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Alex Alonso

Alex Alonso has been researching gangs in Los Angeles, the United States and abroad since 1993 and has developed a unique perspective on gangs through his ethnographic/geographic approaches. He is familiar with the active gangs of New York during the 1970s, and he has studied in depth the structure and history of organized crime in New York City and New Jersey. Most recently he has written on the social history of Los Angeles' contemporary gangs and is publishing a comprehensive book on Los Angeles current gang crisis.

He has worked with notable gang researchers such as Malcolm Klein, Cheryl Maxson, and James Diego Vigil and has counseled gang members, consulted with politicians, law enforcement officials, educators and community activists, and has spoken at numerous professional meetings, high schools, colleges and universities. He has aided attorneys, testified in court as an expert, and has appeared on several radio and national television programs regarding his research and has been quoted in various news publications. He has appeared on KCET Life & Times, BET, MTV, KABC (Los Angeles), FOX News, History Channel, and PBS, and to name a few. You can also see him in the documentary Gangsta King (2003) hosted by Robert Stack, Russell Simmons' F.E.D.S. documentary (2004), BET's American Gangster (2006-2008), ETV's Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2007) and History Channel's Gangland. He was a producer on Cle Sloan's Bastards of the Party and he is developing a TV show that will feature Los Angeles' most notorious gang crimes.

Selected Articles by Alex Alonso