Latin Kings

The Latin Kings are presented as a large, nationally established street gang whose senior leadership was based in Chicago. In the novel’s account of competing law-enforcement demands, an impending major arrest of its members helps explain why the Chicago field agents were unavailable to assist with the serial-murder investigation.

Identity and Reach

The narrative identifies the Latin Kings as a huge street gang with bases of operation across the country. Its leadership was located in Chicago, giving the city particular importance in the gang’s organizational geography. The account establishes that broad reach and local concentration, but does not describe the gang’s internal structure or activities in further detail.

The Impending Arrest

When the investigation into the Chicago Strangling Undertaker serial murders sought federal assistance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Chicago field agents were already occupied. A large arrest of Latin Kings members was about to take place, a commitment presented as a major competing demand on the office’s attention and resources.

Effect on the Investigation

Although the Chicago field office would have been interested in helping, it had been decided that its resources were better allocated elsewhere. The Latin Kings are thus connected to the murder investigation through the pressure their impending arrest placed on law-enforcement capacity: the gang was not identified as part of the serial-murder case, but the operation directed against its members helped leave the Chicago field agents unable to take it on.