December 11, 2014

Despite the historically low crime rates across the United States, violent crime continues to be a challenge for many communities. Research indicates gang members are responsible for a disproportionate share of violent juvenile offenses. According to the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey, there are an estimated 30,700 gangs and 850,000 gang members throughout 3,100 jurisdictions in the United States.

A survey of Seattle (WA) gang members found those youth were three times more likely than non-gang members to report committing break-ins and assaults and eight times more likely to report committing robberies. A similar study of high-risk Denver (CO) youth found gang members constituted just 14 percent of the sample but committed 80 percent of the serious and violent crimes.

Research shows core strategies to address community gang problems include community mobilization, opportunities provisions, social intervention, suppression and organizational change and development.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model (the Model) – previously known as the Spergel Model – addresses these core strategies by helping communities take an integrated approach when target¬ing gangs. The Model:

• Identifies needs at the individual, family and commu¬nity levels and addresses those needs in a coordinated and comprehensive response.
• Conducts an inventory of human and financial resourc¬es in the community and creates plans to fill gaps and leverage existing resources to support effective gang-reduction strategies.
• Applies the best research-based programs across appro¬priate age ranges, risk categories and agency boundaries.
• Encourages coordination and integration vertically (local, state and federal agencies) and horizontally (across communities and program types).

Implementations of the strategies comprising the Model are very difficult to maintain over time; thus success in sites has varied. However most recently, the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver focused the past four years on fidelity to the Model (2011-present). While this model has been implemented, Denver has also experienced its lowest homicide rate in the past 30 years.

Another successful primary prevention program is the Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program. The goal of this school-based, officer-instructed, classroom curriculum is to help youth develop positive life skills to help them avoid gang involvement and violent behavior. The G.R.E.AT. Program has trained more than 12,000 instructors who have then provided instruction to more than six million children.

Seven cities across the U.S. (Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Nashville, TN; Portland, OR; Garland, TX; Greeley, CO; and Albuquerque, NM) participated in a five-year impact study of the G.R.E.A.T. Program. One year after the program, students who completed the program were 39 percent less likely to join a gang than their peers who didn’t take part in the program. Additionally, G.R.E.A.T. students showed significantly more favorable attitudes toward police, more negative attitudes about gangs, more use of refusal skills and less engagement in risky behaviors.

While these methods have shown some success, the problem is far from gone. Gang violence rates have continued to rise at exceptional levels over the past decade despite the remarkable overall crime drop in the U.S. Early intervention coupled with integrated strategies is the foundation to help communities prevent gang activity and reduce the associated violence.

OJJDP, through the National Gang Center, provides training materials, curriculums and technical assistance on community gang problem assessment, multidisciplinary gang intervention and comprehensive community responses to gangs. For more information visit www.nationalgangcenter.gov.