Among the names they give themselves are Hanover Boyz, Young Bloods, Laos Pride and Tiny Raskals, Their graffiti tags dot the neighborhoods throughout the city. To enter a gang, there's a brutal beating initiation called a "jump in," and to quit a gang, members often must shed blood or break a bone. A special unit of the Providence police gets up close and personal with many gang members, but stemming the violence isn't easy on the youths' mean streets.

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Tou Pathoummahong, a former member of the Laos Pride street gang, took a long look at the young man in the wheelchair. He didn't hesitate when asked what he would have done to him a few years ago.

"To be honest," he said, "I probably would have shot him."

Ray Duggan, the man in the wheelchair, laughed. He is a former member of the Young Bloods, another street gang that has battled Laos Pride for years. In fact, Duggan and the Providence police suspect that two Laos Pride gang members ambushed him and left him for dead on a city street.

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