'Hill Girls' gang preys on women
Police in S.F. surprised by savagery of attacks
Anastasia Hendrix, Chronicle Staff Writer
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They call themselves the Hill Girls, a violent clique of about 20 young women who live in Potrero Hill's public housing and who have been attacking women in San Francisco's toughest neighborhoods since the beginning of the year.
In some cases, the gang members selectively singled out their victims for their connections or romantic involvement with men or boyfriends, police said.
Other victims appear to be randomly selected, such as one woman who brushed up against one of the gang members on a bus. She was attacked after leaving the bus -- a gang member apparently used her cell phone to call other gang members to "jump" the victim.
NEW TO S.F., POLICE SAY
"We know there are all-girl gangs in other cities, but this is the first we have seen in San Francisco," said Officer Len Broberg of the violent crime task force, which has identified at least 15 incidents over the last six months. "This is very unusual."
San Francisco police say they will ask the district attorney to classify the group, whose members are African American, as a criminal street gang, a move that would stiffen the penalties for those arrested in connection with the attacks.
Though Broberg declined to discuss specific incidents because the investigation is still active, he said a few arrests had been made, and more warrants are expected "within the next couple of weeks."
The attacks occurred both in broad daylight and at night, and until last month were confined to the southeast section of the city, mostly in the Bayview, Potrero Hill and Third Street corridor, Broberg said. But more recent attacks also have happened in the Western Addition and Fillmore neighborhoods.
"These women are extremely violent, and they are not locking themselves into distinct boundaries the way many male gangs do," said Inspector Tony Chaplin of the police department's gang task force. "These are mostly crimes of opportunity."
Chaplin said he senses that the momentum and intensity of the attacks are increasing as the girls become emboldened.
"It's like a bank robber: At first, they are nervous and might steal only a couple hundred dollars, but then after they get away with it, they are much bolder about it, and pretty soon they are out there killing people," he said.
ALL KNOWN VICTIMS ARE FEMALE
All of the victims known so far have been women, some in their teens, others in their 40s and 50s. Most of the victims have been African American, but others were Latinas.
Broberg said the attacks do not appear to be race-related or some kind of initiation ritual for acceptance into a male gang, though some suspected Hill Girls do have close connections to males also known to be involved in gangs.
Purses and cell phones have been taken from some victims, but theft does not seem to be the motive for the attacks, Broberg said. Instead, the gang seems to prefer using unsettling tactics like taking a victim's cell phone and making threatening calls to the people whose numbers had been programmed in it.
In one instance, gang members drove to a victim's home and tried to get inside. When they failed, they damaged her car by breaking the windows and bashing in the rest of it.
One victim's elbow was shattered with a baseball bat as her 5-year-old son looked on. An infant was torn from another woman's arms and thrown to the ground.
"Some of them just said they don't really care about the children," Broberg said. "Some said, 'We have kids, too, and we left them at home, and you shouldn't be out here with kids anyway.' "
Another woman was bitten repeatedly on her back, breaking the skin and requiring a tetanus shot.
John Moore, director of the National Youth Gang Center in Florida, said that female gang members tend to get less attention because they tend not to be as violent as their male counterparts, but that may be changing.
"I think police are just starting to realize that females do have a more prevalent role (in gang activities) than police may have thought, but the question is whether that's new or if it's just new to the police," Moore said. One recent survey of police departments by the center showed that about 14 percent of gang members are female, but other studies have put the figure as high as 35 percent, he said.
The National Youth Gang Center is part of the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, which is a nonprofit organization that specializes in law enforcement, juvenile justice and criminal justice issues.
Nationally, the prevalence of all-female gangs is quite rare, and most have a relatively short life cycle, said Moore.
Broberg said he suspects there have been more violent incidents, but said victims may not be inclined to file police reports out of fear of retaliation, a particularly challenging problem in the Bayview community.
Anyone who has information about any attacks is asked to call investigators at (415) 553-1401.
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Police in S.F. surprised by savagery of attacks
Anastasia Hendrix, Chronicle Staff Writer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They call themselves the Hill Girls, a violent clique of about 20 young women who live in Potrero Hill's public housing and who have been attacking women in San Francisco's toughest neighborhoods since the beginning of the year.
In some cases, the gang members selectively singled out their victims for their connections or romantic involvement with men or boyfriends, police said.
Other victims appear to be randomly selected, such as one woman who brushed up against one of the gang members on a bus. She was attacked after leaving the bus -- a gang member apparently used her cell phone to call other gang members to "jump" the victim.
NEW TO S.F., POLICE SAY
"We know there are all-girl gangs in other cities, but this is the first we have seen in San Francisco," said Officer Len Broberg of the violent crime task force, which has identified at least 15 incidents over the last six months. "This is very unusual."
San Francisco police say they will ask the district attorney to classify the group, whose members are African American, as a criminal street gang, a move that would stiffen the penalties for those arrested in connection with the attacks.
Though Broberg declined to discuss specific incidents because the investigation is still active, he said a few arrests had been made, and more warrants are expected "within the next couple of weeks."
The attacks occurred both in broad daylight and at night, and until last month were confined to the southeast section of the city, mostly in the Bayview, Potrero Hill and Third Street corridor, Broberg said. But more recent attacks also have happened in the Western Addition and Fillmore neighborhoods.
"These women are extremely violent, and they are not locking themselves into distinct boundaries the way many male gangs do," said Inspector Tony Chaplin of the police department's gang task force. "These are mostly crimes of opportunity."
Chaplin said he senses that the momentum and intensity of the attacks are increasing as the girls become emboldened.
"It's like a bank robber: At first, they are nervous and might steal only a couple hundred dollars, but then after they get away with it, they are much bolder about it, and pretty soon they are out there killing people," he said.
ALL KNOWN VICTIMS ARE FEMALE
All of the victims known so far have been women, some in their teens, others in their 40s and 50s. Most of the victims have been African American, but others were Latinas.
Broberg said the attacks do not appear to be race-related or some kind of initiation ritual for acceptance into a male gang, though some suspected Hill Girls do have close connections to males also known to be involved in gangs.
Purses and cell phones have been taken from some victims, but theft does not seem to be the motive for the attacks, Broberg said. Instead, the gang seems to prefer using unsettling tactics like taking a victim's cell phone and making threatening calls to the people whose numbers had been programmed in it.
In one instance, gang members drove to a victim's home and tried to get inside. When they failed, they damaged her car by breaking the windows and bashing in the rest of it.
One victim's elbow was shattered with a baseball bat as her 5-year-old son looked on. An infant was torn from another woman's arms and thrown to the ground.
"Some of them just said they don't really care about the children," Broberg said. "Some said, 'We have kids, too, and we left them at home, and you shouldn't be out here with kids anyway.' "
Another woman was bitten repeatedly on her back, breaking the skin and requiring a tetanus shot.
John Moore, director of the National Youth Gang Center in Florida, said that female gang members tend to get less attention because they tend not to be as violent as their male counterparts, but that may be changing.
"I think police are just starting to realize that females do have a more prevalent role (in gang activities) than police may have thought, but the question is whether that's new or if it's just new to the police," Moore said. One recent survey of police departments by the center showed that about 14 percent of gang members are female, but other studies have put the figure as high as 35 percent, he said.
The National Youth Gang Center is part of the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, which is a nonprofit organization that specializes in law enforcement, juvenile justice and criminal justice issues.
Nationally, the prevalence of all-female gangs is quite rare, and most have a relatively short life cycle, said Moore.
Broberg said he suspects there have been more violent incidents, but said victims may not be inclined to file police reports out of fear of retaliation, a particularly challenging problem in the Bayview community.
Anyone who has information about any attacks is asked to call investigators at (415) 553-1401.
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EVERYBODY THINKS THEY HARD THESE DAYS UNTILL THEY GET A 45 PULLED ON EM THEN THEY READY 2 DROP THEY RAG AND CORRECT THEY SAG.THE STREETS ARE REAL THIS IS THE NET COME ON NOW.