Escondido Police Department has begun cracking down on people known as Juggalos, a name for hard core followers of the Insane Clown Posse (a band). There are recent reports, according to Escondido Police, that members of this group are committing violent gang crimes throughout Escondido, including cornering kids and teens in a local park and ordering them to hand over their cash and other valuables. Along with alleged assault and robbery, they as well with held a woman at knife point and proceeded to rob her. A known meeting location of Insane Clown Posse members at Grape Day Park is now being frequently patrolled by Escondido Police to control and catch the criminals in this group.
Many members of the group are upset with how some of the members are acting, stating, they are not a gang but a nonviolent “family”. This remains true with statistics gathered from members of the group, only a few of the hundreds have been involved in any criminal activity. While this isn’t a ‘gang’, members have special signs and code words that they use to communicate with each other which could appear to be gang signs to those who are unfamiliar with them. Another reason why the Escondido gang detectives are cracking down is due to recent confrontation between Juggalos and known Latino gangs in the area. While there has been no major incidents involving them, there have been several fights leaving some members bruised and scratched.
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EXCLUSIVE: Escondido police crack down on Juggalos, North County Times