East Los Angeles is almost a separate city within Los Angeles' borders. Sliced by freeways and studded with factories, it is home to 110,000 Mexican Americans who speak Spanish, celebrate the Cinco de Mayo* and prefer tamales to hot dogs. "East Los" also has more than it share of vandalism, burglary and car thefts, in large part committed by tough Chicano gangs that mark their territory with special graffitti called placas. Yet in the past two years, there has been a remarkable change in the barrio. Reports Los Angeles Police Captain George Morrison: "Officers...
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