1.     Go to http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/GANGINFO.

2.     Click Application Form.

3.     Complete the form and hit Submit.

4.     You will then receive an e-mail confirmation—click on the URL to confirm your request to start a new account.

For a complete copy of the report click here.

National Gang Threat Summary Gangs pose a serious threat to public safety in many communities throughout the United States. Gang members are increasingly migrating from urban to suburban areas and are responsible for a growing percentage of crime and violence in many communities. Much gang-related criminal activity involves drug trafficking; however, gang members are increasingly engaging in alien and weapons trafficking. Additionally, a rising number of U.S.-based gangs are seemingly intent on developing working relationships with U.S.-and foreign-based drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and other criminal organizations to gain direct access to foreign sources of illicit drugs. 

Key Findings The following key findings were developed by analysis of available federal, state, and local law enforcement information; 2008 National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) data; and verified open source information:

• Approximately 1 million gang members belonging to more than 20,000 gangs were criminally active within all 50 states and the District of Columbia as of September 2008.
• Local street gangs, or neighborhood-based street gangs, remain a significant threat because they continue to account for the largest number of gangs nationwide. Most engage in violence in conjunction with a variety of crimes, including retail-level drug distribution.
• According to NDTS data, 58 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies reported that criminal gangs were active in their jurisdictions in 2008 compared with 45 percent of state and local agencies in 2004.
• Gang members are migrating from urban areas to suburban and rural communities, expanding the gangs’ influence in most regions; they are doing so for a variety of reasons, including expanding drug distribution territories, increasing illicit revenue, recruiting new members, hiding from law enforcement, and escaping other gangs. Many suburban and rural communities are experiencing increasing gang-related crime and violence because of expanding gang influence.
• Criminal gangs commit as much as 80 percent of the crime in many communities, according to law enforcement officials throughout the nation. Typical gang-related crimes include alien smuggling, armed robbery, assault, auto theft; drug trafficking, extortion, fraud, home invasions, identity theft, murder, and weapons trafficking.
• Gang members are the primary retail-level distributors of most illicit drugs. They also are increasingly distributing wholesale-level quantities of marijuana and cocaine in most urban and suburban communities.
• Some gangs traffic illicit drugs at the regional and national levels; several are capable of competing with U.S.-based Mexican DTOs.
• U.S.-based gang members illegally cross the U.S.–Mexico border for the express purpose of smuggling illicit drugs and illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States.
• Many gangs actively use the Internet to recruit new members and to communicate with members in other areas of the United States and in foreign countries.
• Street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs pose a growing threat to law enforcement along the U.S. – Canada border. They frequently associate with Canada-based gangs and criminal organizations to facilitate various criminal activities, including drug smuggling into the United States.

              

March 24 - 26, 2009, A four-member team from Fresno County attended a training in Orlando, Florida hosted by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention and facilitated by the National Youth Gang Center.

The training was an in-depth overview of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model. It featured presenters and speakers from OJJDP pilot site communities from around the country that have been implementing the Model.

County of Fresno adopted the Model as its key approach to addressing gangs at a launch meeting in February 2008. Since that time we have received a grant from The California Endowment to assist with completion of a county-wide assessment and development of an Implementation Plan. A Preliminary Report and video can be seen here. The final report is slated to be completed this year.

For more information on the training and next steps identified for Fresno County download the attached newsletter (below). For additional information and a copy of the Comprehensive Gang Model Manual click here.

Briefing_Page1.jpg (322.91 kb) 

Briefing_Page2.jpg (365.94 kb)

Last night, the Mendota Public Safety Committe hosted a Gang Prevention Forum - I'll post more on that later, but I use it as a starting point because afterward one of the officers attending the meeting asked about some of the brochures that were handed out.

There were two in particular I brought because 1) they spoke to and provided information for parents and community members; the focus audience of the forum and 2) because they were FREE! With limited resources, it is often tough to provide community outreach and education materials. The ability to have flashy, eye-catching materials is not always first on the list for budgets, and yet one of the key items that came from the Mendota forum was that community members wanted more education, more information. While conversation and dialogue are key, having handouts and reading materials can also be an excellent form of education.

So here are the links to the brochures provided last night one titled The Reality of Gangs is available through the National Crime Prevention Council as a .pdf file (attached below) so you can print your own - or better yet save a tree and email it or post it on a website. The second was provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention titled Parents' Guide to Gangs (and it comes in English and Spanish). You can order glossy color copies from the National Youth Gang Center by clicking here. It took less then two weeks for me to receive them once ordered. Or you can print your own (see attachment below).

A quick online search and I also located What You Know About Gangs Could Save Your Child's Life from the California Office of Criminal Justice Planning (attached below)

Lastly I took a quick search through Valley Cat Fresno County Library with the San Joaquin Valley Library System www.sjvls.org. Looking up 'gang prevention' and 'gang intervention' the following list of books came up. And keep in mind these books can be reserved and sent to any of the six central valley counties that participate in the library system! All you need is a library card.

Reality of Gangs.pdf (1.19 mb)

What U Know About Gangs.pdf (59.98 kb)

ParentsGuide-EN.pdf (441.31 kb)

ParentsGuide-ES.pdf (454.93 kb)

Happy Reading!