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National Gang Intelligence Center |
This intelligence assessment is a collaborative effort between the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) and the NDIC to examine the threat posed to the United States by criminal gangs; it supports U.S. Department of Justice strategic objectives 2.2 (to reduce the threat, incidence, and prevalence of violent crime) and 2.4 (to reduce the threat, trafficking, use, and related violence of illegal drugs). The assessment is based on federal, state, and local law enforcement information and is supplemented by information retrieved from open sources. Information and data used for this report were collected through September 2008.
This assessment discusses the proliferation of gangs from urban areas to suburban and rural locations, estimates of the number of gangs and gang members in the United States, gang types, gang-related criminal activities, locations where specific gangs operate, and the relationships between gangs and other criminal organizations. Regional summaries highlighting the most significant gang-related trends are also provided. The assessment also identifies intelligence gaps and provides predictive estimates regarding significant gang-related issues.
Figure 1. National Gang Intelligence Center/National Gang Targeting, Enforcement, and Coordination Center Regions.
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National Gang Intelligence Center The NGIC is a multiagency effort that integrates the gang intelligence assets of federal, state, and local law enforcement entities to serve as a centralized intelligence resource for gang information and analytical support. The mission of the NGIC is to support law enforcement agencies through timely and accurate information sharing and strategic/tactical analysis of federal, state, and local law enforcement intelligence focusing on the growth, migration, criminal activity, and association of gangs that pose a significant threat to communities throughout the United States. The NGIC concentrates on gangs operating on a national level that demonstrate criminal connectivity between sets and common identifiers and goals. Because many violent gangs do not operate on a national level, the NGIC also focuses on regional-level gangs. NGIC is staffed and supported by a number of partnering agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), NDIC, and United States Marshals Service (USMS). The NGIC produces intelligence assessments, intelligence bulletins, joint agency intelligence products, and other nonstandard intelligence products for customers. GangTECC The National Gang Targeting, Enforcement & Coordination Center (GangTECC) began operations in summer 2006 as the national anti-gang task force created by the former Attorney General. In accordance with the former Attorney General's directive, GangTECC is a multiagency center designed to serve as a critical catalyst in a unified federal effort to help disrupt and dismantle the most significant and violent gangs in the United States. The senior investigators at GangTECC come from the ATF, BOP, DEA, FBI, USMS, and ICE at the Department of Homeland Security. These federal agents work in close collaboration with the Gang Squad prosecutors in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice and with the analysts and others at the NGIC. They are among the primary consumers of NGIC intelligence. Specifically, GangTECC:
The goal is to achieve maximum impact at the national level against the most violent gangs in this country. To further this goal, GangTECC is intended to provide "one-stop shopping" via phone and e-mail for local, state, and federal investigators and prosecutors engaged in significant anti-gang efforts. GangTECC, through the participation of its member agencies, can offer either direct support for those engaged in anti-gang initiatives or can connect interested parties to appropriate officials to provide guidance or assistance. In many instances, specific assistance, coordination, or access to information developed in related cases would be invaluable to an ongoing gang investigation or prosecution. |
The principal sources of information used in this assessment include:
- 3,052 state and local law enforcement agency responses to the 2008 NDIC NDTS.
- Information from other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
- Gang-related federal criminal investigative information.
One of the greatest impediments to the collection of accurate gang-related data is the lack of a national uniform definition of a gang used by all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. For the purpose of this assessment, the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Associations (NAGIA) definition1 is used: A gang is a group or association of three or more persons with a common identifying sign, symbol, or name who individually or collectively engage in criminal activity that creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Another obstacle to the collection of gang-related data is the denial of a gang presence by local officials in some jurisdictions despite indicators to the contrary.
Gangs also are defined by the geographic areas in which they operate. Local gangs, also called neighborhood-based gangs and neighborhood drug crews, operate in single locations. Local gangs usually have no direct ties to DTOs or other criminal organizations. Regional gangs operate in multiple locations within a region; these gangs communicate and associate with gang members in other locations to varying degrees. Regional gangs typically are organized more formally and have more members than local gangs; some have members in foreign countries. Members of regional gangs may maintain ties to DTOs and other criminal organizations operating in the United States. National gangs typically have several hundred to several thousand members nationwide who operate in multiple regions; they may have cells in foreign countries with members who assist the U.S.-based gangs in further developing associations with DTOs and other criminal organizations in those countries. The organizational structures of national gangs vary from loosely linked networks of cells to formal hierarchies.
The collection of gang-related data for this assessment was greatly strengthened by the relatively large number of NDTS responses (3,052). Preparation of this assessment also was aided by better reporting as a result of, in part, the success of DOJ Office Justice Programs (OJP)/Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grants and training; FBI, ATF, and DEA enforcement; NDIC, NGIC, and El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) intelligence and reporting; and GangTECC targeting and coordination.
The sources of information used for this assessment are listed in Appendix E. Numerous state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the United States provided valuable input to this report through their participation in the National Drug Threat Survey and interviews with NDIC Field Program Specialists. These agencies were too numerous to thank individually.
1. For this report, the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Association (NAGIA) definition of "gang" is used as it is commonly accepted by gang investigator associations throughout the country. However, many states have legislatively enacted definitions of gangs that most local and state law enforcement agencies are required to follow.
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