"We Lived Through A War." Compton, LA Our World

Now on BBC News, it's

time for Our World.

There are flashing images

from the beginning of Katty Kay's

film about gang violence

in Los Angeles.

We've got a pursuit.

It's a pursuit. They are on the

freeway and coming east.

The crime

situation is high. It's very, very

busy for law enforcement. But,

again, it's a very small percentage

of people that are causing the

problems. All right, bad guy just

crashed. All right. I'm going to get

us a little bit off because we have,

like, 17 guns pointed in his

direction. There -- they are

starting to take the occupant into

police custody.

A night patrol with

the LA sheriffs in the city of

Compton. Two suspected members of

the Southside Compton Cripps gang

are under arrest.

It would be really

unsafe for them to be in their

rival's area and if they are there

they are going to have to have

protection, because it's almost

expected for them to be armed.

Police estimate there are almost

4000 gang members in Compton.

Our

area, our service area, is ten

square miles. Fireworks. Ten square

miles. So the every square mile we

have six at the games.

37 games

compete for control in a city of

just 100,000 people. -- gangs.

It is

always gang on gang, gang on gang.

The violence is there. The major

problem is when we have an innocent

person caught in the crossfire, or,

and it happens too often, that case

of mistaken identity.

Compton gained its grim reputation

for gang violence during the 80s and

90s at the height of America's crack

epidemic.

This is a madman gun. A

double barrel. A man that goes and

kills with this is really mad.

Out

of that mix in urged west coast can

star rap and one of the most

influential groups of all time NWA.

30 years on, the trauma of that era

lives on.

This was my childhood

home. Born and raised right here. I

had a history of taking things that

wasn't mine. If I saw it and liked

it, I would take it. I would protect

him by any means necessary.

I would

protect him the same way.

Even if it

means hurting someone else?

Pretty

much. Ultimately, if I had to hurt

someone to keep him from being hurt,

ultimately that would be my choice.

Compton's notorious street gangs,

the Cripps, the Lives and others

were formed in the late 1960s. Their

clothes, their tattoos and even

their jewellery all marked which

gang they belong to. Wearing the

wrong coloured shirt would have and

still could get you killed.

There would be different types of

shooting happening in this street.

Will join the Cripps when he was

just nine years old.

I went through

the Sally, I was going to the store

to get some cool late and I saw a

guy pass me and he looked at me and

next thing I hear is a whole bunch

of gunfire.

Right here?

Right here

where we are standing.

TROMBONE MUSIC

Today, Compton is on the up. A

quarter of the population lives

below the poverty line, but jobs are

coming back and there's a sense that

things are starting to turn around.

We'll works as a community activist,

trying to stop youngsters from

ending up in gangs -- Will works.

ICU. You know I'm going to come over

there and give you a hug.

I love

you!

I love you too, girl.

Keep up

the good work!

I'ma definitely do

that.

When my kids got killed and

other mothers' kids got killed, they

came here and he helped us.

She lost

two sons within 60 days. That's

where her motivation comes to get

out here. She is also in the

trenches with us.

Compton's youthful

mayor has made it her mission to

transform the image and the economy

of the city.

In 2013, early in the first term and

after 16 killings in just four

months, Aja Brown decided to hold a

crisis meeting. She put a call out

to the Bloods and Cripps to try to

bring about a truce.

It was rocky at

first. We had a few people

threatening to leave and I said, the

ground rules are we have to stay

until we finish.

What gave you the

confidence to do that?

This is my

community, are not afraid of money

on people. It was interesting to

hear from them. They are very

pragmatic and talk about the need

for employment opportunities that

they can access, they talk about the

barriers with employment because of

their criminal records. I told them,

it's not just about what can I do

for you, I told them I'm willing to

work with you if you make a

commitment as well.

Compton has switched from a majority

black to a majority Hispanic town.

But half the gangs are still

African-American and it was the

these gangs that Aja Brown turned

first.

Most of the time we wouldn't

be sitting at a table together, but

she did it. It was over. How many of

us? 50, 60, 300 in a room together.

You were there at the first meeting

with everybody got together?

To be

in there with 300 guys...

That's

disrespectful.

That's terrible. A

lot of male wouldn't do it. A lot of

people said, why is she doing it? It

was disarray when she came. And we

got order and got the business.

But

did they listen to her?

They

listened to her. They listened to

her because this is a first. This is

in their wet if it's the middle of

the night and you need to call her,

she will say, what's wrong? What's

going on? She is there. You don't

get that, not even in other cities.

So you don't get that from a lot of

mayors. And she was in a room with a

bunch of men. I was in there looking

at her sometimes, thinking, they

crazy!

This two men are from rival

gangs. Don is a Blood, Fred a Cripp.

If you would have come across Fred

ten years ago?

There would have been

a problem. He would have got stabbed

or something. Because you are rival

gangs?

I was young. I didn't have an

understanding of life or anything

else. All I cared about was my gang

and representing my gang..

So you

would have heard him?

Yeah. Yeah. He

would have tried.

Is it still the

same today?

No, it's not like it

used to be. No, it is watered down.

It's not like it used to be, but it

still crucial. The majority of these

guys don't like the way they are

living. They do like having to watch

their back and worry about getting

shot, can't go here, can't go there.

They like that, better like that

lifestyle. They are in their comfort

zone and they do know how to go

outside of the box.

working custody, some of the

gangsters, I would see them every

day, I had a rapport with them, a

lot of them were so, so afraid of

the one thing that you and I love,

and their fear is being out here.

One of them, who was a very, very

important person when it came to the

structure, he told me "I have a son,

I don't know how to be a father,",

and he goes further and tells me,

closed -- "I don't know how to

survive out there, I know how to

have a job, I don't know how to be a

regular person, or when I was

violence and if I get out of here

I'm going to hurt someone else, and

I don't want to do that any more,

I'm tired of it."

Regardless of whom is in the White

House, there is not going to be a

helicopter that comes into Compton

to fix all our issues. That is not

happening.

The height of the cracker can --

crack epidemic saw an explosion in

violence as rival gangs fought for

control of the drugs market. 87

people were murdered in 1991 alone.

In 2017, that figure was 19. We'll

search 12 years in prison for a

string of offences, including car

jacking and gun possession. -- will.

In December of 1999, he decided to

try and turn his life around.

I was

significantly depressed, emotionally

distraught I was suffering from a

lot of the traumatic experiences I

have suffered.

You are thinking of

killing yourself?

Definitely, I was

thinking about killing myself. That

was the solution to the pollution. I

had decided to go see my mum, it was

two days after Christmas, I decided

I needed to go see her at least one

more time. Before I came back and

did what I felt I needed to do. I

sat right on the street around the

corner, with an AK-47 to just at

all.

He didn't. He went to see a

preacher.

He basically said, you're

not the first one who has felt this

way, it not the first one who are

going through what you're going

through. But the difference is that

you can make is to hear what I have

to say and make a change. You will

find a lot of the kids are looking

for something when they join gangs.

The gangs have learned to cater to

those things that are missing.

The steady fall in crime since the

90s is partly due to smarter

policing. More significantly, as

drug markets stabilise, there were

fewer turf wars between the gangs.

But there are worrying signs.

Hello

Captain, how are you, I am doing

great. How are you? Have a seat.

30%

lest gang crime this year than last

year...

That is significant.

A lot

of gang members now who are people

who had gang membership in the past

are having trouble directing their

gang activities. We have an

understanding with the gang members

as to what was and wasn't within

boundaries as to how we treat each

other, and we have lost control of

that.

I appreciate your hard work

sir. Thank you.

We are getting an

emergency call, it is a vehicle

collision with injuries.

(SIREN

SOUNDS)

collision with injuries.

(SIREN

SOUNDS).

Who was driving? You are

driving, are you OK, just a little

shaken up? You had your driver 's

licence?

As far as the violent

crimes, it goes up and down. There

are times when gangs will have a

truce and they will kind of settle

down, and then out of nowhere is

someone turns on the lights which,

they are at it again. -- turns on a

light switch. The reason the

homicide rate has dropped, it is not

because the violence has gone away,

someone didn't just sprinkle fairy

dust on the city and it's gone, it

is there, the reason why the

homicide rate has dropped

significantly is because of the

advancements in medical science,

this right now more than ever --

doctors right now more than ever,

more than five years ago, they are

saving more and more lives.

You ain't trouble, that's why. I

have been coming to this store since

I was going to that elementary over

there. All this has changed, we got

a lot of homeboys getting killed

over here, just hanging out, because

this was almost a shared store

between two rival gangs, and so in

the process of that, a lot of people

lost their lives appear, a lot of

shooting, a lot of drive-bys were

happen here.

We'll now spends most

of his night out on the streets, --

William now spends most of his life

-- his night out on the streets

trying to stop fights from happening

getting out of control.

We are just

going corner to corner, indicating

with those that there are ways out,

a lot of times we need that

ourselves, so we can understand

what's going on in the community.

Because they out here sometimes,

they see stuff we don't see,

sometimes they tell us who we need

to go talk to.

In order to survive, many families

had to leave the city altogether.

This is my mum, my beautiful mother

Deborah...

When William's mum

sorting is getting out of control,

she uprooted her family and fled to

nearby San Bernardino.

By uncle

Lester, he was killed. 1987. In

Compton. Shot in his face. We have

been victims of the violence to, you

know. I think this was our family 's

first experience of the violence in

Compton.

I'm willing to bet you,

there's not a family in Compton that

didn't lose somebody or someone near

and dear to them. To gang violence.

In sum, shape, former fashion.

It

was a war. It was like a war zone

will stop I tell my friends, I'm a

nurse now, but I think I have seen

more death as a child that I have as

an adult will stop there are plenty

of days were Olubi playing outside,

-- where I would be playing outside,

and see a car that can look

familiar, and we had two seconds to

get in the backyard and lay down,

and bang, bang, bang. It became a

way of life. It was not normal but

then it was normal, you know what I

mean?

I know as a young kid I didn't

show that as much, when I was with

my mum and it hurts that I know she

went through that, to know that we

put more on her table then she

should have had on her table. It is

something I have to live with

because the thought occurs every now

and then and it makes me cry, it

hurts me, even though I have been

living like this to 20 years, good,

doing good work, it still hurts me

to know that 20 something years ago

I took my mum through what she had

to go through, you know, it is

something I will have to live with

the rest of my life because I can't

change that. But it hurts, it hurts,

you know?

The whole neighbourhood is

totally different. It is sad when

you see, that dude used to live over

there but he's dead. The next

neighbour died. It's just sad. Or

they are in jail for the rest of

their life. The boys who ain't dead,

they in jail. It's sad. It's really

sad.

Down this quiet street in Compton is

Aja Brown's former family home.

Back

then I was -- my mother was a

registered nurse so she worked

overnight and her schedule was a bit

different, and there was a home

intrusion and someone raped and

murdered her.

No one else was home

when this happened?

I don't ever

remember not knowing what happened

to my grandmother because my mother

was really sad and I would ask her,

why are you so sad, and she would

just say that she missed her mother.

No one was ever brought to justice

and the case remains open.

The loss

of life is not moment in time, it

lasts lifetime, and there are holes

that can never be filled, and it is

me a level of compassion, respect

and even insight into what most

people are dealing with.

When you

look at this house industry, what

does it make you feel?

Is

bittersweet to me. It is nice to be

able to know where my family spent a

lot of time growing up, but the same

time it is a place of such despair

for my family. It is a solemn place,

I would say.

The Mayor's story is

not uncommon. There is a level of

post-traumatic stress in this town

that comes from decades of extreme

violence. But maybe it's that shared

experience that could also drive

people to end the violence.