FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Gang Expert Invents Game for Police
CONTACT: James E. Shaw, Ph.D. (310-678-6950)
November 23, 2008. Los Angeles, CA. Hip Hop icon Fifty-Cent has been shot with real bullets how many times? What “thug rapper” (as he called himself) wrote the hit Rap song, “I Love You Mama”? What is the annual worldwide sales revenue of the Hip Hop industry? What “bad boy” Rapper changed his Rap name a few times before coming out with his own brand of cologne? True or false: Lee Iococca used to make Chrysler commercials with a Rap star. What is the name of the hit cable/satellite TV show whose title is a gang term meaning conned/humiliated/used? What is the favorite athletic event of both gangbangers and members of the Mafia? What Rap records exec arranged an audition for the daughter of a deputy district attorney? Nickname of the Mafia don, loved by today’s ‘gangstas’, who had a disfigurement he could not hide?
These are just some of the thousands of questions found in an innovative gang/hip hop trivia game designed by Dr. James E. Shaw, a nationally-renowned Criminal Court Gang Expert, whose clients have included the West Point Military Academy and the United States Navy. Shaw intends his game, called “GANGrene: The Gang/Hip Hop Trivia Game”, to be a training tool for, among other professions, law enforcement agencies. “Law enforcement agencies either face gangs on a daily basis or have to confront, suppress or clean up the destruction gangs cause,” says Shaw. Shaw is available to lawyers in both the Defense and Prosecutorial Bar. “Hip Hop culture and the ‘gangsta’ lifestyle are happily married and divorce does not seem likely,” says Shaw. Youth, whether rich or poor, and of all ethnicities, are infatuated with and influenced by “what gangsters do, and how and when they do it. Hip Hop music is the symbolic airport, bus depot, and entertainment pavilion where ALL America’s youthful and multi-cultural travelers meet,” says Shaw.
For a number of years Shaw taught the law course, “Administration of Justice: Juvenile Delinquency and Legal Procedures,” at the El Camino Police Academy (CA). He feels that police officers need to know much more than they currently do about the attitude and “behavioral drivers” that bind the Hip Hop culture and the gang culture. Police, Shaw says, “usually have a middle class world view with values built on an enforcement model.” Today’s young people increasingly are relating to the world from a gangster mentality and anti-authority model. Shaw states, “And like the trumpets of ancient Troy, Hip Hop music is often the war cry of today’s gangsta.” He adds: “In gangdom, the Hip Hop community is the equivalent of the United Nations.” Shaw says that what Rap icon Snoop Dogg told CNN’s Larry King, in a televised pre-election (’08) interview, “was a wake-up scream.” Said Snoop Dogg: “I ain’t interested in the Democrat or Republican party. I’m only interested in the Gang Party.”
“GANGrene: The Gang/Hip Hop Trivia Game” is also for the general public. Shaw says, “It is a tool for helping to break down certain barriers and improve positive understanding about and current practices for successfully interfacing with all youth, whether ‘gangstas’ or not, on a daily basis.” ###
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Sunday, November 23, 2008
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Federal and State Definitions of "Gang", "Gang Crime," and "Gang Member"
Editor's Note: Often, in courts, the definition of "gang" is bandied about, not unlike fierce volleys back and forth between fierce rivals, on the tennis court. The following is listed by the United States Department of Justice as a "review" (read that as "reminder" or "renewed reinforcement") of what current federal law says a "gang" and allied terms mean.
August 2008
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions of the Terms
“Gang,” “Gang Crime,” and “Gang Member”
Federal Law
Current Legislation
Currently, federal law defines the term “gang” as “an ongoing group, club, organization, or
association of five or more persons: (A) that has as one of its primary purposes the commission
of one or more of the criminal offenses described in subsection (c); (B) the members of which
engage, or have engaged within the past five years, in a continuing series of offenses described in
subsection (c); and (C) the activities of which affect interstate or foreign commerce.” 18 USC §
521(a).
Current federal law describes the term “gang crime” as:
(1) “A federal felony involving a controlled substance (as defined in Section
102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 USC § 802)) for which the
maximum penalty is not less than five years.
(2) A federal felony crime of violence that has as an element the use or
attempted use of physical force against the person of another.
(3) A conspiracy to commit an offense described in paragraph (1) or (2).”
18 USC § 521(c).
Also, current federal law describes the term “gang member” as “a person who:
(1) Participates in a criminal street gang with knowledge that its members
engage in or have engaged in a continuing series of offenses described in
subsection (c).
(2) Intends to promote or further the felonious activities of the criminal street
gang or maintain or increase his or her position in the gang.
(3) Has been convicted within the past five years for:
(A) An offense described in subsection (c).
(B) A state offense:
(i) Involving a controlled substance (as defined
in Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act
(21 USC § 802)) for which the maximum penalty is
not less than five years‟ imprisonment.
(ii) That is a felony crime of violence that has as an
element the use or attempted use of physical force
against the person of another.
(C) Any federal or state felony offense that by its nature involves a
substantial risk that physical force against the person of another
may be used in the course of committing the offense.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Page 2 of 35 August 2008
(D) A conspiracy to commit an offense described in subparagraph
(A), (B), or (C).” 18 USC § 521(d).
Proposed Legislation
The proposed Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007 would define a “criminal street
gang” as “a formal or informal group or association of five or more individuals, who commit
three or more gang crimes (not less than one of which is a serious violent felony), in three or
more separate criminal episodes (not less than one of which occurs after the date of enactment of
the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007, and the last of which occurs not later than five
years after the commission of a prior gang crime (excluding any time of imprisonment for that
individual)).”
The Act would also define a “gang crime” as “a felony offense under federal or state law
punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, in any of the following categories:
(1) A crime that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of
physical force against the person of another, or is burglary, arson, or
extortion.
(2) A crime involving obstruction of justice, or tampering with or retaliating
against a witness, victim, or informant.
(3) A crime involving the manufacturing, importing, distributing, possessing
with intent to distribute, or otherwise trafficking in a controlled substance or
listed chemical (as those terms are defined in Section 102 of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 USC § 802)).
(4) Any conduct punishable under:
(A) Section 844 (relating to explosive materials).
(B) Subsection (a)(1), (d), (g)(1) (where the underlying conviction is
a violent felony or a serious drug offense (as those terms are
defined in Section 924(e)), (g)(2), (g)(3), (g)(4), (g)(5), (g)(8),
(g)(9), (i), (j), (k), (n), (o), (p), (q), (u), or (x) of Section 922
(relating to unlawful acts).
(C) Subsection (b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l), (m), or (n) of Section 924
(relating to penalties).
(D) Section 930 (relating to possession of firearms and dangerous
weapons in federal facilities).
(E) Section 931 (relating to purchase, ownership, or possession of
body armor by violent felons).
(F) Sections 1028 and 1029 (relating to fraud and related activity in
connection with identification documents or access devices).
(G) Section 1084 (relating to transmission of wagering information).
(H) Section 1952 (relating to interstate and foreign travel or
transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises).
(I) Section 1956 (relating to the laundering of monetary instruments).
(J) Section 1957 (relating to engaging in monetary transactions in
property derived from specified unlawful activity).
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Page 3 of 35 August 2008
(K) Sections 2312 through 2315 (relating to interstate transportation
of stolen motor vehicles or stolen property).
(5) Any conduct punishable under Section 274 (relating to bringing in and
harboring certain aliens), Section 277 (relating to aiding or assisting certain
aliens to enter the United States), or Section 278 (relating to importation of
aliens for immoral purposes) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 USC 1324, 1327, and 1328).
(6) Any crime involving aggravated sexual abuse, pimping or promoting
prostitution, obscenity (including Sections 1461 through 1465), sexual
exploitation of children (including Sections 2251, 2251A, 2252, and 2260),
peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons (including Sections 1581 through
1592) and Sections 2421 through 2427 (relating to transport for illegal
sexual activity).”
State Law
A review of current state laws for various states‟ definitions of the words “gang,” “gang
member,” and “gang crime” reveals the following information:
“Gang” Definitions
Thirty-seven states and Washington, DC, have legislation that defines “gang.”
Twenty-nine states and Washington, DC, define a gang as consisting of three
or more persons.
Twenty-two states include a common name, identifying sign, or symbol as
identifiers of gangs in their definitions.
Twenty-three states refer to a gang as an “organization, association, or group.”
Twenty-one states and Washington, DC, use the term “criminal street gang” to
describe a gang.
Every definition includes criminal/illegal activity or behavior.
“Gang Crime” Definitions
Twenty states define “gang crime/activity.”
Twelve states refer to it as a “pattern of criminal gang activity.”
Sixteen states enumerate the exact crimes that are to be considered criminal
gang activity.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Page 4 of 35 August 2008
“Gang Member” Definitions
Eleven states have legislation that defines a “gang member.”
Six states have a list of criteria, some of which a person must meet to be
considered a gang member.
Of those, five states require that a person must meet at least two criteria to be
considered a gang member.
Kansas requires an admission of gang membership OR three or more of its
criteria.
Violent Gang and Terrorist Organizations File
The definitions of “gang,” “gang crime,” and “gang member” of the Violent Gang and Terrorist
Organizations File (VGTOF), contained within the FBI‟s National Crime Information Center
(NCIC) share some similarities with those definitions used by the states:
“Gang” Definitions
The VGTOF defines a gang as consisting of three or more persons.
The VGTOF refers to a gang as an “organization, association, or group.”
The VGTOF definition includes criminal/illegal activity or behavior.
“Gang Crime” Definitions
The VGTOF definition enumerates the exact crimes that are to be considered criminal
activity.
“Gang Member” Definitions
The VGTOF definition has a list of criteria, some of which a person must meet to be
considered a gang member.
The VGTOF definition requires an admission of gang membership OR two of its criteria.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 5 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
VGTOF Gang member Admission or
any 2
Has been identified as a gang member by an
individual of proven reliability
Has been identified as a gang member by an
individual of unknown reliability, and that
information has been corroborated in
significant respects
Has been observed by law enforcement
members to frequent a known gang‟s area,
associate with known gang members, and/or
affect that gang‟s style of dress, tattoos, hand
signals, or symbols
Has been arrested on more than one occasion
with known gang members consistent with
gang activity
Has admitted membership in a gang at any
time other than at the time of current
arrest/incarceration
“must be a member of a group, or sub-group thereof,
which meets the criteria for a gang.”
Arizona
§13-105
Criminal street gang member 2 of 7 Self-proclamation
Witness testimony or official statement
Written or electronic correspondence
Paraphernalia or photographs
Tattoos
Clothing or colors
Any other indicia of street gang membership
N/A
Florida
§874.03
Criminal street gang member 2 or more Admits to criminal street gang membership
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a documented reliable informant
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
street gang‟s area and adopts its style of dress,
use of hand signs, or tattoos and associates
with known criminal street gang members
“who is a member of a criminal street gang”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 6 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Florida
§874.03
(continued)
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by an informant of previously untested
reliability, and such identification is
corroborated by independent information
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal street gang
members for offenses that are consistent with
usual criminal street gang activity
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by physical evidence such as photographs or
other documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
criminal street gang members four or more
times
Florida (2)
§874.03
Criminal street gang
associate
N/A N/A “who admits to criminal street gang association; or
meets any single defining criterion for criminal street
gang membership”
Idaho
§18-8502
Criminal gang member 2 or more Admits to gang membership
Is identified as a gang member
Resides in or frequents a particular gang‟s area
and adopts its style of dress, use of hand signs,
or tattoos and associates with known gang
members
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified gang members for
offenses that are consistent with usual gang
activity
Is identified as a gang member by physical
evidence such as photographs or other
documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
gang members four or more times
“who engages in a pattern of criminal gang activity”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 7 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Illinois
§740 ILCS
147-10
Street gang member
Gang member
N/A N/A “who actually and in fact belongs to a gang, and any
person who knowingly acts in the capacity of an agent
for or accessory to, or is legally accountable for, or
voluntarily associates himself with a course or pattern
of gang-related criminal activity, whether in a
preparatory, executory, or cover-up phase of any
activity, or who knowingly performs, aids, or abets any
such activity”
Kansas
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang member Admission or
3 or more
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a state, county, or city law enforcement
officer or correctional officer or documented
reliable informant
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by an informant of previously untested
reliability, and such identification is
corroborated by independent information
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
street gang's area and adopts such gang's style
of dress, color, or use of hand signs or tattoos
and associates with known criminal street gang
members
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal street gang
members for offenses that are consistent with
usual criminal street gang activity
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by physical evidence including, but not limited
to, photographs or other documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
criminal street gang members two or more
times
Has participated in or undergone activities
self-identified or identified by a reliable
informant as a criminal street gang initiation
ritual
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 8 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Kansas (2)
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang
associate
Admission or
2 or more
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a state, county, or city law enforcement
officer or correctional officer or documented
reliable informant
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by an informant of previously untested
reliability, and such identification is
corroborated by independent information
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
street gang's area and adopts such gang's style
of dress, color, or use of hand signs or tattoos
and associates with known criminal street gang
members
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal street gang
members for offenses that are consistent with
usual criminal street gang activity
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by physical evidence including, but not limited
to, photographs or other documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
criminal street gang members two or more
times
Has participated in or undergone activities
self-identified or identified by a reliable
informant as a criminal street gang initiation
ritual
N/A
Mississippi
§97-44-3
Street gang member
Gang member
N/A N/A “who actually and in fact belongs to a gang, and any
person who knowingly acts in the capacity of an
agent for or accessory to, or is legally accountable
for, or voluntarily associates himself with a gang-
related criminal activity, whether in a preparatory,
executory, or cover-up phase of any activity, or who
knowingly performs, aids, or abets any such activity”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 9 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
New York
9 NYCRR
§301.3
Gang member N/A N/A “who is part of, associated with, or otherwise
affiliated with a gang”
South
Carolina
§16-8-230
Criminal gang member N/A N/A “who is an active member of a criminal gang”
South Dakota
§22-10A-1
Street gang member 2 or more Admits to gang membership
Is identified as a gang member by a
documented reliable informant
Resides in or frequents a particular gang‟s area
and adopts its style of dress, use of hand signs,
or tattoos and associates with known gang
members
Is identified as a gang member by an informant of
previously untested reliability if such identification
is corroborated by independent information
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified gang members for
offenses that are consistent with usual gang
activity
Is identified as a gang member by physical
evidence, such as photographs or other
documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
gang members four or more times
“who engages in a pattern of street gang activity”
Tennessee
§40-35-121
Criminal gang member 2 or more Admits to criminal gang involvement
Is identified as a criminal gang member by a
parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal gang member by a
documented reliable informant
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
gang‟s area, adopts its style of dress, use of
hand signs, or tattoos, and associates with
known gang members
Is identified as a criminal gang member by an
informant of previously untested reliability,
and such identification is corroborated by
independent information
“who is a member of a criminal gang”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 10 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Tennessee
§40-35-121
(continued)
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal gang members
for offenses that are consistent with usual
criminal gang activity
Is identified as a criminal gang member by
physical evidence such as photographs or other
documentation
Wisconsin
§939.22
Criminal gang member N/A N/A “who participates in criminal gang activity”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 11 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
VGTOF Gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “must have a common interest and/or
activity characterized by the
commission of or involvement in a
pattern of criminal activity or
delinquent conduct”
N/A
Alabama
§ 13A-6-26
Street gang Combination
Confederation
Alliance
Network
Conspiracy
Understanding or
Other similar
arrangement
3 or more
persons
N/A In law or
in fact
“that, through its membership or
through the agency of any member,
engages in a course or pattern of
criminal activity”
N/A
Alaska
§ 11.81.900
Criminal street gang Group 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “who, individually, jointly, or in
combination, have committed or
attempted to commit, within the
preceding three years, for the benefit
of, at the direction of, or in
association with the group, two or
more offenses under any of, or any
combination of... [these offenses]”
Name, identifying
sign, symbol,
tattoo, or other
physical marking,
style of dress, or
use of hand signs
Arizona
§ 13-105
Criminal street gang Association At least 1
person who is
a criminal
street gang
member
Formal or
informal
N/A “whose members or associates
individually or collectively engage in
the commission, attempted
commission, facilitation or
solicitation of any felony act”
N/A
Arkansas
§ 5-74-103
Criminal gang
Criminal organization
Criminal enterprise
Group 3 or more
individuals
N/A N/A “who commit a continuing series of
two (2) or more predicate criminal
offenses that are undertaken in
concert with each other”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 12 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
California
§ 186.22
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Colorado
§ 18-23-101
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “which has as one of its primary
objectives or activities the
commission of one or more predicate
criminal acts; and whose members
individually or collectively engage in
or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity”
N/A
Connecticut
§ 29-7n
Gang Group Juveniles or
youth
N/A N/A “who, acting in concert with each
other, or with adults, engage in
illegal activities.”
N/A
Delaware
11 Del. C. §
616
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Delaware (2)
11 Del. C. §
617
Criminal youth gang Group 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “which either promotes, sponsors,
assists in, participates in or requires
as a condition of membership
submission to group initiation that
results in any felony or any class A
misdemeanor”
Gang name or
other identifier
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 13 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Florida
§ 874.03
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “that has as one of its primary
activities the commission of criminal
or delinquent acts … and have two or
more members who, individually or
collectively, engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal
street gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying signs,
colors, or symbols
Georgia
§ 16-15-3
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
In fact “which engages in a pattern of
criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying signs,
symbols, tattoos,
graffiti, attire, or
other
distinguishing
characteristics
Idaho
§ 18-8502
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “whose members individually or
collectively engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal gang
activity, having as one (1) of its
primary activities the commission of
one (1) or more … criminal acts”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Illinois
§ 740 ILCS
147/10
Street gang
Gang
Organized gang
Criminal street gang
Combination
Confederation
Alliance
Network
Conspiracy
Understanding or
Other similar
conjoining
3 or more
persons
N/A In law or
in fact
“with an established hierarchy that,
through its membership or through
the agency of any member engages in
a course or pattern of criminal
activity”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 14 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Indiana
§ 35-45-9-1
Criminal gang Group At least 5
members
N/A N/A “that specifically either promotes,
sponsors, or assists in; or participates
in; or requires as a condition of
membership or continued
membership; the commission of a
felony or an act that would be a
felony if committed by an adult or
the offense of battery”
N/A
Iowa
§ 723A.1
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Identifiable name,
identifying sign or
symbol
Kansas
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more person felonies, person
misdemeanors, felony violations of
the uniform controlled substances
act, … or the comparable juvenile
offenses, which if committed by an
adult would constitute the
commission of such felonies or
misdemeanors; and whose members,
individually or collectively, engage
in or have engaged in the
commission, attempted commission,
conspiracy to commit or solicitation
of two or more person felonies,
person misdemeanors or felony
violations of the uniform controlled
substances act, … the comparable
juvenile offenses, which if
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 15 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Kansas
§ 21-4226
(continued)
committed by an adult would
constitute the commission of such
felonies or misdemeanors, or any
substantially similar offense from
another jurisdiction”
Kentucky
§ 506.140
Criminal gang Alliance,
Network, or
Conspiracy
5 or more
persons
In law or
in fact
“that, through its membership or
through the action of any member,
engages in a continuing pattern of
criminal activity. „Criminal gang‟
shall not include fraternal
organizations, unions, corporations,
associations, or similar entities,
unless organized for the primary
purpose of engaging in criminal
activity”
An established
hierarchy
Louisiana
§ 15:1404
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “which has as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Maryland
Criminal Law
Code § 9-801
Criminal gang Group
Association
3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “that forms to engage in criminal
activity, including acts by juveniles
that would be crimes if committed by
adults, for the purposes of pecuniary
gain or to create an atmosphere of
fear and intimidation either
collectively or with knowledge of the
acts of the members of the group”
Common
identifying sign,
symbol, or name
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 16 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Minnesota
§ 609.229
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “has as one of its primary activities
the commission of one or more …
offenses … and includes members
who individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Mississippi
§ 97-44-3
Street gang
Gang
Organized gang
Criminal street gang
Combination
Confederation
Alliance
Network
Conspiracy
Understanding or
Other similar
conjoining
3 or more
persons
N/A In law or
in fact
“with an established hierarchy that,
through its membership or through
the agency of any member engages in
felonious criminal activity”
N/A
Missouri
§ 578.421
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more criminal acts … whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Montana
§ 45-8-402
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 17 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Nevada
§ 193.168
Criminal gang Combination Persons Formal or
informal
N/A “so constructed that the organization
will continue its operation even if
individual members enter or leave
the organization, which … has
particular conduct, status and
customs indicative of it; and has as
one of its common activities
engaging in criminal activity
punishable as a felony, other than the
conduct which constitutes the
primary offense”
Common name or
identifying symbol
New Jersey
§ 2C:33-29
Criminal street gang N/A 3 or more
persons
N/A In fact “individually or in combination with
other members of a criminal street
gang, while engaging in gang-related
activity, have committed or
conspired or attempted to commit,
within the preceding five years from
the date of the present offense,
excluding any period of
imprisonment, one or more offenses
on separate occasions of robbery,
carjacking, aggravated assault,
assault, aggravated sexual assault,
sexual assault, arson, burglary,
kidnapping, extortion, tampering
with witnesses, and informants or a
violation of chapter 11, section 3, 4,
5, 6, or 7 of chapter 35 or chapter 39
of Title 2C of the New Jersey
Statutes”
Two of the
following seven
criteria that
indicate criminal
street gang
membership apply:
Self-
proclamation
Witness
testimony or
official statement
Written or
electronic
correspondence
Paraphernalia or
photographs
Tattoos
Clothing or
colors
Any other indicia
of street gang
activity
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 18 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
New York
9 NYCRR §
301.3
Gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Identifiable name,
identifying sign or
symbol
North Carolina
§ 15A-1340.16
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of felony
or violent misdemeanor offenses, or
delinquent acts that would be
felonies or violent misdemeanors if
committed by an adult”
Common name or
common
identifying sign,
colors, or symbols
North Dakota
§ 12.1-06.2-01
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “that acts in concert or agrees to act
in concert with a purpose that any of
those persons alone or in any
combination commit or will commit
two or more predicate gang crimes
one of which occurs after August 1,
1995, and the last of which occurred
within five years after the
commission of a prior predicate gang
crime”
N/A
Ohio
§ 2923.41
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “has as one of its primary activities
the commission of one or more . . .
offenses . . . the persons in the
organization, association, or group
individually or collectively engage in
or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity”
Common name or
one or more
common
identifying signs,
symbols, or colors
Oklahoma
21 Okl. St.
§ 856
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
5 or more
persons
N/A N/A “that specifically either promotes,
sponsors, or assists in, or participates
in, and requires as a condition of
membership or continued
membership, the commission of one
or more criminal acts”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 19 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
South Carolina
§ 16-8-230
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
5 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “who form for the purpose of
committing criminal activity and who
knowingly and actively participate in
a pattern of criminal gang activity”
N/A
South Dakota
§ 22-10A-1
Street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “have members or associates who,
individually or collectively, engage
in or have engaged in a pattern of
street gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying signs,
colors, or symbols
Tennessee
§ 40-35-121
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “has as one (1) of its activities the
commission of criminal acts; and two
(2) or more members who,
individually or collectively, engage
in or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity
Texas
Tex. Penal
Code
§ 71.01
Criminal street gang N/A 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “who continuously or regularly
associate in the commission of
criminal activities”
Common
identifying sign or
symbol or an
identifiable
leadership
Utah
§ 76-9-802
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
In fact “that is currently in operation; that
has one of its primary activities the
commission of one or more predicate
gang crimes; … and whose members,
acting individually or in concert with
other members, engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal gang
activity.”
Identifying name,
or identifying sign
or symbol, or both
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 20 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Virginia
§ 18.2-46.1
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “which has as one of its primary
objectives or activities the
commission of one or more criminal
activities … and whose members
individually or collectively have
engaged in the commission of,
attempt to commit, conspiracy to
commit, or solicitation of two or
more predicate criminal acts, at least
one of which is an act of violence,
provided such acts were not part of a
common act or transaction”
Identifiable name
or identifying sign
or symbol
Washington
§ 59.18.030
Gang Group 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “on an ongoing basis, regularly
conspires and acts in concert mainly
for criminal purposes”
Identifiable
leadership
Washington,
D.C.
§ 22-1731
Criminal street gang Association
Group
6 or more
persons
N/A N/A “has as a condition of membership or
continued membership the
committing of or actively
participating in committing a crime
of violence … or has as one of its
purposes or frequent activities, the
violation of the criminal laws of the
District, or the United States, except
for acts of civil disobedience”
N/A
Wisconsin
§ 939.22
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “that has as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts, or acts that
would be criminal if the actor were
an adult … and whose members
individually or collectively engage in
or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 21 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
VGTOF Criminal activity
Delinquent conduct
N/A Illegal drug distribution
Firearms or explosives violations
Murder
Extortion
Obstruction of justice, including witness tampering or intimidation
Any other violend crimes such as assaults, threats, burglaries, and
or/carjacking
“Delinquent conduct is any conduct of a juvenile which would be a
crime if committed by an adult.”
California
§ 186.22
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission of, attempted
commission of, conspiracy to commit, or
solicitation of, sustained juvenile
petition for, or conviction of two or
more … offenses, provided at least one
of these offenses occurred after the
effective date of this chapter and the last
of those offenses occurred within three
years after a prior offense, and the
offenses were committed on separate
occasions, or by two or more persons”
Assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to
produce great bodily injury
Robbery
Unlawful homicide or manslaughter
Sale, possession for sale, transportation, manufacture, offer for sale,
or offer to manufacture controlled substances
Shooting at an inhabited dwelling or occupied motor vehicle
Discharging or permitting the discharge of a firearm from a motor
vehicle
Arson
Intimidation of witnesses and victims
Grand theft
Grand theft of any firearm, vehicle, trailer, or vessel
Burglary
Rape
Looting
Money laundering
Kidnapping
Mayhem
Aggravated mayhem
Torture
Felony extortion
Felony vandalism
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 22 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
California
§ 186.22
(continued)
Carjacking
Sale, delivery, or transfer of a firearm
Possession of a pistol revolver, or other firearm
Threats to commit crimes resulting in death or great bodily injury
Theft or unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle
Colorado
§18-23-101
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission, attempt, conspiracy, or
solicitation of two or more predicate
criminal acts which are committed on
separate occasions or by two or more
persons”
“predicate criminal acts means the commission of or attempt,
conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the following: any conduct
defined as racketeering activity…; any violation of section 18-8-706
“Retaliation against a witness or victim” or any criminal act committed
in any jurisdiction of the United States, which, if committed in this state,
would violate section 18-8-706”
Delaware
11 Del. C. § 616
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission of, attempted
commission of, conspiracy to commit,
solicitation of, or conviction of 2 or
more … criminal offenses, provided that
at least one (1) of these offenses
occurred after July 1, 2003, and that the
last of those offenses occurred within 3
years after a prior offense, and provided
that the offenses were committed on
separate occasions or by 2 or more
persons”
Assault
Any criminal acts causing death
Any criminal acts relating to sexual offenses
Any criminal offenses relating to unlawful imprisonment or
kidnapping
Any criminal acts of arson
Any criminal acts relating to burglary
Any criminal acts relating to robbery
Any criminal acts relating to theft or extortion … provided that such
acts meet the requirements of felony offenses
Any criminal acts relating to riot, unlawful disruption, hate crimes,
stalking, or bombs, provided that such acts meet the requirements of
felony offenses
Any criminal acts involving deadly weapons or dangerous
instruments
Any criminal acts involving controlled substances
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 23 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Delaware (2)
11 Del. C. § 616
Illegal gang
participation
“a person who actively participates in
any criminal street gang with knowledge
that its members engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal gang
activity and who knowingly promotes,
furthers, or assists in any criminal
conduct by members of that gang which
would constitute a felony under
Delaware law shall be guilty of illegal
gang participation. Illegal gang
participation is a Class F felony”
N/A
Florida
§ 874.03
Pattern of criminal
street gang activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of, or solicitation or
conspiracy to commit, two or more
felony or three or more misdemeanor
offenses, or one felony and two
misdemeanor offenses, or the
comparable number of delinquent acts or
violations of law which would be
felonies or misdemeanors if committed
by an adult, on separate occasions
within a 3-year period”
N/A
Georgia
§ 16-15-3
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission, attempted
commission, conspiracy to commit, or
solicitation, coercion, or intimidation of
another person to commit at least two …
offenses, provided that at least one of
these offenses occurred after July 1,
1998, and the last of such offenses
occurred within three years, excluding
any periods of imprisonment, of prior
criminal gang activity
Any offense defined as racketeering activity
Any offense relating to stalking
Any offense defined as rape, aggravated sodomy, statutory rape, or
aggravated sexual battery
Any offense relating to escape and other offenses related to
confinement
Any offense relating to dangerous instrumentalities and practices
Any offense relating to the security of state or county correctional
facilities
Any offense relating to aiding or encouraging a child to escape from
custody
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 24 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Idaho
§ 18-8502
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission, attempted
commission, or solicitation of two (2) or
more … offenses, provided that the
offenses are committed on separate
occasions or by two (2) or more gang
members
Robbery
Arson
Burglary
Murder or manslaughter
Any violation … that involves possession with intent to deliver,
distribution, delivery, or manufacturing of a prohibited substance
Any unlawful use of a weapon that is a felony
Assault and battery
Criminal solicitation
Computer crime
Theft
Evidence falsified or concealed and witnesses intimidated or bribed
Forgery and counterfeiting
Gambling
Kidnapping
Mayhem
Prostitution
Rape
Racketeering
Malicious harassment
Terrorism
Money laundering and illegal investment
Illinois
§ 740 ILCS 147/10
Course or pattern of
criminal activity
“2 or more gang-related criminal
offenses committed in whole or in part
within this State when at least one such
offense was committed after the effective
date of this Act; both offenses were
committed within 5 years of each other;
and at least one offense involved the
solicitation to commit, conspiracy to
commit, attempt to commit, or
commission of any offense defined as a
“Street gang related or gang-related means any criminal activity,
enterprise, pursuit, or undertaking directed by, ordered by,
authorized by, consented to, agreed to, requested by, acquiesced in,
or ratified by any gang leader, officer, or governing or policy-
making person or authority, or by any agent, representative, or
deputy of any such officer, person, or authority:
With the intent to increase the gang‟s size, membership, prestige,
dominance, or control in any geographical area; or
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 25 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Illinois
§ 740 ILCS 147/10
(continued)
felony or forcible felony” With the intent to provide the gang with any advantage in, or any
control or dominance over any criminal market sector, including but
not limited to, the manufacture, delivery, or sale of controlled
substances or cannabis; arson or arson-for-hire; traffic in stolen
property or stolen credit cards; traffic in prostitution, obscenity, or
pornography; or that involves robbery, burglary, or theft; or
With the intent to exact revenge or retribution for the gang or any
member of the gang; or
With the intent to obstruct justice, or intimidate or eliminate any
witness against the gang or any member of the gang; or
With the intent to otherwise directly or indirectly cause any benefit,
aggrandizement, gain, profit or other advantage whatsoever to or for
the gang, its reputation, influence, or membership”
Kansas
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang
activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of, or solicitation or
conspiracy to commit, one or more
person felonies, person misdemeanors,
felony violations of the uniform
controlled substances act, or the
comparable juvenile offenses, which if
committed by an adult would constitute
the commission of such felonies or
misdemeanors on separate occasions”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 26 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Kentucky
§ 506.140
Continuing pattern of
criminal activity
“a conviction by any member or
members of a criminal gang for the
commission, attempt, or solicitation of
two (2) or more felony offenses, the
commission of two (2) or more violent
misdemeanor offenses, or a combination
of at least one (1) of these felony
offenses and one (1) of these violent
misdemeanor offenses, on separate
occasions within a two (2) year period
for the purpose of furthering gang
activity”
N/A
Louisiana
§ 15:1404
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of two or more of the
following offenses, provided at least one
of those offenses occurred after
September 7, 1990, and the last of those
offenses occurred within three years
after a prior offense, and the offenses are
committed on separate occasions by two
or more persons”
Aggravated battery or second-degree battery
Armed robbery
First- or second-degree murder or manslaughter
Sale, possession for sale, transportation, manufacture, offer for sale,
or offer to manufacture controlled substances
Illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities
Aggravated arson
Intimidating, impeding, or injuring witnesses; or injuring officers
Theft of any vehicle, trailer, or vessel
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 27 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Mississippi
§ 97-44-3
N/A N/A “Street gang related or gang-related means any criminal activity,
enterprise, pursuit, or undertaking directed by, ordered by,
authorized by, consented to, agreed to, requested by, acquiesced in,
or ratified by any gang leader, officer, or governing or policy-
making person or authority, or by any agent, representative, or
deputy of any such officer, person, or authority:
With intent to increase the gang‟s size, membership, prestige,
dominance, or control in any geographical area; or
With intent to exact revenge or retribution for the gang or any
member of the gang; or
With intent to provide the gang with any advantage in, or any
control or dominance over, any criminal market sector, including
but not limited to the unlawful manufacture, delivery, possession, or
sale of controlled substances; arson; traffic in stolen property or
stolen credit cards; traffic in prostitution, obscenity, or pornography;
or that involves robbery, armed robbery, burglary, or larceny; or
With intent to obstruct justice, or intimidate or eliminate any
witness against the gang or any member of the gang; or
With intent to otherwise directly or indirectly, cause any benefit,
aggrandizement, gain, profit, or other advantage whatsoever to or
for the gang, its reputation, influence, or membership.”
Missouri
§ 578.421
Pattern of criminal
street gang activity
“the commission, attempted
commission, or solicitation of two or
more… offenses, provided at least one
of those offenses occurred after August
28, 1993, and the last of those offenses
occurred within three years after a prior
offense, and the offenses are committed
on separate occasions, or by two or more
persons
Assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to cause
serious physical injury
Robbery, arson, and those offenses under chapter 569, RSMo,
which are related to robbery and arson
Murder or manslaughter
Any violation of the provisions of chapter 195, RSMo, which
involves the distribution, delivery, or manufacture of a substances
prohibited by chapter 195, RSMo
Unlawful use of a weapon, which is a felony
Tampering with witnesses and victims
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 28 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Montana
§ 45-8-405
Pattern of criminal
street gang activity
“the commission, solicitation,
conspiracy, attempt; adjudication as a
delinquent youth for the commission,
attempt, or solicitation; or conviction of
two or more of the offenses listed in
subsection (2) within a 3-year period,
and that the offenses were committed on
separate occasions”
Deliberate homicide
Assault with a weapon
Intimidation
Kidnapping
Aggravated kidnapping
Robbery
Sexual intercourse without consent
Aggravated promotion of prostitution
Criminal mischief
Arson
Burglary
Theft
Forgery
Tampering with witnesses and informants
Bringing armed men into the state
Unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted person
Carrying a concealed weapon
Possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner
Possession of a destructive device
Possession of explosives
Possession of a sawed-off firearm
Sale, possession for sale, transportation, manufacture, offer for sale,
offer to manufacture, or other offense involving a dangerous drug
Use of threat to coerce criminal street gang membership or use of
violence to coerce criminal street gang membership
North Dakota
§ 12.1-06.2
Predicate gang crime “the commission, attempted
commission, or solicitation of any
felony, misdemeanor crime of violence,
or misdemeanor crime of pecuniary
gain”
“crime of violence means any violation of state law where a person
purposely or knowingly causes or threatens to cause death or
physical bodily injury to another person or persons”
“crime of pecuniary gain means any violation of state law that
directly results or was intended to result in the defendant alone, or in
association with others, receiving income, benefit, property, money,
or anything of value”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 29 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Ohio
§ 2923.41
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“persons in the criminal gang have
committed, attempted to commit,
conspired to commit, been complicitors
in the commission of, or solicited,
coerced, or intimidated another to
commit, attempt to commit, conspire to
commit, or be in complicity in the
commission of two or more… offenses”
A felony or an act committed by a juvenile that would be a felony if
committed by an adult
An offense of violence or an act committed by a juvenile that would
be an offense of violence if committed by an adult
A violation of section 2907.04 (Unlawful Sexual Conduct with
Minor), 2909.06 (Sexual Imposition), 2911.211 (Aggravated
Trespass), 2917.04 (Failure to Disperse), 2919.23 (Interference with
Custody), or 2919.24 (Contributing to Unruliness or Delinquency of
a Child) of the Revised Code, section 2921.04 (Intimidation of
Attorney, Victim or Witness in Criminal Case) or 2923.16
(Improperly Handling Firearms in a Motor Vehicle) of the Revised
Code, section 2925.03 (Trafficking in Drugs) of the Revised Code if
the offense is trafficking in marijuana, or section 2927.12 (Ethnic
Intimidation) of the Revised Code
There is a “pattern of criminal gang activity” if all of the following
apply with respect to the offenses that are listed in division (B)(1)(a),
(b), or (c) of this section and that persons in the criminal gang
committed, attempted to commit, conspired to commit, were in
complicity in committing, or solicited, coerced, or intimidated another to
commit, attempt to commit, conspire to commit, or be in complicity in
committing:
At least one of the two or more offenses is a felony
At least one of those two or more offenses occurs on or after the
effective date of this section
The last of those two or more offenses occurs within five years after
at least one of those offenses
The two or more offenses are committed on separate occasions or
by two or more persons
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 30 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
South Carolina
§ 16-8-230
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of, commission as an
accessory before or after the fact to, or
solicitation or conspiracy to commit, by
a criminal gang member, while
knowingly and actively participating in
criminal gang activity, four or more …
offenses occurring within a two-year
period, provided that at least three of
these offenses occurred after
July 1, 2007”
A violent offense as defined in Section 16-1-60 committed as a part
of criminal gang activity
Financial transaction card crimes as defined in Chapter 14 of Title 16
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
First-degree lynching as defined in Section 16-3-210 committed as a
part of criminal gang activity
Second-degree lynching as defined in Section 16-3-220 committed as
a part of criminal gang activity
Breaking into a motor vehicle as defined in Section 16-13-160
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Grand larceny as defined in Section 16-13-30 committed as a part of
criminal gang activity
Blackmail as defined in Section 16-17-640 committed as a part of
criminal gang activity
Malicious injury to property as defined in Sections 16-11-510, 16-11-
520, 16-11-530, and 16-11-535 committed as a part of criminal gang
activity
Drug offense as defined in Sections 44-53-370 and 44-53-375
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Harassment, stalking, or aggravated stalking as defined in Article 17,
Chapter 3 of Title 16 committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Pointing a firearm at any person as defined in Section 16-23-410
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Discharging a firearm at or into dwellings, structures, enclosures,
vehicles, or equipment as defined in Section 16-23-440 committed as
a part of criminal gang activity
The common law offense of assault and battery of a high and
aggravated nature committed as a part of criminal gang activity
The common law offense of obstruction of justice committed as a
part of criminal gang activity.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 31 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Tennessee
§ 40-35-121
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“Prior convictions for the commission
or attempted commission of, or
solicitation or conspiracy to commit:”
Two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as
felonies; or
Three (3) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as
misdemeanors; or
One (1) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as
felonies and two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are
classified as misdemeanors; and
The criminal gang offenses are committed on separate occasions;
and
The criminal gang offenses are committed within a five-year period
“Criminal gang offense” means any violation of Tennessee law:
During the perpetration of which the defendant knowingly causes,
or threatens to cause, death or bodily injury to another person or
persons and specifically includes rape of a child, aggravated rape,
and rape; or
That results, or was intended to result, in the defendant receiving
income, benefit, property, money, or anything of value from the
illegal sale, delivery, or manufacture of a controlled substance or
firearm
As used in this subsection (a), "prior conviction" means a criminal gang
offense for which a criminal gang member was convicted prior to the
commission of the instant criminal gang offense by the defendant and
includes convictions occurring prior to July 1, 1997. "Prior conviction"
includes convictions under the laws of any other state, government, or
country which, if committed in this state, would have constituted a
criminal gang offense. In the event that a conviction from a jurisdiction
other than Tennessee is not specifically named the same as a criminal
gang offense, the elements of the offense in the other jurisdiction shall
be used by the Tennessee court to determine if the offense is a criminal
gang offense.
Convictions for multiple criminal gang offenses committed as part
of a single course of conduct within twenty-four (24) hours are not
committed on "separate occasions." However, acts which constitute
criminal gang offenses under subdivision (a)(3)(A) shall not be
construed to be a single course of conduct.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 32 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Utah
§ 78A-6-1202
Gang activity “any criminal activity that is conducted
as part of an organized youth gang. It
includes any criminal activity that is
done in concert with other gang
members, or done alone if it is to fulfill
gang purposes. Gang activity does not
include graffiti.”
Utah
§ 76-9-802
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“committing, attempting to commit,
conspiring to commit, or soliciting the
commission of two or more predicate
gang crimes within five years; the
predicate gang crimes are: committed by
two or more persons; or committed by
an individual at the direction of, or in
association with a criminal street gang;
and the criminal activity was committed
with the specific intent to promote,
further, or assist in any criminal conduct
by members of the criminal street gang.”
“Predicate gang crime” means any of the following offenses:
Any criminal violation of the Utah Controlled Substances Act
Any criminal violation of the Utah Drug Paraphernalia Act
Any criminal violation of the Imitation Controlled Substances Act
Any criminal violation of the Utah Controlled Substance Precursor
Act
Assault offenses
Criminal homicide
Kidnapping and related offenses
Felony sexual offenses
Property destruction
Burglary and criminal trespass
Robbery
Theft, except Sections 76-6-404.5, 76-6-405, 76-6-407, 76-6-408,
76-6-409, 76-6-409.1, 76-6-409.3, 76-6-409.6, 76-6-409.7, 76-6-
409.8, 76-6-409.9, 76-6-410, and 76-6-410.5
Fraud, except Sections 76-6-504, 76-6-505, 76-6-507, 76-6-508, 76-
6-509, 76-6-510, 76-6-511, 76-6-512, 76-6-513, 76-6-514, 76-6-516,
76-6-517, 76-6-518, and 76-6-520
Identity Fraud Act
Obstructing governmental operations, except Sections 76-8-302, 76-
8 303, 76-8-304, 76-8-307, 76-8-308, and 76-8-312
Tampering with a witness
Retaliation against a witness or victim
Extortion or bribery to dismiss a criminal proceeding
Explosives
Weapons
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 33 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Utah
§ 76-9-802
(continued)
Bus Passenger Safety Act
Pattern of Unlawful Activity Act
Communications fraud
Money Laundering and Currency Transaction Reporting Act
Burglary of a research facility
Motor Vehicle Act
Any state or federal criminal offense that by its nature involves a
substantial risk that physical force may be used against another in the
course of committing the offense
Any felony violation of a criminal statute of any other state, the United
States, or any district, possession, or territory of the United States which
would constitute a violation of any offense in Subsection (4)(a) if
committed in this state
Virginia
§ 18.2-46.1
N/A N/A Predicate criminal act means
An act of violence;
Any violation of Section 18.2-42 (Assault or Battery by a Mob),
18.2-46.3 (Recruitment of Persons for Criminal Street Gang;
Penalty), 18.2-51 (Shooting, Stabbing, Etc., with Intent to Maim,
Kill, Etc.), 18.2-51.1 (Malicious Bodily Injury to Law-Enforcement
Officers, Firefighters, Search and Rescue Personnel, or Emergency
Medical Service Providers; Penalty; Lesser- Included Offense),
18.2-52 (Malicious Bodily Injury by Means of any Caustic
Substance or Agent or Use of any Explosive or Fire), 18.2-53
(Shooting, Etc., in Committing or Attempting a Felony), 18.2-55
(Bodily Injuries Caused by Prisoners, State Juvenile Probationers
and State and Local Adult Probationers or Adult Parolees), 18.2-
56.1 (Reckless Handling of Firearms; Reckless Handling While
Hunting), 18.2-57 (Assault and Battery), 18.2-57.2 (Assault and
Battery Against a Family or Household Member; Penalty), 18.2-59
(Extorting Money, Etc., by Threats), 18.2-83 (Threats to Bomb or
Damage Buildings or Means of Transportation; False Information as
to Danger to Such Buildings, etc.; Punishment; Venue), 18.2-121
(Entering Property of Another for Purpose of Damaging it, Etc),
18.2-127 (Injuries to Churches, Church Property, Cemeteries, Burial
Grounds, Etc.; Penalty), 18.2-128 (Trespass
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 34 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Virginia
§ 18.2-46.1
(continued)
N/A N/A upon Church or School Property), 18.2-137 (Injuring, Etc., Any
Property, Monument, Etc), 18.2-138 (Damaging Public Buildings,
Etc.; Penalty), 18.2-146 (Breaking, Injuring, Defacing, Destroying
or Preventing the Operation of Vehicle, Aircraft or Boat), 18.2-147
(Entering or Setting in Motion, Vehicle, Aircraft, Boat, Locomotive
or Rolling Stock of Railroad; Exceptions), subsection H, H 1 or H 2
of § 18.2-248 (Manufacturing, Selling, Giving, Distributing, or
Possessing with Intent to Manufacture, Sell, Give, or Distribute a
Controlled Substance or an Imitation Controlled Substance
Prohibited; Penalties), § 18.2-248.01 (Transporting Controlled
Substances Into the Commonwealth; Penalty), 18.2-255
(Distribution of Certain Drugs to Persons Under 18 Prohibited;
Penalty), 18.2-255.2 (Prohibiting the Sale or Manufacture of Drugs
on or Near Certain Properties; Penalty), 18.2-282.1 (Brandishing a
Machete or Other Bladed Weapon with Intent to Intimidate;
Penalty), 18.2-286.1 (Shooting from Vehicles so as to Endanger
Persons; Penalty), 18.2-287.4 (Carrying Loaded Firearms in Public
Areas Prohibited; Penalty), 18.2-308.1 (Possession of Firearm, Stun
Weapon, or Other Weapon on School Property Prohibited), or 18.2-
356 (Receiving Money for Procuring Person);
A second or subsequent felony violation of subsection C of § 18.2-
248 (Manufacturing, Selling, Giving, Distributing, or Possessing
with Intent to Manufacture, Sell, Give, or Distribute a Controlled
Substance or an Imitation Controlled Substance Prohibited;
Penalties) or of § 18.2-248.1 (Penalties for Sale, Gift, Distribution
or Possession
with Intent to Sell, Give or Distribute Marijuana);
Any violation of a local ordinance adopted pursuant to § 15.2-
1812.2 (Willful and Malicious Damage to or Defacement of Public
or Private Facilities; Penalty); or
Any substantially similar offense under the laws of another state or
territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the United
States.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 35 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Wisconsin
§ 939.22
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission of, attempt to commit
or solicitation to commit 2 or more of
the following crimes, or acts that would
be crimes if the actor were an adult, at
least one of those acts or crimes occurs
after December 25, 1993, the last of
those acts or crimes occurred within 3
years after a prior act or crime, and the
acts or crimes are committed, attempted
or solicited on separate occasions or by
2 or more persons”
Manufacture, distribution, or delivery of a controlled substance or
controlled substance analog
First-degree intentional homicide
Second-degree intentional homicide
Battery
Battery, special circumstances
Battery or threat to witness
Mayhem
Sexual assault
False imprisonment
Taking hostages
Kidnapping
Intimidation of witnesses
Intimidation of victims
Criminal damage to property
Criminal damage to or threat to criminally damage the property of a
witness
Arson of buildings or damage by explosives
Burglary
Theft
Taking, driving, or operating a vehicle, or removing a part or
component of a vehicle, without the owner‟s consent
Robbery
Sexual assault of a child
Repeated acts of sexual assault of the same child
Sexual assault of a child placed in substitute care
August 2008
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions of the Terms
“Gang,” “Gang Crime,” and “Gang Member”
Federal Law
Current Legislation
Currently, federal law defines the term “gang” as “an ongoing group, club, organization, or
association of five or more persons: (A) that has as one of its primary purposes the commission
of one or more of the criminal offenses described in subsection (c); (B) the members of which
engage, or have engaged within the past five years, in a continuing series of offenses described in
subsection (c); and (C) the activities of which affect interstate or foreign commerce.” 18 USC §
521(a).
Current federal law describes the term “gang crime” as:
(1) “A federal felony involving a controlled substance (as defined in Section
102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 USC § 802)) for which the
maximum penalty is not less than five years.
(2) A federal felony crime of violence that has as an element the use or
attempted use of physical force against the person of another.
(3) A conspiracy to commit an offense described in paragraph (1) or (2).”
18 USC § 521(c).
Also, current federal law describes the term “gang member” as “a person who:
(1) Participates in a criminal street gang with knowledge that its members
engage in or have engaged in a continuing series of offenses described in
subsection (c).
(2) Intends to promote or further the felonious activities of the criminal street
gang or maintain or increase his or her position in the gang.
(3) Has been convicted within the past five years for:
(A) An offense described in subsection (c).
(B) A state offense:
(i) Involving a controlled substance (as defined
in Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act
(21 USC § 802)) for which the maximum penalty is
not less than five years‟ imprisonment.
(ii) That is a felony crime of violence that has as an
element the use or attempted use of physical force
against the person of another.
(C) Any federal or state felony offense that by its nature involves a
substantial risk that physical force against the person of another
may be used in the course of committing the offense.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Page 2 of 35 August 2008
(D) A conspiracy to commit an offense described in subparagraph
(A), (B), or (C).” 18 USC § 521(d).
Proposed Legislation
The proposed Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007 would define a “criminal street
gang” as “a formal or informal group or association of five or more individuals, who commit
three or more gang crimes (not less than one of which is a serious violent felony), in three or
more separate criminal episodes (not less than one of which occurs after the date of enactment of
the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007, and the last of which occurs not later than five
years after the commission of a prior gang crime (excluding any time of imprisonment for that
individual)).”
The Act would also define a “gang crime” as “a felony offense under federal or state law
punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, in any of the following categories:
(1) A crime that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of
physical force against the person of another, or is burglary, arson, or
extortion.
(2) A crime involving obstruction of justice, or tampering with or retaliating
against a witness, victim, or informant.
(3) A crime involving the manufacturing, importing, distributing, possessing
with intent to distribute, or otherwise trafficking in a controlled substance or
listed chemical (as those terms are defined in Section 102 of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 USC § 802)).
(4) Any conduct punishable under:
(A) Section 844 (relating to explosive materials).
(B) Subsection (a)(1), (d), (g)(1) (where the underlying conviction is
a violent felony or a serious drug offense (as those terms are
defined in Section 924(e)), (g)(2), (g)(3), (g)(4), (g)(5), (g)(8),
(g)(9), (i), (j), (k), (n), (o), (p), (q), (u), or (x) of Section 922
(relating to unlawful acts).
(C) Subsection (b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l), (m), or (n) of Section 924
(relating to penalties).
(D) Section 930 (relating to possession of firearms and dangerous
weapons in federal facilities).
(E) Section 931 (relating to purchase, ownership, or possession of
body armor by violent felons).
(F) Sections 1028 and 1029 (relating to fraud and related activity in
connection with identification documents or access devices).
(G) Section 1084 (relating to transmission of wagering information).
(H) Section 1952 (relating to interstate and foreign travel or
transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises).
(I) Section 1956 (relating to the laundering of monetary instruments).
(J) Section 1957 (relating to engaging in monetary transactions in
property derived from specified unlawful activity).
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Page 3 of 35 August 2008
(K) Sections 2312 through 2315 (relating to interstate transportation
of stolen motor vehicles or stolen property).
(5) Any conduct punishable under Section 274 (relating to bringing in and
harboring certain aliens), Section 277 (relating to aiding or assisting certain
aliens to enter the United States), or Section 278 (relating to importation of
aliens for immoral purposes) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 USC 1324, 1327, and 1328).
(6) Any crime involving aggravated sexual abuse, pimping or promoting
prostitution, obscenity (including Sections 1461 through 1465), sexual
exploitation of children (including Sections 2251, 2251A, 2252, and 2260),
peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons (including Sections 1581 through
1592) and Sections 2421 through 2427 (relating to transport for illegal
sexual activity).”
State Law
A review of current state laws for various states‟ definitions of the words “gang,” “gang
member,” and “gang crime” reveals the following information:
“Gang” Definitions
Thirty-seven states and Washington, DC, have legislation that defines “gang.”
Twenty-nine states and Washington, DC, define a gang as consisting of three
or more persons.
Twenty-two states include a common name, identifying sign, or symbol as
identifiers of gangs in their definitions.
Twenty-three states refer to a gang as an “organization, association, or group.”
Twenty-one states and Washington, DC, use the term “criminal street gang” to
describe a gang.
Every definition includes criminal/illegal activity or behavior.
“Gang Crime” Definitions
Twenty states define “gang crime/activity.”
Twelve states refer to it as a “pattern of criminal gang activity.”
Sixteen states enumerate the exact crimes that are to be considered criminal
gang activity.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Page 4 of 35 August 2008
“Gang Member” Definitions
Eleven states have legislation that defines a “gang member.”
Six states have a list of criteria, some of which a person must meet to be
considered a gang member.
Of those, five states require that a person must meet at least two criteria to be
considered a gang member.
Kansas requires an admission of gang membership OR three or more of its
criteria.
Violent Gang and Terrorist Organizations File
The definitions of “gang,” “gang crime,” and “gang member” of the Violent Gang and Terrorist
Organizations File (VGTOF), contained within the FBI‟s National Crime Information Center
(NCIC) share some similarities with those definitions used by the states:
“Gang” Definitions
The VGTOF defines a gang as consisting of three or more persons.
The VGTOF refers to a gang as an “organization, association, or group.”
The VGTOF definition includes criminal/illegal activity or behavior.
“Gang Crime” Definitions
The VGTOF definition enumerates the exact crimes that are to be considered criminal
activity.
“Gang Member” Definitions
The VGTOF definition has a list of criteria, some of which a person must meet to be
considered a gang member.
The VGTOF definition requires an admission of gang membership OR two of its criteria.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 5 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
VGTOF Gang member Admission or
any 2
Has been identified as a gang member by an
individual of proven reliability
Has been identified as a gang member by an
individual of unknown reliability, and that
information has been corroborated in
significant respects
Has been observed by law enforcement
members to frequent a known gang‟s area,
associate with known gang members, and/or
affect that gang‟s style of dress, tattoos, hand
signals, or symbols
Has been arrested on more than one occasion
with known gang members consistent with
gang activity
Has admitted membership in a gang at any
time other than at the time of current
arrest/incarceration
“must be a member of a group, or sub-group thereof,
which meets the criteria for a gang.”
Arizona
§13-105
Criminal street gang member 2 of 7 Self-proclamation
Witness testimony or official statement
Written or electronic correspondence
Paraphernalia or photographs
Tattoos
Clothing or colors
Any other indicia of street gang membership
N/A
Florida
§874.03
Criminal street gang member 2 or more Admits to criminal street gang membership
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a documented reliable informant
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
street gang‟s area and adopts its style of dress,
use of hand signs, or tattoos and associates
with known criminal street gang members
“who is a member of a criminal street gang”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 6 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Florida
§874.03
(continued)
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by an informant of previously untested
reliability, and such identification is
corroborated by independent information
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal street gang
members for offenses that are consistent with
usual criminal street gang activity
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by physical evidence such as photographs or
other documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
criminal street gang members four or more
times
Florida (2)
§874.03
Criminal street gang
associate
N/A N/A “who admits to criminal street gang association; or
meets any single defining criterion for criminal street
gang membership”
Idaho
§18-8502
Criminal gang member 2 or more Admits to gang membership
Is identified as a gang member
Resides in or frequents a particular gang‟s area
and adopts its style of dress, use of hand signs,
or tattoos and associates with known gang
members
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified gang members for
offenses that are consistent with usual gang
activity
Is identified as a gang member by physical
evidence such as photographs or other
documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
gang members four or more times
“who engages in a pattern of criminal gang activity”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 7 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Illinois
§740 ILCS
147-10
Street gang member
Gang member
N/A N/A “who actually and in fact belongs to a gang, and any
person who knowingly acts in the capacity of an agent
for or accessory to, or is legally accountable for, or
voluntarily associates himself with a course or pattern
of gang-related criminal activity, whether in a
preparatory, executory, or cover-up phase of any
activity, or who knowingly performs, aids, or abets any
such activity”
Kansas
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang member Admission or
3 or more
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a state, county, or city law enforcement
officer or correctional officer or documented
reliable informant
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by an informant of previously untested
reliability, and such identification is
corroborated by independent information
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
street gang's area and adopts such gang's style
of dress, color, or use of hand signs or tattoos
and associates with known criminal street gang
members
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal street gang
members for offenses that are consistent with
usual criminal street gang activity
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by physical evidence including, but not limited
to, photographs or other documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
criminal street gang members two or more
times
Has participated in or undergone activities
self-identified or identified by a reliable
informant as a criminal street gang initiation
ritual
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 8 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Kansas (2)
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang
associate
Admission or
2 or more
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by a state, county, or city law enforcement
officer or correctional officer or documented
reliable informant
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by an informant of previously untested
reliability, and such identification is
corroborated by independent information
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
street gang's area and adopts such gang's style
of dress, color, or use of hand signs or tattoos
and associates with known criminal street gang
members
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal street gang
members for offenses that are consistent with
usual criminal street gang activity
Is identified as a criminal street gang member
by physical evidence including, but not limited
to, photographs or other documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
criminal street gang members two or more
times
Has participated in or undergone activities
self-identified or identified by a reliable
informant as a criminal street gang initiation
ritual
N/A
Mississippi
§97-44-3
Street gang member
Gang member
N/A N/A “who actually and in fact belongs to a gang, and any
person who knowingly acts in the capacity of an
agent for or accessory to, or is legally accountable
for, or voluntarily associates himself with a gang-
related criminal activity, whether in a preparatory,
executory, or cover-up phase of any activity, or who
knowingly performs, aids, or abets any such activity”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 9 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
New York
9 NYCRR
§301.3
Gang member N/A N/A “who is part of, associated with, or otherwise
affiliated with a gang”
South
Carolina
§16-8-230
Criminal gang member N/A N/A “who is an active member of a criminal gang”
South Dakota
§22-10A-1
Street gang member 2 or more Admits to gang membership
Is identified as a gang member by a
documented reliable informant
Resides in or frequents a particular gang‟s area
and adopts its style of dress, use of hand signs,
or tattoos and associates with known gang
members
Is identified as a gang member by an informant of
previously untested reliability if such identification
is corroborated by independent information
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified gang members for
offenses that are consistent with usual gang
activity
Is identified as a gang member by physical
evidence, such as photographs or other
documentation
Has been stopped in the company of known
gang members four or more times
“who engages in a pattern of street gang activity”
Tennessee
§40-35-121
Criminal gang member 2 or more Admits to criminal gang involvement
Is identified as a criminal gang member by a
parent or guardian
Is identified as a criminal gang member by a
documented reliable informant
Resides in or frequents a particular criminal
gang‟s area, adopts its style of dress, use of
hand signs, or tattoos, and associates with
known gang members
Is identified as a criminal gang member by an
informant of previously untested reliability,
and such identification is corroborated by
independent information
“who is a member of a criminal gang”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Member” by State
Page 10 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Number Criteria Belongs to or Engages in
Tennessee
§40-35-121
(continued)
Has been arrested more than once in the
company of identified criminal gang members
for offenses that are consistent with usual
criminal gang activity
Is identified as a criminal gang member by
physical evidence such as photographs or other
documentation
Wisconsin
§939.22
Criminal gang member N/A N/A “who participates in criminal gang activity”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 11 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
VGTOF Gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “must have a common interest and/or
activity characterized by the
commission of or involvement in a
pattern of criminal activity or
delinquent conduct”
N/A
Alabama
§ 13A-6-26
Street gang Combination
Confederation
Alliance
Network
Conspiracy
Understanding or
Other similar
arrangement
3 or more
persons
N/A In law or
in fact
“that, through its membership or
through the agency of any member,
engages in a course or pattern of
criminal activity”
N/A
Alaska
§ 11.81.900
Criminal street gang Group 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “who, individually, jointly, or in
combination, have committed or
attempted to commit, within the
preceding three years, for the benefit
of, at the direction of, or in
association with the group, two or
more offenses under any of, or any
combination of... [these offenses]”
Name, identifying
sign, symbol,
tattoo, or other
physical marking,
style of dress, or
use of hand signs
Arizona
§ 13-105
Criminal street gang Association At least 1
person who is
a criminal
street gang
member
Formal or
informal
N/A “whose members or associates
individually or collectively engage in
the commission, attempted
commission, facilitation or
solicitation of any felony act”
N/A
Arkansas
§ 5-74-103
Criminal gang
Criminal organization
Criminal enterprise
Group 3 or more
individuals
N/A N/A “who commit a continuing series of
two (2) or more predicate criminal
offenses that are undertaken in
concert with each other”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 12 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
California
§ 186.22
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Colorado
§ 18-23-101
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “which has as one of its primary
objectives or activities the
commission of one or more predicate
criminal acts; and whose members
individually or collectively engage in
or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity”
N/A
Connecticut
§ 29-7n
Gang Group Juveniles or
youth
N/A N/A “who, acting in concert with each
other, or with adults, engage in
illegal activities.”
N/A
Delaware
11 Del. C. §
616
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Delaware (2)
11 Del. C. §
617
Criminal youth gang Group 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “which either promotes, sponsors,
assists in, participates in or requires
as a condition of membership
submission to group initiation that
results in any felony or any class A
misdemeanor”
Gang name or
other identifier
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 13 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Florida
§ 874.03
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “that has as one of its primary
activities the commission of criminal
or delinquent acts … and have two or
more members who, individually or
collectively, engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal
street gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying signs,
colors, or symbols
Georgia
§ 16-15-3
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
In fact “which engages in a pattern of
criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying signs,
symbols, tattoos,
graffiti, attire, or
other
distinguishing
characteristics
Idaho
§ 18-8502
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “whose members individually or
collectively engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal gang
activity, having as one (1) of its
primary activities the commission of
one (1) or more … criminal acts”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Illinois
§ 740 ILCS
147/10
Street gang
Gang
Organized gang
Criminal street gang
Combination
Confederation
Alliance
Network
Conspiracy
Understanding or
Other similar
conjoining
3 or more
persons
N/A In law or
in fact
“with an established hierarchy that,
through its membership or through
the agency of any member engages in
a course or pattern of criminal
activity”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 14 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Indiana
§ 35-45-9-1
Criminal gang Group At least 5
members
N/A N/A “that specifically either promotes,
sponsors, or assists in; or participates
in; or requires as a condition of
membership or continued
membership; the commission of a
felony or an act that would be a
felony if committed by an adult or
the offense of battery”
N/A
Iowa
§ 723A.1
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Identifiable name,
identifying sign or
symbol
Kansas
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more person felonies, person
misdemeanors, felony violations of
the uniform controlled substances
act, … or the comparable juvenile
offenses, which if committed by an
adult would constitute the
commission of such felonies or
misdemeanors; and whose members,
individually or collectively, engage
in or have engaged in the
commission, attempted commission,
conspiracy to commit or solicitation
of two or more person felonies,
person misdemeanors or felony
violations of the uniform controlled
substances act, … the comparable
juvenile offenses, which if
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 15 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Kansas
§ 21-4226
(continued)
committed by an adult would
constitute the commission of such
felonies or misdemeanors, or any
substantially similar offense from
another jurisdiction”
Kentucky
§ 506.140
Criminal gang Alliance,
Network, or
Conspiracy
5 or more
persons
In law or
in fact
“that, through its membership or
through the action of any member,
engages in a continuing pattern of
criminal activity. „Criminal gang‟
shall not include fraternal
organizations, unions, corporations,
associations, or similar entities,
unless organized for the primary
purpose of engaging in criminal
activity”
An established
hierarchy
Louisiana
§ 15:1404
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “which has as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Maryland
Criminal Law
Code § 9-801
Criminal gang Group
Association
3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “that forms to engage in criminal
activity, including acts by juveniles
that would be crimes if committed by
adults, for the purposes of pecuniary
gain or to create an atmosphere of
fear and intimidation either
collectively or with knowledge of the
acts of the members of the group”
Common
identifying sign,
symbol, or name
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 16 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Minnesota
§ 609.229
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “has as one of its primary activities
the commission of one or more …
offenses … and includes members
who individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Mississippi
§ 97-44-3
Street gang
Gang
Organized gang
Criminal street gang
Combination
Confederation
Alliance
Network
Conspiracy
Understanding or
Other similar
conjoining
3 or more
persons
N/A In law or
in fact
“with an established hierarchy that,
through its membership or through
the agency of any member engages in
felonious criminal activity”
N/A
Missouri
§ 578.421
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more criminal acts … whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Montana
§ 45-8-402
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts … whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 17 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Nevada
§ 193.168
Criminal gang Combination Persons Formal or
informal
N/A “so constructed that the organization
will continue its operation even if
individual members enter or leave
the organization, which … has
particular conduct, status and
customs indicative of it; and has as
one of its common activities
engaging in criminal activity
punishable as a felony, other than the
conduct which constitutes the
primary offense”
Common name or
identifying symbol
New Jersey
§ 2C:33-29
Criminal street gang N/A 3 or more
persons
N/A In fact “individually or in combination with
other members of a criminal street
gang, while engaging in gang-related
activity, have committed or
conspired or attempted to commit,
within the preceding five years from
the date of the present offense,
excluding any period of
imprisonment, one or more offenses
on separate occasions of robbery,
carjacking, aggravated assault,
assault, aggravated sexual assault,
sexual assault, arson, burglary,
kidnapping, extortion, tampering
with witnesses, and informants or a
violation of chapter 11, section 3, 4,
5, 6, or 7 of chapter 35 or chapter 39
of Title 2C of the New Jersey
Statutes”
Two of the
following seven
criteria that
indicate criminal
street gang
membership apply:
Self-
proclamation
Witness
testimony or
official statement
Written or
electronic
correspondence
Paraphernalia or
photographs
Tattoos
Clothing or
colors
Any other indicia
of street gang
activity
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 18 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
New York
9 NYCRR §
301.3
Gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more criminal acts … and whose
members individually or collectively
engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity”
Identifiable name,
identifying sign or
symbol
North Carolina
§ 15A-1340.16
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “having as one of its primary
activities the commission of felony
or violent misdemeanor offenses, or
delinquent acts that would be
felonies or violent misdemeanors if
committed by an adult”
Common name or
common
identifying sign,
colors, or symbols
North Dakota
§ 12.1-06.2-01
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “that acts in concert or agrees to act
in concert with a purpose that any of
those persons alone or in any
combination commit or will commit
two or more predicate gang crimes
one of which occurs after August 1,
1995, and the last of which occurred
within five years after the
commission of a prior predicate gang
crime”
N/A
Ohio
§ 2923.41
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “has as one of its primary activities
the commission of one or more . . .
offenses . . . the persons in the
organization, association, or group
individually or collectively engage in
or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity”
Common name or
one or more
common
identifying signs,
symbols, or colors
Oklahoma
21 Okl. St.
§ 856
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
5 or more
persons
N/A N/A “that specifically either promotes,
sponsors, or assists in, or participates
in, and requires as a condition of
membership or continued
membership, the commission of one
or more criminal acts”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 19 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
South Carolina
§ 16-8-230
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
5 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “who form for the purpose of
committing criminal activity and who
knowingly and actively participate in
a pattern of criminal gang activity”
N/A
South Dakota
§ 22-10A-1
Street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “have members or associates who,
individually or collectively, engage
in or have engaged in a pattern of
street gang activity”
Common name,
common
identifying signs,
colors, or symbols
Tennessee
§ 40-35-121
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “has as one (1) of its activities the
commission of criminal acts; and two
(2) or more members who,
individually or collectively, engage
in or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity
Texas
Tex. Penal
Code
§ 71.01
Criminal street gang N/A 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “who continuously or regularly
associate in the commission of
criminal activities”
Common
identifying sign or
symbol or an
identifiable
leadership
Utah
§ 76-9-802
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
In fact “that is currently in operation; that
has one of its primary activities the
commission of one or more predicate
gang crimes; … and whose members,
acting individually or in concert with
other members, engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal gang
activity.”
Identifying name,
or identifying sign
or symbol, or both
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang” by State
Page 20 of 35 August 2008
State Term(s) Grouping Number Formality Fact or
Law Purpose or Activity Identifiers
Virginia
§ 18.2-46.1
Criminal street gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “which has as one of its primary
objectives or activities the
commission of one or more criminal
activities … and whose members
individually or collectively have
engaged in the commission of,
attempt to commit, conspiracy to
commit, or solicitation of two or
more predicate criminal acts, at least
one of which is an act of violence,
provided such acts were not part of a
common act or transaction”
Identifiable name
or identifying sign
or symbol
Washington
§ 59.18.030
Gang Group 3 or more
persons
N/A N/A “on an ongoing basis, regularly
conspires and acts in concert mainly
for criminal purposes”
Identifiable
leadership
Washington,
D.C.
§ 22-1731
Criminal street gang Association
Group
6 or more
persons
N/A N/A “has as a condition of membership or
continued membership the
committing of or actively
participating in committing a crime
of violence … or has as one of its
purposes or frequent activities, the
violation of the criminal laws of the
District, or the United States, except
for acts of civil disobedience”
N/A
Wisconsin
§ 939.22
Criminal gang Organization,
Association, or
Group
3 or more
persons
Formal or
informal
N/A “that has as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or
more … criminal acts, or acts that
would be criminal if the actor were
an adult … and whose members
individually or collectively engage in
or have engaged in a pattern of
criminal gang activity
Common name,
common
identifying sign or
symbol
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 21 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
VGTOF Criminal activity
Delinquent conduct
N/A Illegal drug distribution
Firearms or explosives violations
Murder
Extortion
Obstruction of justice, including witness tampering or intimidation
Any other violend crimes such as assaults, threats, burglaries, and
or/carjacking
“Delinquent conduct is any conduct of a juvenile which would be a
crime if committed by an adult.”
California
§ 186.22
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission of, attempted
commission of, conspiracy to commit, or
solicitation of, sustained juvenile
petition for, or conviction of two or
more … offenses, provided at least one
of these offenses occurred after the
effective date of this chapter and the last
of those offenses occurred within three
years after a prior offense, and the
offenses were committed on separate
occasions, or by two or more persons”
Assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to
produce great bodily injury
Robbery
Unlawful homicide or manslaughter
Sale, possession for sale, transportation, manufacture, offer for sale,
or offer to manufacture controlled substances
Shooting at an inhabited dwelling or occupied motor vehicle
Discharging or permitting the discharge of a firearm from a motor
vehicle
Arson
Intimidation of witnesses and victims
Grand theft
Grand theft of any firearm, vehicle, trailer, or vessel
Burglary
Rape
Looting
Money laundering
Kidnapping
Mayhem
Aggravated mayhem
Torture
Felony extortion
Felony vandalism
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 22 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
California
§ 186.22
(continued)
Carjacking
Sale, delivery, or transfer of a firearm
Possession of a pistol revolver, or other firearm
Threats to commit crimes resulting in death or great bodily injury
Theft or unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle
Colorado
§18-23-101
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission, attempt, conspiracy, or
solicitation of two or more predicate
criminal acts which are committed on
separate occasions or by two or more
persons”
“predicate criminal acts means the commission of or attempt,
conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the following: any conduct
defined as racketeering activity…; any violation of section 18-8-706
“Retaliation against a witness or victim” or any criminal act committed
in any jurisdiction of the United States, which, if committed in this state,
would violate section 18-8-706”
Delaware
11 Del. C. § 616
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission of, attempted
commission of, conspiracy to commit,
solicitation of, or conviction of 2 or
more … criminal offenses, provided that
at least one (1) of these offenses
occurred after July 1, 2003, and that the
last of those offenses occurred within 3
years after a prior offense, and provided
that the offenses were committed on
separate occasions or by 2 or more
persons”
Assault
Any criminal acts causing death
Any criminal acts relating to sexual offenses
Any criminal offenses relating to unlawful imprisonment or
kidnapping
Any criminal acts of arson
Any criminal acts relating to burglary
Any criminal acts relating to robbery
Any criminal acts relating to theft or extortion … provided that such
acts meet the requirements of felony offenses
Any criminal acts relating to riot, unlawful disruption, hate crimes,
stalking, or bombs, provided that such acts meet the requirements of
felony offenses
Any criminal acts involving deadly weapons or dangerous
instruments
Any criminal acts involving controlled substances
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 23 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Delaware (2)
11 Del. C. § 616
Illegal gang
participation
“a person who actively participates in
any criminal street gang with knowledge
that its members engage in or have
engaged in a pattern of criminal gang
activity and who knowingly promotes,
furthers, or assists in any criminal
conduct by members of that gang which
would constitute a felony under
Delaware law shall be guilty of illegal
gang participation. Illegal gang
participation is a Class F felony”
N/A
Florida
§ 874.03
Pattern of criminal
street gang activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of, or solicitation or
conspiracy to commit, two or more
felony or three or more misdemeanor
offenses, or one felony and two
misdemeanor offenses, or the
comparable number of delinquent acts or
violations of law which would be
felonies or misdemeanors if committed
by an adult, on separate occasions
within a 3-year period”
N/A
Georgia
§ 16-15-3
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission, attempted
commission, conspiracy to commit, or
solicitation, coercion, or intimidation of
another person to commit at least two …
offenses, provided that at least one of
these offenses occurred after July 1,
1998, and the last of such offenses
occurred within three years, excluding
any periods of imprisonment, of prior
criminal gang activity
Any offense defined as racketeering activity
Any offense relating to stalking
Any offense defined as rape, aggravated sodomy, statutory rape, or
aggravated sexual battery
Any offense relating to escape and other offenses related to
confinement
Any offense relating to dangerous instrumentalities and practices
Any offense relating to the security of state or county correctional
facilities
Any offense relating to aiding or encouraging a child to escape from
custody
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 24 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Idaho
§ 18-8502
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission, attempted
commission, or solicitation of two (2) or
more … offenses, provided that the
offenses are committed on separate
occasions or by two (2) or more gang
members
Robbery
Arson
Burglary
Murder or manslaughter
Any violation … that involves possession with intent to deliver,
distribution, delivery, or manufacturing of a prohibited substance
Any unlawful use of a weapon that is a felony
Assault and battery
Criminal solicitation
Computer crime
Theft
Evidence falsified or concealed and witnesses intimidated or bribed
Forgery and counterfeiting
Gambling
Kidnapping
Mayhem
Prostitution
Rape
Racketeering
Malicious harassment
Terrorism
Money laundering and illegal investment
Illinois
§ 740 ILCS 147/10
Course or pattern of
criminal activity
“2 or more gang-related criminal
offenses committed in whole or in part
within this State when at least one such
offense was committed after the effective
date of this Act; both offenses were
committed within 5 years of each other;
and at least one offense involved the
solicitation to commit, conspiracy to
commit, attempt to commit, or
commission of any offense defined as a
“Street gang related or gang-related means any criminal activity,
enterprise, pursuit, or undertaking directed by, ordered by,
authorized by, consented to, agreed to, requested by, acquiesced in,
or ratified by any gang leader, officer, or governing or policy-
making person or authority, or by any agent, representative, or
deputy of any such officer, person, or authority:
With the intent to increase the gang‟s size, membership, prestige,
dominance, or control in any geographical area; or
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 25 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Illinois
§ 740 ILCS 147/10
(continued)
felony or forcible felony” With the intent to provide the gang with any advantage in, or any
control or dominance over any criminal market sector, including but
not limited to, the manufacture, delivery, or sale of controlled
substances or cannabis; arson or arson-for-hire; traffic in stolen
property or stolen credit cards; traffic in prostitution, obscenity, or
pornography; or that involves robbery, burglary, or theft; or
With the intent to exact revenge or retribution for the gang or any
member of the gang; or
With the intent to obstruct justice, or intimidate or eliminate any
witness against the gang or any member of the gang; or
With the intent to otherwise directly or indirectly cause any benefit,
aggrandizement, gain, profit or other advantage whatsoever to or for
the gang, its reputation, influence, or membership”
Kansas
§ 21-4226
Criminal street gang
activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of, or solicitation or
conspiracy to commit, one or more
person felonies, person misdemeanors,
felony violations of the uniform
controlled substances act, or the
comparable juvenile offenses, which if
committed by an adult would constitute
the commission of such felonies or
misdemeanors on separate occasions”
N/A
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 26 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Kentucky
§ 506.140
Continuing pattern of
criminal activity
“a conviction by any member or
members of a criminal gang for the
commission, attempt, or solicitation of
two (2) or more felony offenses, the
commission of two (2) or more violent
misdemeanor offenses, or a combination
of at least one (1) of these felony
offenses and one (1) of these violent
misdemeanor offenses, on separate
occasions within a two (2) year period
for the purpose of furthering gang
activity”
N/A
Louisiana
§ 15:1404
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of two or more of the
following offenses, provided at least one
of those offenses occurred after
September 7, 1990, and the last of those
offenses occurred within three years
after a prior offense, and the offenses are
committed on separate occasions by two
or more persons”
Aggravated battery or second-degree battery
Armed robbery
First- or second-degree murder or manslaughter
Sale, possession for sale, transportation, manufacture, offer for sale,
or offer to manufacture controlled substances
Illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities
Aggravated arson
Intimidating, impeding, or injuring witnesses; or injuring officers
Theft of any vehicle, trailer, or vessel
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 27 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Mississippi
§ 97-44-3
N/A N/A “Street gang related or gang-related means any criminal activity,
enterprise, pursuit, or undertaking directed by, ordered by,
authorized by, consented to, agreed to, requested by, acquiesced in,
or ratified by any gang leader, officer, or governing or policy-
making person or authority, or by any agent, representative, or
deputy of any such officer, person, or authority:
With intent to increase the gang‟s size, membership, prestige,
dominance, or control in any geographical area; or
With intent to exact revenge or retribution for the gang or any
member of the gang; or
With intent to provide the gang with any advantage in, or any
control or dominance over, any criminal market sector, including
but not limited to the unlawful manufacture, delivery, possession, or
sale of controlled substances; arson; traffic in stolen property or
stolen credit cards; traffic in prostitution, obscenity, or pornography;
or that involves robbery, armed robbery, burglary, or larceny; or
With intent to obstruct justice, or intimidate or eliminate any
witness against the gang or any member of the gang; or
With intent to otherwise directly or indirectly, cause any benefit,
aggrandizement, gain, profit, or other advantage whatsoever to or
for the gang, its reputation, influence, or membership.”
Missouri
§ 578.421
Pattern of criminal
street gang activity
“the commission, attempted
commission, or solicitation of two or
more… offenses, provided at least one
of those offenses occurred after August
28, 1993, and the last of those offenses
occurred within three years after a prior
offense, and the offenses are committed
on separate occasions, or by two or more
persons
Assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to cause
serious physical injury
Robbery, arson, and those offenses under chapter 569, RSMo,
which are related to robbery and arson
Murder or manslaughter
Any violation of the provisions of chapter 195, RSMo, which
involves the distribution, delivery, or manufacture of a substances
prohibited by chapter 195, RSMo
Unlawful use of a weapon, which is a felony
Tampering with witnesses and victims
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 28 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Montana
§ 45-8-405
Pattern of criminal
street gang activity
“the commission, solicitation,
conspiracy, attempt; adjudication as a
delinquent youth for the commission,
attempt, or solicitation; or conviction of
two or more of the offenses listed in
subsection (2) within a 3-year period,
and that the offenses were committed on
separate occasions”
Deliberate homicide
Assault with a weapon
Intimidation
Kidnapping
Aggravated kidnapping
Robbery
Sexual intercourse without consent
Aggravated promotion of prostitution
Criminal mischief
Arson
Burglary
Theft
Forgery
Tampering with witnesses and informants
Bringing armed men into the state
Unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted person
Carrying a concealed weapon
Possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner
Possession of a destructive device
Possession of explosives
Possession of a sawed-off firearm
Sale, possession for sale, transportation, manufacture, offer for sale,
offer to manufacture, or other offense involving a dangerous drug
Use of threat to coerce criminal street gang membership or use of
violence to coerce criminal street gang membership
North Dakota
§ 12.1-06.2
Predicate gang crime “the commission, attempted
commission, or solicitation of any
felony, misdemeanor crime of violence,
or misdemeanor crime of pecuniary
gain”
“crime of violence means any violation of state law where a person
purposely or knowingly causes or threatens to cause death or
physical bodily injury to another person or persons”
“crime of pecuniary gain means any violation of state law that
directly results or was intended to result in the defendant alone, or in
association with others, receiving income, benefit, property, money,
or anything of value”
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 29 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Ohio
§ 2923.41
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“persons in the criminal gang have
committed, attempted to commit,
conspired to commit, been complicitors
in the commission of, or solicited,
coerced, or intimidated another to
commit, attempt to commit, conspire to
commit, or be in complicity in the
commission of two or more… offenses”
A felony or an act committed by a juvenile that would be a felony if
committed by an adult
An offense of violence or an act committed by a juvenile that would
be an offense of violence if committed by an adult
A violation of section 2907.04 (Unlawful Sexual Conduct with
Minor), 2909.06 (Sexual Imposition), 2911.211 (Aggravated
Trespass), 2917.04 (Failure to Disperse), 2919.23 (Interference with
Custody), or 2919.24 (Contributing to Unruliness or Delinquency of
a Child) of the Revised Code, section 2921.04 (Intimidation of
Attorney, Victim or Witness in Criminal Case) or 2923.16
(Improperly Handling Firearms in a Motor Vehicle) of the Revised
Code, section 2925.03 (Trafficking in Drugs) of the Revised Code if
the offense is trafficking in marijuana, or section 2927.12 (Ethnic
Intimidation) of the Revised Code
There is a “pattern of criminal gang activity” if all of the following
apply with respect to the offenses that are listed in division (B)(1)(a),
(b), or (c) of this section and that persons in the criminal gang
committed, attempted to commit, conspired to commit, were in
complicity in committing, or solicited, coerced, or intimidated another to
commit, attempt to commit, conspire to commit, or be in complicity in
committing:
At least one of the two or more offenses is a felony
At least one of those two or more offenses occurs on or after the
effective date of this section
The last of those two or more offenses occurs within five years after
at least one of those offenses
The two or more offenses are committed on separate occasions or
by two or more persons
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 30 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
South Carolina
§ 16-8-230
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission or attempted
commission of, commission as an
accessory before or after the fact to, or
solicitation or conspiracy to commit, by
a criminal gang member, while
knowingly and actively participating in
criminal gang activity, four or more …
offenses occurring within a two-year
period, provided that at least three of
these offenses occurred after
July 1, 2007”
A violent offense as defined in Section 16-1-60 committed as a part
of criminal gang activity
Financial transaction card crimes as defined in Chapter 14 of Title 16
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
First-degree lynching as defined in Section 16-3-210 committed as a
part of criminal gang activity
Second-degree lynching as defined in Section 16-3-220 committed as
a part of criminal gang activity
Breaking into a motor vehicle as defined in Section 16-13-160
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Grand larceny as defined in Section 16-13-30 committed as a part of
criminal gang activity
Blackmail as defined in Section 16-17-640 committed as a part of
criminal gang activity
Malicious injury to property as defined in Sections 16-11-510, 16-11-
520, 16-11-530, and 16-11-535 committed as a part of criminal gang
activity
Drug offense as defined in Sections 44-53-370 and 44-53-375
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Harassment, stalking, or aggravated stalking as defined in Article 17,
Chapter 3 of Title 16 committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Pointing a firearm at any person as defined in Section 16-23-410
committed as a part of criminal gang activity
Discharging a firearm at or into dwellings, structures, enclosures,
vehicles, or equipment as defined in Section 16-23-440 committed as
a part of criminal gang activity
The common law offense of assault and battery of a high and
aggravated nature committed as a part of criminal gang activity
The common law offense of obstruction of justice committed as a
part of criminal gang activity.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 31 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Tennessee
§ 40-35-121
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“Prior convictions for the commission
or attempted commission of, or
solicitation or conspiracy to commit:”
Two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as
felonies; or
Three (3) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as
misdemeanors; or
One (1) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as
felonies and two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are
classified as misdemeanors; and
The criminal gang offenses are committed on separate occasions;
and
The criminal gang offenses are committed within a five-year period
“Criminal gang offense” means any violation of Tennessee law:
During the perpetration of which the defendant knowingly causes,
or threatens to cause, death or bodily injury to another person or
persons and specifically includes rape of a child, aggravated rape,
and rape; or
That results, or was intended to result, in the defendant receiving
income, benefit, property, money, or anything of value from the
illegal sale, delivery, or manufacture of a controlled substance or
firearm
As used in this subsection (a), "prior conviction" means a criminal gang
offense for which a criminal gang member was convicted prior to the
commission of the instant criminal gang offense by the defendant and
includes convictions occurring prior to July 1, 1997. "Prior conviction"
includes convictions under the laws of any other state, government, or
country which, if committed in this state, would have constituted a
criminal gang offense. In the event that a conviction from a jurisdiction
other than Tennessee is not specifically named the same as a criminal
gang offense, the elements of the offense in the other jurisdiction shall
be used by the Tennessee court to determine if the offense is a criminal
gang offense.
Convictions for multiple criminal gang offenses committed as part
of a single course of conduct within twenty-four (24) hours are not
committed on "separate occasions." However, acts which constitute
criminal gang offenses under subdivision (a)(3)(A) shall not be
construed to be a single course of conduct.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 32 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Utah
§ 78A-6-1202
Gang activity “any criminal activity that is conducted
as part of an organized youth gang. It
includes any criminal activity that is
done in concert with other gang
members, or done alone if it is to fulfill
gang purposes. Gang activity does not
include graffiti.”
Utah
§ 76-9-802
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“committing, attempting to commit,
conspiring to commit, or soliciting the
commission of two or more predicate
gang crimes within five years; the
predicate gang crimes are: committed by
two or more persons; or committed by
an individual at the direction of, or in
association with a criminal street gang;
and the criminal activity was committed
with the specific intent to promote,
further, or assist in any criminal conduct
by members of the criminal street gang.”
“Predicate gang crime” means any of the following offenses:
Any criminal violation of the Utah Controlled Substances Act
Any criminal violation of the Utah Drug Paraphernalia Act
Any criminal violation of the Imitation Controlled Substances Act
Any criminal violation of the Utah Controlled Substance Precursor
Act
Assault offenses
Criminal homicide
Kidnapping and related offenses
Felony sexual offenses
Property destruction
Burglary and criminal trespass
Robbery
Theft, except Sections 76-6-404.5, 76-6-405, 76-6-407, 76-6-408,
76-6-409, 76-6-409.1, 76-6-409.3, 76-6-409.6, 76-6-409.7, 76-6-
409.8, 76-6-409.9, 76-6-410, and 76-6-410.5
Fraud, except Sections 76-6-504, 76-6-505, 76-6-507, 76-6-508, 76-
6-509, 76-6-510, 76-6-511, 76-6-512, 76-6-513, 76-6-514, 76-6-516,
76-6-517, 76-6-518, and 76-6-520
Identity Fraud Act
Obstructing governmental operations, except Sections 76-8-302, 76-
8 303, 76-8-304, 76-8-307, 76-8-308, and 76-8-312
Tampering with a witness
Retaliation against a witness or victim
Extortion or bribery to dismiss a criminal proceeding
Explosives
Weapons
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 33 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Utah
§ 76-9-802
(continued)
Bus Passenger Safety Act
Pattern of Unlawful Activity Act
Communications fraud
Money Laundering and Currency Transaction Reporting Act
Burglary of a research facility
Motor Vehicle Act
Any state or federal criminal offense that by its nature involves a
substantial risk that physical force may be used against another in the
course of committing the offense
Any felony violation of a criminal statute of any other state, the United
States, or any district, possession, or territory of the United States which
would constitute a violation of any offense in Subsection (4)(a) if
committed in this state
Virginia
§ 18.2-46.1
N/A N/A Predicate criminal act means
An act of violence;
Any violation of Section 18.2-42 (Assault or Battery by a Mob),
18.2-46.3 (Recruitment of Persons for Criminal Street Gang;
Penalty), 18.2-51 (Shooting, Stabbing, Etc., with Intent to Maim,
Kill, Etc.), 18.2-51.1 (Malicious Bodily Injury to Law-Enforcement
Officers, Firefighters, Search and Rescue Personnel, or Emergency
Medical Service Providers; Penalty; Lesser- Included Offense),
18.2-52 (Malicious Bodily Injury by Means of any Caustic
Substance or Agent or Use of any Explosive or Fire), 18.2-53
(Shooting, Etc., in Committing or Attempting a Felony), 18.2-55
(Bodily Injuries Caused by Prisoners, State Juvenile Probationers
and State and Local Adult Probationers or Adult Parolees), 18.2-
56.1 (Reckless Handling of Firearms; Reckless Handling While
Hunting), 18.2-57 (Assault and Battery), 18.2-57.2 (Assault and
Battery Against a Family or Household Member; Penalty), 18.2-59
(Extorting Money, Etc., by Threats), 18.2-83 (Threats to Bomb or
Damage Buildings or Means of Transportation; False Information as
to Danger to Such Buildings, etc.; Punishment; Venue), 18.2-121
(Entering Property of Another for Purpose of Damaging it, Etc),
18.2-127 (Injuries to Churches, Church Property, Cemeteries, Burial
Grounds, Etc.; Penalty), 18.2-128 (Trespass
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 34 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Virginia
§ 18.2-46.1
(continued)
N/A N/A upon Church or School Property), 18.2-137 (Injuring, Etc., Any
Property, Monument, Etc), 18.2-138 (Damaging Public Buildings,
Etc.; Penalty), 18.2-146 (Breaking, Injuring, Defacing, Destroying
or Preventing the Operation of Vehicle, Aircraft or Boat), 18.2-147
(Entering or Setting in Motion, Vehicle, Aircraft, Boat, Locomotive
or Rolling Stock of Railroad; Exceptions), subsection H, H 1 or H 2
of § 18.2-248 (Manufacturing, Selling, Giving, Distributing, or
Possessing with Intent to Manufacture, Sell, Give, or Distribute a
Controlled Substance or an Imitation Controlled Substance
Prohibited; Penalties), § 18.2-248.01 (Transporting Controlled
Substances Into the Commonwealth; Penalty), 18.2-255
(Distribution of Certain Drugs to Persons Under 18 Prohibited;
Penalty), 18.2-255.2 (Prohibiting the Sale or Manufacture of Drugs
on or Near Certain Properties; Penalty), 18.2-282.1 (Brandishing a
Machete or Other Bladed Weapon with Intent to Intimidate;
Penalty), 18.2-286.1 (Shooting from Vehicles so as to Endanger
Persons; Penalty), 18.2-287.4 (Carrying Loaded Firearms in Public
Areas Prohibited; Penalty), 18.2-308.1 (Possession of Firearm, Stun
Weapon, or Other Weapon on School Property Prohibited), or 18.2-
356 (Receiving Money for Procuring Person);
A second or subsequent felony violation of subsection C of § 18.2-
248 (Manufacturing, Selling, Giving, Distributing, or Possessing
with Intent to Manufacture, Sell, Give, or Distribute a Controlled
Substance or an Imitation Controlled Substance Prohibited;
Penalties) or of § 18.2-248.1 (Penalties for Sale, Gift, Distribution
or Possession
with Intent to Sell, Give or Distribute Marijuana);
Any violation of a local ordinance adopted pursuant to § 15.2-
1812.2 (Willful and Malicious Damage to or Defacement of Public
or Private Facilities; Penalty); or
Any substantially similar offense under the laws of another state or
territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the United
States.
Brief Review of Federal and State Definitions
Definition of “Gang Activity” by State
(States that have been highlighted in gray DO NOT have enhanced penalties for gang crimes.)
Page 35 of 35 August 2008
§State Term(s) Definition Enumerated/Elucidated Violations
Wisconsin
§ 939.22
Pattern of criminal
gang activity
“the commission of, attempt to commit
or solicitation to commit 2 or more of
the following crimes, or acts that would
be crimes if the actor were an adult, at
least one of those acts or crimes occurs
after December 25, 1993, the last of
those acts or crimes occurred within 3
years after a prior act or crime, and the
acts or crimes are committed, attempted
or solicited on separate occasions or by
2 or more persons”
Manufacture, distribution, or delivery of a controlled substance or
controlled substance analog
First-degree intentional homicide
Second-degree intentional homicide
Battery
Battery, special circumstances
Battery or threat to witness
Mayhem
Sexual assault
False imprisonment
Taking hostages
Kidnapping
Intimidation of witnesses
Intimidation of victims
Criminal damage to property
Criminal damage to or threat to criminally damage the property of a
witness
Arson of buildings or damage by explosives
Burglary
Theft
Taking, driving, or operating a vehicle, or removing a part or
component of a vehicle, without the owner‟s consent
Robbery
Sexual assault of a child
Repeated acts of sexual assault of the same child
Sexual assault of a child placed in substitute care
Why Law Enforcement Agencies Need an Analytical Function
Editor's Note: The following "fact sheet" (published in October 2005) was prepared by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative. This fact sheet is significant for what it advocates--an analytical component to accompany the myriad of tasks encountered by law enforcement agencies--and the implications for those of us who work in the defense bar, were such analysis done in a regular and standard manner.
Following are listed the advantages that might be expected from such an analytical function:
1. Helps solve criminal investigations.
The analytical function develops a variety of intelligence
products to assist investigators in detecting, preventing,
and responding to criminal and terrorism activities.
Analytical personnel initiate inquiries, conduct information
searches, and act as a central point for information
gathered.
2. Increases the ability to prosecute
criminals.
Personnel assigned to the analytical function develop
summary tables, charts, maps, and other graphics for use
in a grand jury or trial. Analysts provide factual and expert
testimony and organize evidence for presentation in court.
3. Supports the chief executive and the
agency’s mission.
By maximizing the analytical function, the chief executive
can obtain important information and intelligence to
possibly prevent future criminal activities. Personnel
can prepare materials to assist in allocating resources;
developing budget and resource requests; and preparing
departmental reports, investigative briefings, and press
releases.
4. Proactively informs law enforcement
officers of crime trends and develops
threat, vulnerability, and risk
assessments.
The analytical function provides support to tactical and strategic operations. Personnel analyze crime
reports, identify crime hot spots, develop crime bulletins and summaries, study serial crime data, and forecast
future crime. The analytical function develops proactive intelligence products that assess the potential threats
of crime groups or criminal activities and recommends methods to intervene in these threats.
Analysis is an integral part of every major investigation an agency opens. Often, small pieces of information that may appear
insignificant can be a major part of a larger picture. The analytical function organizes these critical pieces of data and creates
valuable and meaningful products to assist law enforcement in solving cases and prosecuting criminals. Personnel responsible for producing intelligence are professionals, civilian or sworn, whose training includes law enforcement analytical techniques and criminal analysis. The analytical function benefits law enforcement agencies in the following ways.
5. Trains law enforcement and other
intelligence personnel.
Staff develop course modules on intelligence and analytic
methods and provide awareness and methodology training
to agency members, executives, and managers.
6. Assists in the development of
computerized databases to organize
information and intelligence.
Personnel within the analytical function help in the
development and maintenance of systems that collect,
collate, retrieve, and disseminate information. Analytical
staff participate in departmental testing and acquisition of
investigative, intelligence, and analytical software.
7. Fosters meaningful relationships with
other law enforcement personnel.
Analytical staff interact with other law enforcement
agencies and build relationships with peers, allowing
them to quickly obtain information and efficiently assist
in multijurisdictional or complex cases. Through contact
with national programs and professional associations,
personnel are able to ascertain national issues that may
affect local agencies.
8. Ensures compliance with local, state,
tribal, and federal laws and regulations.
Analytical personnel provide expertise and knowledge in
the development of protocols to ensure compliance with
local, state, tribal, and federal laws and rules that govern
intelligence sharing, privacy, and civil liberties.
9. Provides support to fusion centers.
Personnel provide support to local, state, or regional
fusion centers by performing intelligence services such
as crime-pattern, association, telephone-toll, and financial
analysis. They create intelligence reports, briefs, threat
assessments, and other intelligence products to aid in the
prevention and deterrence of crime, including terrorism.
Accurate, timely, and relevant analysis is a critical component in crime prevention and crime-fighting efforts.
Following are listed the advantages that might be expected from such an analytical function:
1. Helps solve criminal investigations.
The analytical function develops a variety of intelligence
products to assist investigators in detecting, preventing,
and responding to criminal and terrorism activities.
Analytical personnel initiate inquiries, conduct information
searches, and act as a central point for information
gathered.
2. Increases the ability to prosecute
criminals.
Personnel assigned to the analytical function develop
summary tables, charts, maps, and other graphics for use
in a grand jury or trial. Analysts provide factual and expert
testimony and organize evidence for presentation in court.
3. Supports the chief executive and the
agency’s mission.
By maximizing the analytical function, the chief executive
can obtain important information and intelligence to
possibly prevent future criminal activities. Personnel
can prepare materials to assist in allocating resources;
developing budget and resource requests; and preparing
departmental reports, investigative briefings, and press
releases.
4. Proactively informs law enforcement
officers of crime trends and develops
threat, vulnerability, and risk
assessments.
The analytical function provides support to tactical and strategic operations. Personnel analyze crime
reports, identify crime hot spots, develop crime bulletins and summaries, study serial crime data, and forecast
future crime. The analytical function develops proactive intelligence products that assess the potential threats
of crime groups or criminal activities and recommends methods to intervene in these threats.
Analysis is an integral part of every major investigation an agency opens. Often, small pieces of information that may appear
insignificant can be a major part of a larger picture. The analytical function organizes these critical pieces of data and creates
valuable and meaningful products to assist law enforcement in solving cases and prosecuting criminals. Personnel responsible for producing intelligence are professionals, civilian or sworn, whose training includes law enforcement analytical techniques and criminal analysis. The analytical function benefits law enforcement agencies in the following ways.
5. Trains law enforcement and other
intelligence personnel.
Staff develop course modules on intelligence and analytic
methods and provide awareness and methodology training
to agency members, executives, and managers.
6. Assists in the development of
computerized databases to organize
information and intelligence.
Personnel within the analytical function help in the
development and maintenance of systems that collect,
collate, retrieve, and disseminate information. Analytical
staff participate in departmental testing and acquisition of
investigative, intelligence, and analytical software.
7. Fosters meaningful relationships with
other law enforcement personnel.
Analytical staff interact with other law enforcement
agencies and build relationships with peers, allowing
them to quickly obtain information and efficiently assist
in multijurisdictional or complex cases. Through contact
with national programs and professional associations,
personnel are able to ascertain national issues that may
affect local agencies.
8. Ensures compliance with local, state,
tribal, and federal laws and regulations.
Analytical personnel provide expertise and knowledge in
the development of protocols to ensure compliance with
local, state, tribal, and federal laws and rules that govern
intelligence sharing, privacy, and civil liberties.
9. Provides support to fusion centers.
Personnel provide support to local, state, or regional
fusion centers by performing intelligence services such
as crime-pattern, association, telephone-toll, and financial
analysis. They create intelligence reports, briefs, threat
assessments, and other intelligence products to aid in the
prevention and deterrence of crime, including terrorism.
Accurate, timely, and relevant analysis is a critical component in crime prevention and crime-fighting efforts.
Fact Sheet The 2006 National Youth Gang Survey
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Editor's Note: The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention (OJJDP) published, on August 1, 2008, a comprehensive National Youth Gang Survey and a Fact Sheet, below, which serves as a highly condensed brief. For additional information about youth gangs, call OJJDP’s Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800–851–3420, or contact NYGC at 800–446–0912 or http://www.iir.com/nygc/. Arlen Egley, Jr., Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate and Christina E. O’Donnell, M.S., is a Research Associate with NYGC, which is operated for OJJDP by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research in Tallahassee, FL. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a compo nent of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Community Capacity Development Office; the National Institute of Justice; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
J. Robert Flores, Administrator July 2008 #05
Highlights of the
2006 National Youth Gang Survey
by Arlen Egley, Jr., and Christina E. O’Donnell
Annually since 1995, the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) has conducted the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) of law
enforcement agencies across the United States regarding the pres ence and characteristics of local gang problems. This Fact Sheet summarizes NYGS findings from the 2006 survey. The current nationally representative sample was selected in 2002 and
includes the following agencies:
◆ All police departments that serve cities with populations of
50,000 or more (n=624) (larger cities).
◆ All suburban county police and sheriffs’ departments (n=740)
(suburban counties).
◆ A randomly selected sample of police departments that serve
cities with populations between 2,500 and 49,999 (n=695)
(smaller cities).
◆ A randomly selected sample of rural county police and
sheriffs’ departments (n=492) (rural counties).
NYGC asked survey recipients to report information solely for
youth gangs, defined as “a group of youths or young adults in
your jurisdiction that you or other responsible persons in your
agency or community are willing to identify as a ‘gang.’”
Motorcycle gangs, hate or ideology groups, prison gangs, and
exclusively adult gangs were excluded from the survey.
Survey Findings
Of the 2,551 survey recipients, 2,199 (86 percent) responded to the 2006 survey. Table 1 shows the percentage of agencies that reported gang problems by area type. Overall, it is estimated that 3,400 jurisdictions served by city (population of 2,500 or more) and county law enforcement agencies experienced gang problems in 2006. Based on survey results, it is estimated that approximately 785,000 gang members and 26,500 gangs were active in the United States in 2006. Readily available and reliable gang-crime data are difficult to obtain on a national level. Previous NYGC surveys reveal that agencies with gang problems often do not regularly record local offenses, with the exception of homicides, as “gang-related.” With these data limitations in mind, the 2006 NYGS requested each respondent to provide both specific gang-homicide data (i.e., number of homicides involving a gang member as either the perpetrator and/or the victim) and general trends (i.e., increasing, decreasing) for other serious gang-related crimes in the respondent’s jurisdiction. Among agencies reporting gang problems in smaller cities and rural counties, a large majority (89 and 86 percent respectively) recorded zero gang-related homicides in 2006. By comparison, most cities with populations over 100,000 experienced one or more gang homicides during the year.
Table 1. Percentage of Law Enforcement Agencies
Reporting Gang Problems, 2002–2006
Gang Problems Gang Problems
Reported in Ever Reported,
2006 (%) 2002–2006 (%)
Rural Counties 14.9 27.4
Smaller Cities 32.6 48.3
Suburban Counties 51.0 61.5
Larger Cities 86.4 90.5
Overall Estimate in
Study Population 33.3 47.3
Figure 1 shows the percentage of gang-problem agencies report ing that incidences of the specified gang crime had “increased” in the respondent’s jurisdictions in 2006 compared with 2004 and 2005. For two offenses, aggravated assault and drug sales, more than half of the agencies reported an increase in 2006. These two offenses were followed, in descending order, by robbery, larceny/theft, burglary, and auto theft. The 2006 NYGS requested each respondent to indicate the fac
tor(s) that influenced gang-related violence in the respondent’s jurisdiction. More than half of the law enforcement agencies
reported that intergang conflict (between-gang conflict) and drug-related factors directly affected levels of gang-related violence in their jurisdictions in 2006. Somewhat frequently reported (25–50 percent of the agencies) were the following three
factors: gang-member migration across U.S. jurisdictions, emergence of new gangs, and the return of gang members from secure confinement. Infrequently reported (less than one-quarter of the agencies) were factors associated with intragang conflict (within gang conflict) and gang-member migration from outside the United States.
Office of Justice Programs Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods: Go to www.ojp.usdoj.gov
Aggravated Auto Burglary Drug Larceny/ Robbery
Assault Theft Sales Theft
OJJDP’s Gang Prevention Activities
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention:
(OJJDP) supports several initiatives to prevent and reduce gang activity. OJJDP’s Gang Reduction Program is designed to
reduce gang activity in targeted neighborhoods by incorporating a broad spectrum of research-based interventions to address the range of personal, family, and community factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency and gang activity. The program integrates local, State, and Federal resources to incorporate state-of-the-art practices in prevention, intervention, and suppression. In April 2007, Los Angeles announced the launch of a $168 million anti-
gang initiative model based on the Gang Reduction Program.
Other OJJDP gang prevention activities include:
◆ Gang-Free Schools and Communities Program seeks
to reduce youth gang crime and violence in schools and
communities.
◆ National Youth Gang Center, funded by OJJDP, conducts
assessments of the scope and characteristics of youth gang
activity in the United States, develops resources and makes
them available to the field, and provides training and technical
assistance in support of community-based prevention,
intervention, and suppression efforts.
◆ Gang Prevention Coordination Assistance Program
provides funding to enhance coordination of local, State,
and Federal resources in support of community partnerships
implementing two or more of the following anti-gang strate
gies: primary prevention, secondary prevention, gang interven
tion, and gang enforcement.
The latest gang-related resources may be found on OJJDP’s Web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp) by searching using the
keyword “gang.” You can also visit that website for more information about the complete National Youth Gang Survey 2006, published August 1, 2008.
Office of Justice Programs
Editor's Note: The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention (OJJDP) published, on August 1, 2008, a comprehensive National Youth Gang Survey and a Fact Sheet, below, which serves as a highly condensed brief. For additional information about youth gangs, call OJJDP’s Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800–851–3420, or contact NYGC at 800–446–0912 or http://www.iir.com/nygc/. Arlen Egley, Jr., Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate and Christina E. O’Donnell, M.S., is a Research Associate with NYGC, which is operated for OJJDP by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research in Tallahassee, FL. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a compo nent of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Community Capacity Development Office; the National Institute of Justice; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
J. Robert Flores, Administrator July 2008 #05
Highlights of the
2006 National Youth Gang Survey
by Arlen Egley, Jr., and Christina E. O’Donnell
Annually since 1995, the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) has conducted the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) of law
enforcement agencies across the United States regarding the pres ence and characteristics of local gang problems. This Fact Sheet summarizes NYGS findings from the 2006 survey. The current nationally representative sample was selected in 2002 and
includes the following agencies:
◆ All police departments that serve cities with populations of
50,000 or more (n=624) (larger cities).
◆ All suburban county police and sheriffs’ departments (n=740)
(suburban counties).
◆ A randomly selected sample of police departments that serve
cities with populations between 2,500 and 49,999 (n=695)
(smaller cities).
◆ A randomly selected sample of rural county police and
sheriffs’ departments (n=492) (rural counties).
NYGC asked survey recipients to report information solely for
youth gangs, defined as “a group of youths or young adults in
your jurisdiction that you or other responsible persons in your
agency or community are willing to identify as a ‘gang.’”
Motorcycle gangs, hate or ideology groups, prison gangs, and
exclusively adult gangs were excluded from the survey.
Survey Findings
Of the 2,551 survey recipients, 2,199 (86 percent) responded to the 2006 survey. Table 1 shows the percentage of agencies that reported gang problems by area type. Overall, it is estimated that 3,400 jurisdictions served by city (population of 2,500 or more) and county law enforcement agencies experienced gang problems in 2006. Based on survey results, it is estimated that approximately 785,000 gang members and 26,500 gangs were active in the United States in 2006. Readily available and reliable gang-crime data are difficult to obtain on a national level. Previous NYGC surveys reveal that agencies with gang problems often do not regularly record local offenses, with the exception of homicides, as “gang-related.” With these data limitations in mind, the 2006 NYGS requested each respondent to provide both specific gang-homicide data (i.e., number of homicides involving a gang member as either the perpetrator and/or the victim) and general trends (i.e., increasing, decreasing) for other serious gang-related crimes in the respondent’s jurisdiction. Among agencies reporting gang problems in smaller cities and rural counties, a large majority (89 and 86 percent respectively) recorded zero gang-related homicides in 2006. By comparison, most cities with populations over 100,000 experienced one or more gang homicides during the year.
Table 1. Percentage of Law Enforcement Agencies
Reporting Gang Problems, 2002–2006
Gang Problems Gang Problems
Reported in Ever Reported,
2006 (%) 2002–2006 (%)
Rural Counties 14.9 27.4
Smaller Cities 32.6 48.3
Suburban Counties 51.0 61.5
Larger Cities 86.4 90.5
Overall Estimate in
Study Population 33.3 47.3
Figure 1 shows the percentage of gang-problem agencies report ing that incidences of the specified gang crime had “increased” in the respondent’s jurisdictions in 2006 compared with 2004 and 2005. For two offenses, aggravated assault and drug sales, more than half of the agencies reported an increase in 2006. These two offenses were followed, in descending order, by robbery, larceny/theft, burglary, and auto theft. The 2006 NYGS requested each respondent to indicate the fac
tor(s) that influenced gang-related violence in the respondent’s jurisdiction. More than half of the law enforcement agencies
reported that intergang conflict (between-gang conflict) and drug-related factors directly affected levels of gang-related violence in their jurisdictions in 2006. Somewhat frequently reported (25–50 percent of the agencies) were the following three
factors: gang-member migration across U.S. jurisdictions, emergence of new gangs, and the return of gang members from secure confinement. Infrequently reported (less than one-quarter of the agencies) were factors associated with intragang conflict (within gang conflict) and gang-member migration from outside the United States.
Office of Justice Programs Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods: Go to www.ojp.usdoj.gov
Aggravated Auto Burglary Drug Larceny/ Robbery
Assault Theft Sales Theft
OJJDP’s Gang Prevention Activities
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention:
(OJJDP) supports several initiatives to prevent and reduce gang activity. OJJDP’s Gang Reduction Program is designed to
reduce gang activity in targeted neighborhoods by incorporating a broad spectrum of research-based interventions to address the range of personal, family, and community factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency and gang activity. The program integrates local, State, and Federal resources to incorporate state-of-the-art practices in prevention, intervention, and suppression. In April 2007, Los Angeles announced the launch of a $168 million anti-
gang initiative model based on the Gang Reduction Program.
Other OJJDP gang prevention activities include:
◆ Gang-Free Schools and Communities Program seeks
to reduce youth gang crime and violence in schools and
communities.
◆ National Youth Gang Center, funded by OJJDP, conducts
assessments of the scope and characteristics of youth gang
activity in the United States, develops resources and makes
them available to the field, and provides training and technical
assistance in support of community-based prevention,
intervention, and suppression efforts.
◆ Gang Prevention Coordination Assistance Program
provides funding to enhance coordination of local, State,
and Federal resources in support of community partnerships
implementing two or more of the following anti-gang strate
gies: primary prevention, secondary prevention, gang interven
tion, and gang enforcement.
The latest gang-related resources may be found on OJJDP’s Web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp) by searching using the
keyword “gang.” You can also visit that website for more information about the complete National Youth Gang Survey 2006, published August 1, 2008.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Columbine High School (Littleton, Colorado) Memorial Speech by Dr. Shaw
Why Are We Here, Or: If not Now…When?
Dr. James E. Shaw
Address for the “Day of Commemoration and Change” Ceremony for Columbine High School, April 20, 2000
Littleton, Colorado
Good evening: My remarks are dedicated to all the victims of adolescentcide: children slain in acts of homicide committed by other children. We are a poorer nation bereft of: the leadership they might have provided; the cures they might have discovered; the books they might have written; the verses they might have penned; the songs they might have sung; the journeys they might have taken; and the voices they might have raised. May they rest in peace, for we, the living, must not.
We mourn the horrific deaths of 12 students and a teacher in Littleton, Colorado, and the two teen-aged student shooters who killed them before committing suicide themselves. But in our hours, days weeks, and years of mourning, we must require of ourselves that we do more than grieve over the tragic losses of Littleton’s “bright promises” and the other fallen children in the nation whose young lives and gleaming promise were extinguished when they fell victim to children-terrorists. Columbine High School is regarded by some as the Pearl Harbor of school violence. Yet, there are countless isolated, alienated, confused, depressed and angry children throughout the country who, in the last year, have tried, in their own words, to “out-columbine Columbine.”
Although it is only the second quarter of the new millennium, it is awfully late in the day, to use a figure of speech. We must act with a sense of urgency that gives us a truer perspective of “national security” when seen from the point of view of children so viciously and abruptly denied it. For when our children are not safe, neither, then, are we. Guns killed 75,640 children between 1979 and 1996 and injured over 340,000 more. These statistics mean there were more children who suffered gun injuries than Vietnam war veterans injured in combat.
Currently, every 48 hours in America, 26 children—an entire classroom full—are killed by guns. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that since the Columbine High School tragedy last April 20, guns have killed 4,745 children. Death’s clock continues ticking and, at the rate of 0.54 deaths per hour—as we are comfortably ensconced here in the Hilton Hotel—I must inform you that 10 children will not be safely tucked into their beds tonight or any night hereafter. By midnight, tonight, three more will have joined them in death, too.
What kind of inspiration, motivation, or direction do we need to make us protect our children against violence at home, in school, and in their communities? For the past nine years, since 1991, I have been studying what I call “adolescentcide,” a word I coined and mentioned earlier, meaning the phenomenon of children killing children. I spent four of those nine years inside the prison cells of boys and girls incarcerated for murder and homicide. And during those four years, 103 children tracked the trail for me as they graphically described their odysseys from life at home to life in prison. Despite their wide diversity of ethnicity, economic status, and social standing, all of these children were “united” in one respect: They had shown a dominant preference for violent behavior. They had all chosen to “solve” their problem by pointing a gun at “it”—usually another kid.
I figured that by talking to these kids, over and over, they might tell me the ways parents and teachers could have made a difference in their lives. You see, in 1991, when I began my research, in the country’s 75 largest counties, 370,424 juvenile defendants were formally processed through the juvenile courts; 22% of them were murder defendants, and 1,638 of these were prosecuted as adults! As a former teacher who had been threatened, attacked, whose classroom exterior had been strafed by gunfire, and who had to command my elementary school charges, playing outside, to take duck-and-cover maneuvers whenever screeching tires and gunshots were heard, I saw, with my own eyes, school yards being turned into grave yards.
A number of the incarcerated children I interviewed had been cradled in a culture of violence. Resorting to it was as natural as watching their mother, sister, aunt, or grandmother getting smacked around and brutalized by some insecure, ignorant barbarian, otherwise known as husband, lover or boyfriend. Six of “my” kids—as I came to view the 103 children over the years—had killed an immediate blood-relative.
Other children who talked to me from their prison cells and from their hearts, claimed to have grown up in “good” homes where they neither witnessed nor personally experienced violence or brutality. Yet they told stories of verbal and emotional abuse, and lives so bleak, that they desperately wished they could have lived away from their families or, simply, not lived at all.
Still, other children had been physically beaten and tortured, on a regular basis, almost from the time they cut their first teeth. Years of such child abuse conditioned them to be chronically angry, depressed, and waiting for an opportunity to avenge themselves. One of these admitted that, even today, she feels relaxed only “when I see the sight of my own blood.” That had always been her personal signal that whoever was beating her, would finally stop. Today, she regularly injures herself to the point of bleeding.
Still, others of my incarcerated children population stated the coldness, isolation, and indifference that passed for “parenting” in their homes “freaked” them out, drove them “up the wall,” “filled me with hate,” and used other expressions to mean they had been going insane because of the lack of love, warmth, and caring from adults responsible for their care and maintenance: their own parents.
These 103 children told me they killed because they felt alienated, isolated, unloved, unlovable, depressed. They also had experienced verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse by an adult, or some other form of adult betrayal. And they had ready access to alcohol, drugs, and…guns! In 1995 4,236,942 firearms were manufactured. These included pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, and other miscellaneous firepower. Most of these weapons have nothing whatsoever to do with hunting animals. On the contrary, it is people, including children, whose lives have been snuffed out by this tonnage of firearms.
Gunfire killed 4,643 infants, children, and teens in 1996—134 murdered before their 10th birthday. More children under 10 years of age are killed each year by guns than police are killed in the line of duty or U.S. soldiers killed by hostile action. The Centers for Disease Control reports that American children under 15 are 12 times more likely to die from gun violence than their peers in 25 other industrialized nations combined.
As a nation, we have expended Herculean amounts of time, money and effort preparing to meet the twenty-first century by immunizing our ubiquitous computerized-technology systems against the notorious “Y2K Bug.” However necessary that crusade might have been, the larger issue is: How much time, money and effort are we prepared to continue to pour into the real “Y2K’s—Years 2000 Kids—who possess the power to change the course of American history forever? As the Honorable William Bennett, former White House Cabinet member stated, it is only young twenty-first century America that can legitimately be called “history’s most violent ‘civilized’ nation.”
How much longer are we going to put up with the constant magnification and glorification of violence and guns on our movie, television, Internet, and video game screens? Who was asleep at the switch when guns became the only unregulated consumer product in America? Why do we regulate toy guns, but not the real guns that kill a child every two hours? Why are real guns so easy for children to find…in many cases, as easy as toy guns? How much more child carnage and future “Day of Commemorations…” will occur before we decide enough is enough?
Will today be the day when parents across the nation demand changes in the public education format so that mental detectors become as important as metal detectors? If not now, when? Tests for depression, specialized counseling, and behavior monitoring might prove to be positive interventions for those students who are emotionally armed and dangerous.
Is this the day we realize and accept that security cameras take fine external pictures but fail to photograph what is in a student’s heart or what is lacking in his character? If not today, when?
A 1993 report published by the American Psychological Association stated: “There is absolutely no doubt that higher levels of viewing violence on television are correlated with increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and increased aggressive behavior. Children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences.”
Television, in many homes is the electronic fireplace. I would strongly advise parents whose television sets have grown up with, and are now members of, the family to analyze the hours spent in front of the tube versus the minutes spent in real, heart-to-heart conversation. Then, turn that around: Spend minutes in front of the tube but hours in each other’s faces involved in engaging talks, stimulating discussions, and resolutions to problems.
Since last year, how many of you parents, or other parents across America, have increased the amount of time you talk to your children about moral principles, right and wrong behavior, good and bad choices? If you leave it up to the schools to do it, you’re copping out…big time. Moral education, moral direction, and moral intelligence begin at home. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. It seems that schools would rather teach the right and wrong of Driver Training, or the right and wrong about fouling in basketball or clipping in football, than teach children good, safe, sane behaviors based on the “M” word: Morality. Some schools think that teaching morality is teaching religion. Yet, few people are ever hear complaining about how “straight-laced” and moral the Driver Training rules of the road are, or how strangulating the character-and-moral-development regulations that govern school athletics and other team sports are.
Is there anybody complaining about the smear that 6-year old Elian Gonzalez’s father made about American schools on “60 Minutes” last Sunday? Mr. Gonzalez, a self-admitted communist who embraces the communist regime of Fidel Castro, in a country where bread lines are so long they have “Stop” and “Go” signs and modern medicine got lost in the Bay of Pigs, said American schools are where kids go to get shot. Now, wait a minute. We don’t like to use the words “moral” or “moral education” because they are too closely-aligned with religion, with God. Yet, all of the nation’s state constitutions—and that’s 50—unabashedly acknowledge and otherwise refer to God, in reverential, devout and gracious terms. Are we going to declare those state constitutions unconstitutional?
Mr. Gonzalez’s belief system prohibits that he acknowledge a Supreme Being. Our country was built on freedom of religion. Yet, somehow, that cherished concept has eroded into freedom from religion—or moral teachings, or spiritual guidance. The result is a moral vacuum that breeds immoral children whose god is a gun. And from a backward country where it takes people like Mr. Gonzalez an hour-and-a-half to watch “60 Minutes”, he, who professes no belief in a Supreme Being, calls it like he sees it: “American schools are where kids go to get shot.”
Somebody once asked me if America’s turning its back on—and not fearing—God has put us in the position of now having to fear our very own children, as punishment. That is a very important question. And while I am not suggesting that we turn our schools into seminaries and monasteries, I am suggesting that we begin immediately instituting right-and-wrong concepts, character development frameworks, and life-ethics training in our nation’s kindergarten through 12th-grade school curricula. And some states already have. Incidentally, let’s not throw our hands up and join with Elian Gonzalez’s father in championing Cuba’s educational system.
But what you can do right away is suggest to your school administrators that World History can wait and children ought to be taught how to stop the bloodshed flowing over their modern history today. Tell school leaders that dry Mathematics and arid Algebra might be brought to life if students were repeatedly asked to link raw numbers, equations and theorems to the national daily child homicide death toll.
Tell them also that the Language Arts program might produce more scholarly, articulate, and effective journalists if they were given field assignments in visiting the morgue where juvenile corpses lay; observing court proceedings on juvenile homicide; and interviewing homicide cops in the local precinct.
Don’t forget to tell them that Social Science might be more relevant if students created their own Teen Court, under the watchful eye of a local judge, and heard cases on a variety of campus behavioral infractions, and levied fines and discipline sanctions. If you don’t begin all of this today…when would you?
In the meantime, instill principles of honesty and integrity in your child. Children appreciate knowing what the standard is and reaching it. Knowing right from wrong clears up heir thinking and develops their moral intelligence. Children lacking in moral intelligence do not have the capacity to make moral decisions. If no moral teaching has been instilled in them, there exists a void that will be constantly filled with anti-social thoughts and actions. There is a direct link between a child’s ignorance of life-ethics, his disregard for right and wrong moral behavior, and his decision to kill another child or other human being.
Help your child set clear attainable objectives and thus have the satisfaction of controlling his own future. That’s what really produces genuine self-esteem. Children who lack the capacity for self-love and self-esteem can never realize their full possibilities. One of the most important gifts you can give your child is to teach him to be “response-able”—able to respond.
Teach your child to seek and become aligned with a spiritual purpose. You may find that a church or house of worship can help you to dot his in an organized, efficient, and consistent way. You are the ultimate model for your child, whether you know it or not. You were his first teacher. From you, it is important that he learns there are more good people than bad people and more reasons to be happy and optimistic than sad and sullen.
Teach your child nonviolent communication strategies and peace-building skills. Repeatedly emphasize that a gun or other weapon is never, ever an acceptable alternative to nonviolent interaction and positive communication.
Your child is exposed to you but a fraction of the time, in contrast with his exposure to ideas, people and events outside the family. Try to make each of your interactive moments with him joyful, meaningful, rewarding, and loving experiences. Parents who are in touch with themselves and their loving attitudes and inclinations are more effective parents.
All children who make the decision to kill somebody else are alienated and isolated from important adults in their lives. We must constantly give our children a sense that they are loved and valued and safe. A recent study of students in grades 7-12 showed that teenagers who feel “connected” to their schools and families are less likely to engage in risky or violent behavior. This is hardly a surprise. We cannot underestimate the importance of family, teachers, and faith communities, and we must nurture that feeling of “connectedness” very early. Parents’ voices are the ones children recognize first and fastest. And parents, especially fathers, need to express their love to their children verbally and often. Silence may be all right for strangers, but not for families. Bad kids can happen to good parents, and it is better to take time and lovingly persist in coaxing your son to “talk out” whatever’s on his chest, so he won’t put a bullet into your or somebody else’s chest.
Emotion often drives behavior. Always consult your child’s feelings; how he feels will tell you how he is coping. Children’s emotions are dynamic and their flare-ups illuminate their feelings. Addressing the emotional needs of your child should be a constant priority. Teenagers appreciate and admire parents who patiently stick it out with them, no matter what they throw at their parents, in terms of behavior. Parents who never give up, no matter the emotional “weathers” of their teens, are highly-praised (yes, teens often praise their folks to others), highly-valued and –loved parents.
Parents, you should be able to say to your children:
"I am your parent, you are my child, and I vow, as of this moment and until time is no more, to love you. You are the best part of me. I hold you, hug your, touch you, teach you, and shine my eyes upon you in love. With patience, I joyfully share my strength with you. With kindness and praise, I show you right from wrong, good from bad. When you fall, I gently pick you up and the feather of my kiss brushes your tears away. The rhythm of our hearts is the beat of our love. It is with pride that I am your model of gentleness, your mirror of sensitivity. I am the grownup you will become. You are my joy and it is with total love that I touch and teach you, guide and lead you.
I promise you a home in which your spirits will lift you to newer and greater heights and where you are free to dream and express the full palette of your talents on the canvas of your personality. I will show you how your desire gives you the energy of angels; you will learn to soar with your enthusiasm. I will show you how to live well—with hope and vision, the confidence to climb any mountain, the trust to reach out and touch. You will learn to help others with a heart that heals. For you I must, and will always be, the sum of patience, the temple of goodness, the soft winds and silent springs of compassion.
I will teach you to love life fully, give to others generously and let your light shine. Perfect love replaces fear, and you will learn how to greet each day with love, salute the Universe with joy and thanksgiving, and to let the quiet night comfort your soul. We are one with this gift called Life, and heirs to the blessings of our grand and glorious Universe. The Universe is filled with abundance and I will teach you to desire only good from the Universe and give only good back to the Universe.
You will learn the importance of sharing the blessings the Universe pours upon you. I will teach you to never look back upon yesterday, nor pine away for tomorrow. You will learn that virtue comes from being thankful for the nowness and newness that is today, for it is the gift we call The Present.
You will learn that the mind is a great source of strength, love is the root of your character, and that life is filled with goodness. I promise to let your talents guide, cheer and support you, for that which you love is where your heart is; and where your heart is, there you will thrive. Through peace, you will learn to negotiate; through love, to communicate; and through respect, to articulate. For by giving to others what they need, you thus build the bridge to what you need. Thinking of others is a virtue you will always value. You will learn that laughter is often the best medicine. I promise you days filled with laughter and learning so that your sleep will be filled with dreams of joy. Life is not a lullaby but you will know that your humor is a music that gives life flavor.
You are an important, vital member of this family, a very necessary member of the human race. You help to make family and community strong. From this moment on, until time is no more, I promise to love you.
Thank you for teaching me what the truest treasure in life really is."
While America is not currently at war with any foreign power, we must know—by our presence here—that our children have declared war on each other. There are millions of children who are depending on us—for protection, for guidance, for the basic necessities. Before one more child is lost, we must promise ourselves that we will do all that is necessary to make our homes safer, our children more secure. For home is where the hate is. Children who kill are homegrown. There is no such as unsafe schools, only unsafe homes. Schools are only as safe as the homes they must serve.
Children are throwing the family gun into their school backpacks along with their peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and hauling this lot of problems to school to “share” their pain.
We need to mount an all-out campaign, which the Centers for Disease Control might appreciate: We must vaccinate our children against violence; immunize our children against intolerance; and humanize our children with love. That is the only way we will re-unite the United States in peace.
When a ship capsizes at sea and life boats are heaved overboard, the rule of rescue is “women and children first.” Our great ship of state is capsizing before our very eyes, and our children are drowning in their own bloodshed. When was the last time you heard anybody say, “Children first”? We need to become instantly and actively involved in the greatest rescue effort this country has ever known, saving our children from adolescentcide. Far too many children’s lives are being lost by the love of force, expressed through violence. The only way we can rescue them is with the force of love.
May God save the children. May the nation’s victims of adolescentcide rest in peace, for we, the living, must not. Our mission of saving our children has scarcely begun.
# # #
Dr. James E. Shaw
Address for the “Day of Commemoration and Change” Ceremony for Columbine High School, April 20, 2000
Littleton, Colorado
Good evening: My remarks are dedicated to all the victims of adolescentcide: children slain in acts of homicide committed by other children. We are a poorer nation bereft of: the leadership they might have provided; the cures they might have discovered; the books they might have written; the verses they might have penned; the songs they might have sung; the journeys they might have taken; and the voices they might have raised. May they rest in peace, for we, the living, must not.
We mourn the horrific deaths of 12 students and a teacher in Littleton, Colorado, and the two teen-aged student shooters who killed them before committing suicide themselves. But in our hours, days weeks, and years of mourning, we must require of ourselves that we do more than grieve over the tragic losses of Littleton’s “bright promises” and the other fallen children in the nation whose young lives and gleaming promise were extinguished when they fell victim to children-terrorists. Columbine High School is regarded by some as the Pearl Harbor of school violence. Yet, there are countless isolated, alienated, confused, depressed and angry children throughout the country who, in the last year, have tried, in their own words, to “out-columbine Columbine.”
Although it is only the second quarter of the new millennium, it is awfully late in the day, to use a figure of speech. We must act with a sense of urgency that gives us a truer perspective of “national security” when seen from the point of view of children so viciously and abruptly denied it. For when our children are not safe, neither, then, are we. Guns killed 75,640 children between 1979 and 1996 and injured over 340,000 more. These statistics mean there were more children who suffered gun injuries than Vietnam war veterans injured in combat.
Currently, every 48 hours in America, 26 children—an entire classroom full—are killed by guns. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that since the Columbine High School tragedy last April 20, guns have killed 4,745 children. Death’s clock continues ticking and, at the rate of 0.54 deaths per hour—as we are comfortably ensconced here in the Hilton Hotel—I must inform you that 10 children will not be safely tucked into their beds tonight or any night hereafter. By midnight, tonight, three more will have joined them in death, too.
What kind of inspiration, motivation, or direction do we need to make us protect our children against violence at home, in school, and in their communities? For the past nine years, since 1991, I have been studying what I call “adolescentcide,” a word I coined and mentioned earlier, meaning the phenomenon of children killing children. I spent four of those nine years inside the prison cells of boys and girls incarcerated for murder and homicide. And during those four years, 103 children tracked the trail for me as they graphically described their odysseys from life at home to life in prison. Despite their wide diversity of ethnicity, economic status, and social standing, all of these children were “united” in one respect: They had shown a dominant preference for violent behavior. They had all chosen to “solve” their problem by pointing a gun at “it”—usually another kid.
I figured that by talking to these kids, over and over, they might tell me the ways parents and teachers could have made a difference in their lives. You see, in 1991, when I began my research, in the country’s 75 largest counties, 370,424 juvenile defendants were formally processed through the juvenile courts; 22% of them were murder defendants, and 1,638 of these were prosecuted as adults! As a former teacher who had been threatened, attacked, whose classroom exterior had been strafed by gunfire, and who had to command my elementary school charges, playing outside, to take duck-and-cover maneuvers whenever screeching tires and gunshots were heard, I saw, with my own eyes, school yards being turned into grave yards.
A number of the incarcerated children I interviewed had been cradled in a culture of violence. Resorting to it was as natural as watching their mother, sister, aunt, or grandmother getting smacked around and brutalized by some insecure, ignorant barbarian, otherwise known as husband, lover or boyfriend. Six of “my” kids—as I came to view the 103 children over the years—had killed an immediate blood-relative.
Other children who talked to me from their prison cells and from their hearts, claimed to have grown up in “good” homes where they neither witnessed nor personally experienced violence or brutality. Yet they told stories of verbal and emotional abuse, and lives so bleak, that they desperately wished they could have lived away from their families or, simply, not lived at all.
Still, other children had been physically beaten and tortured, on a regular basis, almost from the time they cut their first teeth. Years of such child abuse conditioned them to be chronically angry, depressed, and waiting for an opportunity to avenge themselves. One of these admitted that, even today, she feels relaxed only “when I see the sight of my own blood.” That had always been her personal signal that whoever was beating her, would finally stop. Today, she regularly injures herself to the point of bleeding.
Still, others of my incarcerated children population stated the coldness, isolation, and indifference that passed for “parenting” in their homes “freaked” them out, drove them “up the wall,” “filled me with hate,” and used other expressions to mean they had been going insane because of the lack of love, warmth, and caring from adults responsible for their care and maintenance: their own parents.
These 103 children told me they killed because they felt alienated, isolated, unloved, unlovable, depressed. They also had experienced verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse by an adult, or some other form of adult betrayal. And they had ready access to alcohol, drugs, and…guns! In 1995 4,236,942 firearms were manufactured. These included pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, and other miscellaneous firepower. Most of these weapons have nothing whatsoever to do with hunting animals. On the contrary, it is people, including children, whose lives have been snuffed out by this tonnage of firearms.
Gunfire killed 4,643 infants, children, and teens in 1996—134 murdered before their 10th birthday. More children under 10 years of age are killed each year by guns than police are killed in the line of duty or U.S. soldiers killed by hostile action. The Centers for Disease Control reports that American children under 15 are 12 times more likely to die from gun violence than their peers in 25 other industrialized nations combined.
As a nation, we have expended Herculean amounts of time, money and effort preparing to meet the twenty-first century by immunizing our ubiquitous computerized-technology systems against the notorious “Y2K Bug.” However necessary that crusade might have been, the larger issue is: How much time, money and effort are we prepared to continue to pour into the real “Y2K’s—Years 2000 Kids—who possess the power to change the course of American history forever? As the Honorable William Bennett, former White House Cabinet member stated, it is only young twenty-first century America that can legitimately be called “history’s most violent ‘civilized’ nation.”
How much longer are we going to put up with the constant magnification and glorification of violence and guns on our movie, television, Internet, and video game screens? Who was asleep at the switch when guns became the only unregulated consumer product in America? Why do we regulate toy guns, but not the real guns that kill a child every two hours? Why are real guns so easy for children to find…in many cases, as easy as toy guns? How much more child carnage and future “Day of Commemorations…” will occur before we decide enough is enough?
Will today be the day when parents across the nation demand changes in the public education format so that mental detectors become as important as metal detectors? If not now, when? Tests for depression, specialized counseling, and behavior monitoring might prove to be positive interventions for those students who are emotionally armed and dangerous.
Is this the day we realize and accept that security cameras take fine external pictures but fail to photograph what is in a student’s heart or what is lacking in his character? If not today, when?
A 1993 report published by the American Psychological Association stated: “There is absolutely no doubt that higher levels of viewing violence on television are correlated with increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and increased aggressive behavior. Children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences.”
Television, in many homes is the electronic fireplace. I would strongly advise parents whose television sets have grown up with, and are now members of, the family to analyze the hours spent in front of the tube versus the minutes spent in real, heart-to-heart conversation. Then, turn that around: Spend minutes in front of the tube but hours in each other’s faces involved in engaging talks, stimulating discussions, and resolutions to problems.
Since last year, how many of you parents, or other parents across America, have increased the amount of time you talk to your children about moral principles, right and wrong behavior, good and bad choices? If you leave it up to the schools to do it, you’re copping out…big time. Moral education, moral direction, and moral intelligence begin at home. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. It seems that schools would rather teach the right and wrong of Driver Training, or the right and wrong about fouling in basketball or clipping in football, than teach children good, safe, sane behaviors based on the “M” word: Morality. Some schools think that teaching morality is teaching religion. Yet, few people are ever hear complaining about how “straight-laced” and moral the Driver Training rules of the road are, or how strangulating the character-and-moral-development regulations that govern school athletics and other team sports are.
Is there anybody complaining about the smear that 6-year old Elian Gonzalez’s father made about American schools on “60 Minutes” last Sunday? Mr. Gonzalez, a self-admitted communist who embraces the communist regime of Fidel Castro, in a country where bread lines are so long they have “Stop” and “Go” signs and modern medicine got lost in the Bay of Pigs, said American schools are where kids go to get shot. Now, wait a minute. We don’t like to use the words “moral” or “moral education” because they are too closely-aligned with religion, with God. Yet, all of the nation’s state constitutions—and that’s 50—unabashedly acknowledge and otherwise refer to God, in reverential, devout and gracious terms. Are we going to declare those state constitutions unconstitutional?
Mr. Gonzalez’s belief system prohibits that he acknowledge a Supreme Being. Our country was built on freedom of religion. Yet, somehow, that cherished concept has eroded into freedom from religion—or moral teachings, or spiritual guidance. The result is a moral vacuum that breeds immoral children whose god is a gun. And from a backward country where it takes people like Mr. Gonzalez an hour-and-a-half to watch “60 Minutes”, he, who professes no belief in a Supreme Being, calls it like he sees it: “American schools are where kids go to get shot.”
Somebody once asked me if America’s turning its back on—and not fearing—God has put us in the position of now having to fear our very own children, as punishment. That is a very important question. And while I am not suggesting that we turn our schools into seminaries and monasteries, I am suggesting that we begin immediately instituting right-and-wrong concepts, character development frameworks, and life-ethics training in our nation’s kindergarten through 12th-grade school curricula. And some states already have. Incidentally, let’s not throw our hands up and join with Elian Gonzalez’s father in championing Cuba’s educational system.
But what you can do right away is suggest to your school administrators that World History can wait and children ought to be taught how to stop the bloodshed flowing over their modern history today. Tell school leaders that dry Mathematics and arid Algebra might be brought to life if students were repeatedly asked to link raw numbers, equations and theorems to the national daily child homicide death toll.
Tell them also that the Language Arts program might produce more scholarly, articulate, and effective journalists if they were given field assignments in visiting the morgue where juvenile corpses lay; observing court proceedings on juvenile homicide; and interviewing homicide cops in the local precinct.
Don’t forget to tell them that Social Science might be more relevant if students created their own Teen Court, under the watchful eye of a local judge, and heard cases on a variety of campus behavioral infractions, and levied fines and discipline sanctions. If you don’t begin all of this today…when would you?
In the meantime, instill principles of honesty and integrity in your child. Children appreciate knowing what the standard is and reaching it. Knowing right from wrong clears up heir thinking and develops their moral intelligence. Children lacking in moral intelligence do not have the capacity to make moral decisions. If no moral teaching has been instilled in them, there exists a void that will be constantly filled with anti-social thoughts and actions. There is a direct link between a child’s ignorance of life-ethics, his disregard for right and wrong moral behavior, and his decision to kill another child or other human being.
Help your child set clear attainable objectives and thus have the satisfaction of controlling his own future. That’s what really produces genuine self-esteem. Children who lack the capacity for self-love and self-esteem can never realize their full possibilities. One of the most important gifts you can give your child is to teach him to be “response-able”—able to respond.
Teach your child to seek and become aligned with a spiritual purpose. You may find that a church or house of worship can help you to dot his in an organized, efficient, and consistent way. You are the ultimate model for your child, whether you know it or not. You were his first teacher. From you, it is important that he learns there are more good people than bad people and more reasons to be happy and optimistic than sad and sullen.
Teach your child nonviolent communication strategies and peace-building skills. Repeatedly emphasize that a gun or other weapon is never, ever an acceptable alternative to nonviolent interaction and positive communication.
Your child is exposed to you but a fraction of the time, in contrast with his exposure to ideas, people and events outside the family. Try to make each of your interactive moments with him joyful, meaningful, rewarding, and loving experiences. Parents who are in touch with themselves and their loving attitudes and inclinations are more effective parents.
All children who make the decision to kill somebody else are alienated and isolated from important adults in their lives. We must constantly give our children a sense that they are loved and valued and safe. A recent study of students in grades 7-12 showed that teenagers who feel “connected” to their schools and families are less likely to engage in risky or violent behavior. This is hardly a surprise. We cannot underestimate the importance of family, teachers, and faith communities, and we must nurture that feeling of “connectedness” very early. Parents’ voices are the ones children recognize first and fastest. And parents, especially fathers, need to express their love to their children verbally and often. Silence may be all right for strangers, but not for families. Bad kids can happen to good parents, and it is better to take time and lovingly persist in coaxing your son to “talk out” whatever’s on his chest, so he won’t put a bullet into your or somebody else’s chest.
Emotion often drives behavior. Always consult your child’s feelings; how he feels will tell you how he is coping. Children’s emotions are dynamic and their flare-ups illuminate their feelings. Addressing the emotional needs of your child should be a constant priority. Teenagers appreciate and admire parents who patiently stick it out with them, no matter what they throw at their parents, in terms of behavior. Parents who never give up, no matter the emotional “weathers” of their teens, are highly-praised (yes, teens often praise their folks to others), highly-valued and –loved parents.
Parents, you should be able to say to your children:
"I am your parent, you are my child, and I vow, as of this moment and until time is no more, to love you. You are the best part of me. I hold you, hug your, touch you, teach you, and shine my eyes upon you in love. With patience, I joyfully share my strength with you. With kindness and praise, I show you right from wrong, good from bad. When you fall, I gently pick you up and the feather of my kiss brushes your tears away. The rhythm of our hearts is the beat of our love. It is with pride that I am your model of gentleness, your mirror of sensitivity. I am the grownup you will become. You are my joy and it is with total love that I touch and teach you, guide and lead you.
I promise you a home in which your spirits will lift you to newer and greater heights and where you are free to dream and express the full palette of your talents on the canvas of your personality. I will show you how your desire gives you the energy of angels; you will learn to soar with your enthusiasm. I will show you how to live well—with hope and vision, the confidence to climb any mountain, the trust to reach out and touch. You will learn to help others with a heart that heals. For you I must, and will always be, the sum of patience, the temple of goodness, the soft winds and silent springs of compassion.
I will teach you to love life fully, give to others generously and let your light shine. Perfect love replaces fear, and you will learn how to greet each day with love, salute the Universe with joy and thanksgiving, and to let the quiet night comfort your soul. We are one with this gift called Life, and heirs to the blessings of our grand and glorious Universe. The Universe is filled with abundance and I will teach you to desire only good from the Universe and give only good back to the Universe.
You will learn the importance of sharing the blessings the Universe pours upon you. I will teach you to never look back upon yesterday, nor pine away for tomorrow. You will learn that virtue comes from being thankful for the nowness and newness that is today, for it is the gift we call The Present.
You will learn that the mind is a great source of strength, love is the root of your character, and that life is filled with goodness. I promise to let your talents guide, cheer and support you, for that which you love is where your heart is; and where your heart is, there you will thrive. Through peace, you will learn to negotiate; through love, to communicate; and through respect, to articulate. For by giving to others what they need, you thus build the bridge to what you need. Thinking of others is a virtue you will always value. You will learn that laughter is often the best medicine. I promise you days filled with laughter and learning so that your sleep will be filled with dreams of joy. Life is not a lullaby but you will know that your humor is a music that gives life flavor.
You are an important, vital member of this family, a very necessary member of the human race. You help to make family and community strong. From this moment on, until time is no more, I promise to love you.
Thank you for teaching me what the truest treasure in life really is."
While America is not currently at war with any foreign power, we must know—by our presence here—that our children have declared war on each other. There are millions of children who are depending on us—for protection, for guidance, for the basic necessities. Before one more child is lost, we must promise ourselves that we will do all that is necessary to make our homes safer, our children more secure. For home is where the hate is. Children who kill are homegrown. There is no such as unsafe schools, only unsafe homes. Schools are only as safe as the homes they must serve.
Children are throwing the family gun into their school backpacks along with their peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and hauling this lot of problems to school to “share” their pain.
We need to mount an all-out campaign, which the Centers for Disease Control might appreciate: We must vaccinate our children against violence; immunize our children against intolerance; and humanize our children with love. That is the only way we will re-unite the United States in peace.
When a ship capsizes at sea and life boats are heaved overboard, the rule of rescue is “women and children first.” Our great ship of state is capsizing before our very eyes, and our children are drowning in their own bloodshed. When was the last time you heard anybody say, “Children first”? We need to become instantly and actively involved in the greatest rescue effort this country has ever known, saving our children from adolescentcide. Far too many children’s lives are being lost by the love of force, expressed through violence. The only way we can rescue them is with the force of love.
May God save the children. May the nation’s victims of adolescentcide rest in peace, for we, the living, must not. Our mission of saving our children has scarcely begun.
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