - these are forcibly placed on lower backside to show that the prisoner is used for sexual gratification, or simply tattooed as a joke, if the eyes are tattoo in the lower groin area, it will create a face. Those with these tattoo are known as 'the humiliated'.
  • Barbed wire - a barbed wire across one's forehead usually indicates a life-term in prison.
  • Swastika - is forcibly applied to forehead and marks one for death, or is a sign of rebellion against Russian prison authority. Is not usually associated with the Nazi symbol.
  • Stars - stars commonly represent time served; each point indicates a year served in jail or if stars are tattooed on knees it means you bow to no authority.
  • Double Sig runes - One who does not confess, also tattooed as sign of rebellion to authority, again not usually associated with the Nazi symbol.
  • Churches - like stars, but for specifically Christian prisoners. The number of dome towers may indicate number of imprisonments or number of years served.
  • Setting sun - this tattoo is usually accompanied by birds flying over the horizon. It represents freedom.
  • Knight or Crusader - a knight in full armor indicates a sadist, an inmate accused of hooliganism, assault and battery. Also indicates prison 'enforcers' or tattooed for racist meanings.
  • Genie - a Genie and a lamp indicate inmates serving time for drug-related crimes.
  • Spider Web or Spider- indicates a drug addiction or if spider tattoo is tattooed moving upward it means the wearer is still an active criminal.
  • Dagger - sexual predator or, if the dagger is tattooed with blood dripping form the end of blade, it means you are a killer, a man to be feared.
  • Bells - boss tattoo, sign of power and respect.
  • Candle sticks - wearer is saying he can extinguish your light, beware.
  • Butterflies - show the wearer is trustworthy, and an escape artist.
  • Boats, Ships - mean freedom
  • Stalin and Lenin faces- considered sacred, so inmates would tattoo the faces over their hearts and vital organs so guards would not hit or shoot them in that spot of the body. Nowadays these tattoos are rarely used.

[edit] Hand tattoos

  • 'Finger ring' tattoos (there is a complex system with many types of ring tattoo). These tattoos may indicate the time served, type of crime or place of imprisonment.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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