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National Gang Intelligence Center |
Gang migration from urban communities to suburban and rural locations, which began more than two decades ago, is a significant and growing problem in most areas of the country. Gangs are now fully entrenched in many communities across the nation. Most gangs formed in major cities and expanded into neighboring communities during the 1970s, continued their expansion in the 1980s, and launched into full-scale migration during the 1990s. Many notable gangs, such as Chicago-based Gangster Disciples, Black P. Stones, and Latin Kings, initially formed as organizations for political and social reform during the 1960s. However, by the early 1970s the focus of a number of these gangs shifted from reform to criminal activity for profit. At this time gang activity was primarily confined to large cities.
Throughout the 1970s gangs became better organized and continued to expand their activities into neighboring communities. The movement of gang members to suburban areas resulted in some territorial conflicts between rival gang members competing for the new territory, in addition to territorial conflicts with the few existing suburban gang members. The gang members who migrated from urban areas often formed new, neighborhood-based local gangs. These local gangs generally controlled their territories through violence and intimidation. In addition, they sought to increase their size by recruiting new members, who were typically from single-parent, low-income households, and who had a limited education. Local gangs engaged in a wide range of criminal activity, including retail-level drug distribution.
During the 1980s, gangs that engaged in drug trafficking in major cities began to expand their drug distribution networks into suburban communities influenced by local gangs. The larger gangs controlled drug distribution in city drug markets; they were motivated to move into adjoining communities to generate additional income by capitalizing on burgeoning powder cocaine and crack cocaine abuse. Large urban gangs generated millions of dollars from trafficking illicit drugs in urban and suburban areas; this income enabled the gangs to recruit new members and to force smaller local gangs to either disband or align with them, thereby increasing their dominance. To enhance profits from drug trafficking and other crimes, large urban gangs also deployed members to locate new drug markets throughout the country, including in suburban and rural communities. As various gangs attempted to expand nationally, they often were met with initial resistance by local gangs. This resistance resulted in an increased number of homicides and drive-by shootings in suburban communities.
Gangs became entrenched in communities throughout the nation, and gang-related violence and drug trafficking became fully ingrained in suburban areas throughout the 1990s. Because of the significant levels of violence attendant to gang-related criminal activity, federal, state, and local law enforcement officials devoted significant resources to fighting gun crime and disrupting the most violent gangs. This crackdown on violent gang activity targeted key gang leaders in an effort to dismantle highly structured gangs. In conjunction with this crackdown, federal law enforcement officials began to target violent gang members from Mexico and Central America, most of whom were in the United States illegally. Moreover, a large number of gang members in prison formed associations along ethnic lines during this time in an attempt to protect their operations, giving rise to large, influential prison gangs. As these gang members were released from prison, they maintained contact with gang leaders in prison and used their influence to control street gangs in urban and suburban areas.
Gang migration from larger cities to suburban and rural areas is an ongoing concern for law enforcement. According to analysis of NDTS 2008 data, the percentage of law enforcement agencies in the United States reporting gang activity in their jurisdictions increased from 45 percent in 2004 to 58 percent in 2008. (See Figure 2.) Moreover, the percentage of jurisdictions reporting gang activity during this time frame increased in each of the seven NGIC/GangTECC regions; however, the most significant increases were in the East and Southeast Regions, most likely the result of the migration of gang members from urban areas such as New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California, to smaller jurisdictions in these regions. In Chicago, gang movement to suburban areas can be attributed to several factors: the breakdown of traditional hierarchical gang structures resulting from law enforcement targeting of gang leaders, the razing of some large Chicago public housing projects, an abundance of wholesale illicit drug suppliers, and the expectation of high profits from new suburban drug operations.
Figure 2. Percentage of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies Reporting Gang Activity, by Region.
Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2004-2008.
Gang migration from urban areas has led to the recruitment of new, younger gang members in many suburban and rural communities. According to the most recent biennial School Crime Supplement to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey,2 the percentage of suburban students ages 12-18 who reported that gangs were present at school during the previous 6 months increased 17 percent from 2003 to 2005 after remaining stable from 2001 to 2003, and the percentage of rural students reporting likewise increased 33 percent from 2003 to 2005 after decreasing (8%) from 2001 to 2003. In comparison, percentages of both total students and urban students reporting gangs present at school increased steadily from 2001 to 2005 (20% and 24%, respectively). (See Figure 3.) Gang activity at schools is rising, in part, because gangs are using middle schools and high schools as venues for recruitment and drug distribution. Law enforcement agencies in several jurisdictions in eastern states report that gangs are directing teenage members who had dropped out of school to reenroll, primarily to recruit new members and sell drugs.
Figure 3. Percentage of Students Reporting Gang Activity at Schools
Source: National Crime Victimization Survey.
Note: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007 is a joint annual report
by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics.
The School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
is biennial.
Gang membership in the United States was conservatively estimated at 1 million members as of September 2008, based on analysis of federal, state, and local law enforcement reporting--an increase from an estimated 800,000 members in 2005. Current estimates include approximately 900,000 gang members residing within local communities across the country and more than 147,000 documented gang members incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities, according to state and federal corrections data. Increased gang membership is most likely the result of gang recruitment efforts and the release of incarcerated gang members; however, more comprehensive law enforcement reporting and improved gang awareness may also have contributed to an increase in the number of gang members identified by some law enforcement agencies.
Regionally, gang membership varies significantly. States in the Pacific, Southwest, and Central Regions rank highest in the percentage of the population identified as gang members. (See Appendix A, Map 1.) In addition, these same regions have the highest ratio of gang members per law enforcement officer. (See Appendix A, Map 2.)
2. In 2005, the unit response rate for this survey did not meet the National Center for Education Statistics statistical standards; therefore, interpret the data with caution. Data for 2005 is for the 2005-2006 school year. The biennial data for 2007 is for the 2007-2008 school year and has not been released. For more information on 2005, see Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007, Appendix A, available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/iscs07.pdf.
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