Gang Prevention and Enforcement
I. GANG TRAINING
The National Gang Center (NGC), a joint initiative of BJA and OJP’s Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), provides anti-gang information and
training and technical assistance on anti-gang programs and strategies to law enforcement
officers, justice professionals, nongovernmental organizations, and community members.
NGC’s information includes updates on trainings and conferences, recent threat
assessments, policy issues and initiatives, etc. The following anti-gang training courses
were developed by NGC in partnership with BJA, and are currently being offered:
• Basic Training for Street Gang Investigators: This basic training is designed
for law enforcement officers who have been newly assigned to anti-gang units.
Deliverables: This course has trained since its inception approximately 450
federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel in gang awareness and
recognition, gang intelligence, enforcement techniques and strategies, officer
safety, and other gang-related issues. For more information visit Web site:
www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Training-and-Technical-Assistance/Street-GangInvestigators.
• Gangs 101 Train-the-Trainer: This course provides a framework for gang
trainers to present basic gang awareness to varying audiences. Topics addressed
in this course consist of why youths join gangs and appropriate prevention,
intervention, and suppression responses to gangs. This course provides
instructors with presentations that could be used with a variety of audiences.
Deliverables: Approximately 250 federal, state, and local law enforcement
personnel were trained since the inception of the course. .
• Advanced Gang Investigators: The Advanced Gang Investigations course
enhances experienced law enforcement officers, corrections personnel,
intelligence professionals, and legal professionals’ gang investigation skills,
abilities, and knowledge. Deliverables: This course trained approximately 60
state and local law enforcement officers since its inception. Upon the conclusion
of this training, participants were able to utilize more sophisticated intelligence
and suppression tools to investigate gang crimes and suppress gang activity.
Web site: www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Training-and-TechnicalAssistance/Advanced-Gang-Investigations.
• Gang Unit Supervision: The Gang Unit Supervision course is intended for
state and local law enforcement supervisors who are currently assigned, or soon
will be assigned, to form and/or manage a gang unit. Deliverables: Approximately 50 state and local law enforcement personnel were trained since
its inception. Upon completion of this course, participants were able to discuss
and apply the fundamental principles of effective gang unit management.
Through the review and evaluation of best practices and strategies being utilized
in the field, participants were better prepared to develop appropriate
organizational and management strategies for their department’s gang unit.
Web site: www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Training-and-TechnicalAssistance/Gang-Unit-Supervision.
• Gangs in Indian Country: This course covers five Indian country-specific
topics:
¾ Regional Gang Overview: This unit addresses gang activity in this
particular region.
¾ Gang Intelligence: This unit provides instruction on the intelligence
process and the role of gang investigators.
¾ Gang Suppression: This unit presents effective strategies and tactics that
suppress gang activity.
¾ Gang Investigations: This unit addresses the unique nature of gang
investigations and gang crime scenes.
¾ Legal Considerations: This unit provides discussion on case law
regarding gang enforcement issues, an overview of investigation types, the
relevance of gang membership to the investigation of gang crimes, and the
use of gang-specific legislation in the investigation and prosecution of
gang crimes.
Deliverables: Trained approximately 100 tribal, state, and local law
enforcement personnel since its inception. Web site:
www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Training-and-Technical-Assistance/Gangs-inIndian-Country.
¾ Criminal Intelligence Unit Commander’s Course: This course provides indepth instruction on the intelligence process, reviews promising strategies and
programs (e.g. fusion centers), and offers significant training on legal
guidelines and issues. Deliverables: Trained approximately 120 state and
local law enforcement personnel since its inception.
¾ Anti-Gang Seminar for Law Enforcement Chief Executives: This course
provides a high-level overview of the criminal intelligence process for law
enforcement Chief Executive Officers (CEO), with a special focus on
community trust, accountability, and legal issues. This course also provides
executives with case studies and an opportunity to discuss criminal
intelligence strategies. Deliverables: Trained approximately 900 state and
2 local law enforcement chief executives since its inception. Web site:
www.nationalgangcenter.gov.
II. CeaseFire Chicago
CeaseFire Chicago takes a strategic public health approach to violence prevention. This
approach has been employed to address and reduce other serious health threats, such as
child mortality, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, smallpox, and polio. It includes a full
commitment to a specific objective (in this case stopping shootings), the setting of longterm and short-term goals, strategy development based on best practices and adapted to
the local situation by local practitioners, and a management structure that works at both
the community and the city and/or county levels.
This public health approach relies heavily on public education to change attitudes and
behaviors toward violence, outreach through individuals recruited from the target
population, community involvement to change norms, and evaluation methods to monitor
strategy. BJA has provided $1.2 million to the CeaseFire Chicago program to provide
training and technical assistance (TTA) on-site to the following sites: the Boston Public
Health Commission (BPHC); the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD); Chicanos
Por La Causa (CPLC); the Allegheny County Department of Human Services on behalf
of One Vision; the Fund for the City of New York, and to other sites nationally that have
replicated the CeaseFire Chicago model as well as sites that wish to develop the model.
Web site: www.ceasefirechicago.org.
III. Project Safe Neighborhood Grants
BJA facilitates efforts to combat the crimes committed by violent gangs through the
delivery of grant funds, training and technical assistance, and through the development of
partnerships between state and local law enforcement agencies and communities. BJA
supports communities and state and local law enforcement agencies in this fight by
utilizing Project Safe Neighborhood’s (PSN) five essential elements: partnerships,
strategic planning, training, community outreach, public awareness, and accountability.
Deliverables: PSN provided formula-based grant funds to communities throughout the
United States and jurisdictions within the 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Web site:
www.ojp.gov/BJA/grant/psn.html.
IV. Project Safe Neighborhood Anti-Gang Trainings
BJA has funded numerous current and expanded comprehensive gun crime reduction
strategies as well as provides additional funding under the Anti-Gang Initiative to fund
new and expanded anti-gang prevention and enforcement efforts under PSN. The PSN
Anti-Gang Training was designed to improve the level of knowledge, communication,
and collaboration involved in addressing criminal gang issues that affect communities
throughout the nation. This training is currently being delivered to jurisdictions
throughout the United States. On September 26–28, 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) sponsored the Project Safe Neighborhoods Anti-Gang Training pilot in Dover,
3 Delaware. Approximately 160 law enforcement officers and criminal justice practitioners
attended this training, which was delivered by DOJ law enforcement agencies and other
criminal justice professionals. Deliverables: A total of 18 trainings have been delivered
to approximately 4,200 sworn and non-sworn personnel throughout the United States,
with 6 trainings scheduled for calendar year 2011. Due to the success of the pilot program
and the positive feedback and suggestions received from attendees, the training now
features a separate track for gang prevention and intervention personnel and, as
appropriate, an executive track to bring together key leaders in each jurisdiction to begin
to formulate strategic plans to address local gang issues. Web site:
www.psn.gov/training.
V. Project Safe Neighborhoods Public Housing Training
BJA, in coordination with the Justice Programs Office at American University, developed
a new 2-day training program to assist jurisdictions with combating violent crime in
public housing. Deliverables: Approximately 122 U.S. Attorney’s Offices, state and local
law enforcement and housing personnel have attended the trainings. The training was
delivered twice, and based on attendee feedback additional trainings will be considered.
The training identified tools and resources available to assist law enforcement officers in
addressing public safety issues in public housing as well as the benefits of partnerships
between law enforcement, local housing officials, and private management. Web site:
www.psn.gov/training.
VI. Drug Market Intervention
BJA, through the PSN Program, supports training and technical assistance for local teams
interested in implementing an open-air drug market intervention (DMI) initiative,
commonly referred to as the High Point Intervention model. DMI addresses the
challenge of effectively responding to illegal drug markets and their associated crime,
violence, and disorder that have challenged communities and law enforcement agencies
for decades. DMI is a strategic problem-solving initiative aimed at permanently closing
down open-air drug markets.
The strategy targets individual geographic drug markets—specifically drug dealers in
those areas—using a focused deterrence strategy. The most violent offenders are targeted
and prosecuted to demonstrate what will happen if others continue to sell drugs and
committing serious crimes. An intervention with the low level offenders, their
families/influential, and community members is then staged. Law enforcement agencies
mobilizes community residents, leaders, and family members of low-level drug dealers to
voice their intolerance for this criminal behavior and offer an opportunity and support to
these offenders in hopes they will change their behavior.
Low level offenders are given the option to straighten up or face lengthy prison sentences
and are provided assistance in locating employment, housing, transportation, health care,
and provided access to other social services.
4 In the example of High Point, North Carolina, the strategy involved few arrests,
employed problem-solving approaches, and resulted in a dramatic transformation of the
targeted areas. The results were immediate and have been sustained for over 6 years.
Web site: www.ojp.gov/BJA/topics/DMII.pdf.
V. Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative Sites
The Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative (CAGI) provides targeted grant funding—
approximately $34 million in total—to 12 selected sites to implement a three-pronged
strategy in the fight against gangs: prevention, enforcement, and prisoner reentry. These
12 sites include: Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Los Angeles, California;
Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Tampa, Florida; Rochester, New York; Indianapolis, Indiana;
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; a corridor of gang activity
that stretches from Easton to Lancaster, Pennsylvania; northwest of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; and Detroit, Michigan. Deliverables: Each jurisdiction
received $2.5 million; the two newest sites—Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan—
received $2.5 million each over the last 3 years respectively. Ten of the twelve sites have
received TTA from the DOJ and BJA through either a combination of onsite visits or
workshop-specific TTA.
VIII. Regional Information Sharing System
The Regional Information Sharing System (RISS) assists federal, state, local, and tribal
law enforcement professionals in protecting public safety by providing secure,
nationwide information and intelligence sharing capabilities, secure but unclassified
electronic communications capabilities, investigative analysis support; specialized
investigative equipment, and other investigative support services. RISS links law
enforcement agencies across the country, providing secure communications, information
sharing resources, and investigative support to combat multijurisdictional crime and
terrorist threats. RISS enhances the ability of criminal justice agencies to identify, target,
and remove criminal conspiracies and activities spanning multijurisdictional, multistate,
and sometimes international boundaries. Web site: www.riss.net.
IX. Gang Resistance Education And Training Program
The Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program is a school-based,
law enforcement officer-instructed, classroom curriculum administered by BJA in
cooperation with DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The program’s primary objective is gang prevention against gang growth and is intended
as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership.
G.R.E.A.T. lessons focus on providing life skills to students to help them avoid engaging
in delinquent behavior and violence to solve problems. Funding is appropriated to
OJJDP. A portion of the appropriation is retained by OJJDP for its anti-gang activities
and the remaining portion is transferred to BJA to administer the program. Four
Regional Training Centers (RTCs) assist agencies wishing to start new G.R.E.A.T.
programs. Deliverables: Since its inception in 1991, over 10,000 law enforcement
Law Enforcement Anti-Gang Training
The National Gang Center offers five classes for law enforcement—Gangs in Indian Country, Basic Training for Street Gang Investigators, Advanced Gang Investigations, Gang Unit Supervision, and an Anti-Gang Seminar for Law Enforcement Chief Executives. These classes are provided on a regional basis to include participants from all law enforcement agencies (police and sheriff) within a geographical region.
Gangs in Indian Country: In this three-day class, participants are provided with basic information about various gangs throughout the United States and receive specific, in-depth information about national and regional Native American gangs. Training topics include gang intelligence collection, investigative techniques, interviewing techniques, suppression strategies, and legal considerations in prosecuting gang crimes.
Basic Training for Street Gang Investigators: In this 3½-day class, participants are provided with basic information about the different types of gangs throughout the United States and receive specific, in-depth information about gangs in their region. They will learn about collecting gang intelligence, interviewing techniques, investigative techniques, suppression strategies, case-building strategies, and legal considerations in prosecuting gang crimes.
Advanced Gang Investigations: This three-day class enhances the gang investigation skills, abilities, and knowledge of more experienced law enforcement, corrections, and intelligence professionals. Participants will learn more sophisticated investigative, intelligence, and suppression tools to investigate gang crimes and suppress gang activity.
Gang Unit Supervision: This two-day class will enable participants to discuss and apply fundamental principles of effective gang unit supervision. Through the review and evaluation of best practice strategies, participants will be better prepared to develop the most appropriate organizational and management strategies for their department’s gang unit. The information presented is applicable to participants who are forming new gang units as well as those operating existing gang units and multijurisdictional partnerships.
Anti-Gang Seminar for Law Enforcement Chief Executives: This one-day seminar will allow police chiefs, sheriffs, and other law enforcement chief executives to discuss a variety of gang-related topics relevant to law enforcement executives. It is designed to be a collegial, facilitated event in which the participants’ experiences are shared and constitute the educational value. Through discussions, brief scenario-based exercises, and shared resources, participants will learn from their peers while sharing their own experiences.
