As we told you last summer (“Gangs Lay Low, Rake in Dough”) some neighborhoods that used to represent bloody fault lines in decades-old gang grudges have been eerily quiet, with some experts theorizing that the sets are working together to comprise a more-efficient money-making machine on the streets of Los Angeles.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday finds a sheriff's expert who thinks it's true: On some streets, says Det. Robert Lyons, the red of the Bloods and the blue of the Crips makes green. States the Journal: ” … Gangs that investigators believed to be sworn enemies share neighborhoods and strike business deals. The collaboration even crosses racial lines, remarkable in a gang world where racial divisions are sharp and clashes are often racially motivated.”

There's a correlation to the notion: a reduction of gang violence in L.A., which the Journal notes is at a 30-year-low in Los Angeles. But cooperation among gangs isn't always a good thing. Lyons tells the paper that now, “instead of having 200 guys that are arch-enemies with 200 other guys, you have 400 guys working together against law enforcement.”

And it's not clear if the quiet will last: The state is being ordered by a federal court to release 40,000 prisoners, many of whom will at least be wooed by their old gangs. It could could be a volatile reunion.

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