Each month the North Jersey Regional Crime Prevention Officers Association holds a monthly meeting in Hackensack, New Jersey and averages 75 law enforcement and private security attendees. On January 25, 2005 the association decided to initiate the new year in partnership with The New Jersey Community Policing Institute, Fairleigh Dickinson University, The New Jersey Department of Corrections, ASIS International, The New York City Police Department, and the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey. This initiative was energized by the philosophy of the Department of Homeland Security that security is no longer solely law enforcements responsibility, but necessitates a collaborative effort among citizens, corporations, private security and the government. The result of the animated leadership of the crime prevention association’s commitment to this philosophy resulted in a standing room only crowd at Fairleigh Dickinson’s Wilson auditorium with over 300 law enforcement, private security and educators responding to the presentation entitled “Gangs, Guns, and Drugs”.

The success of this educational venue and the interest of the participants underscore the need for responding to the violent reality of the gang culture and the realization of the prevalence of gangs within the very fabric of American society.

Gangs: A Flashpoint for Violence

As indicated by the very definition of a gang, they are groups of two or more individuals who engage in criminal activity and identify themselves with a common name or sign. It is pure foolishness to think that serious gangs are not potentially migrating or already deeply imbedded into communities not only in New Jersey but also throughout the United States. New Jersey has 21 counties and there are indicators of gang activity in all of the 21. These indicators are noticeable in communities, high schools, college campuses, and even in intermediate schools. Gang activity also effects correctional facilities where prison gangs, better known as security threat groups, are prevalent and defined as “two or more inmates, acting together, who pose a threat to the security or safety of staff/inmates and/or are disruptive to programs and/or to the orderly management of the correctional facility”.

The National Criminal Justice Service recently released information and statistics gleaned from a wide variety of gang publications which stresses:

• Within the correctional setting, when a victim was attacked, weapons were used 49.5 percent against the staff and 86.1 percent of the time against inmate victims.
• Surveys show that approximately 10 percent of gangs are female.
• There are approximately 24,500 gangs and 772,500 active gang members in more then 3,300 jurisdictions across the United States. (Some of the better known gangs are The Nations, Latin Kings, Netas, Five Percenters, Bloods, Crips, Prison Brotherhood of Bikers, and the Aryan Brotherhood) Currently in New Jersey, the Intelligence Section of the New Jersey Department of Corrections maintains files on over 7,734 gang members in the correctional system from over 257 different gangs.
• Gang-affiliated inmates were more likely to be involved in drug trafficking, property destruction and other misconduct.
• At least 50 percent of gang members were juveniles (i.e., younger then 18). Reports indicate that 47 percent of gang members were Hispanic, 31 percent African American, 13 percent white, 7 percent Asian and 2 percent other.
• Among gang-members, 71.6 percent felt strong family involvement would prevent youth from joining gangs.
• According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Prevention Program, killings by juvenile gang members increased 500 percent between 1980 and 1994, making this one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States.

Essentially, whether within the correctional facility or on the streets, gangs equate to violence, manifested by guns and drugs, all inseparable in a vicious cycle. Gang members who engage in illegal activity carry weapons for protection and use violent retaliation for real or perceived disrespect. Retaliation can be targeted toward any gang member representative, not just the one who committed the disrespect. Once a war, ignited by this type of belligerent animosity ignites, violence may be perpetual. If an individual is recognized as a gang member (easily facilitated through beads, clothing, tattoo’s, colors, graffiti, etc.) that person is in serious danger of violence and even if one leaves a gang, the dangerous association remains and the violence continues and escalates.

Prevention through Awareness

A primary defense in protecting youth from gang influence is to prevent the initiation from its primary occurrence or to intervene at the earliest stage possible. In order to be effective in this regard, the collaborative partnership between the schools, law enforcement and families is critical. Educating youth about gang association and the consequence of communicating with gangs, wearing gang-related clothing, etc. must be a priority since it may ultimately lead to saving their lives from vicious and perverse acts of violence. Through the educational system, these are some of the early warning signs that must be vigilantly observed and immediately responded to. An internal mental wake-up call should ring within a parent, educator, security or law enforcement official if a child exhibits any of these warning signs:

• Admits that they are involved in any manner with a gang
• Is obsessed with a particular clothing color
• Prefers sagging pants or gang clothing without belts
• Requests a particular logo over other such as British Knights (BK)- known as “Blood Killer” in some areas
• Adopts an unusual desire for privacy and secrecy
• Exhibits a change in attitude and conduct and withdraws from the family
• Is frequently deceitful about their activities
• Shows declining grades at school
• Truancy and/or being late for school
• Begins unusually late and unreasonable hours
• Breaks parental rules and shows contempt for authority
• Is obsessed with gangster music or videos
• Associates with the “wrong crowd”
• Begins using hand signs with friends
• Has paint or permanent marker stains on his/her hands or clothes or is in possession of graffiti paraphernalia such as markers, etching tools or spray paint.
• Shows evidence of physical injuries and lies about how they were received
• Displays unusual drawings or text on school books or displays graffiti in their bedrooms and on items such as books
• Produces unexplained cash, clothing, jewelry, music CD’s, etc
• Exhibits use of drugs or alcohol
• Has the possession of a weapon

Regarding the aforementioned, it is essential to heed advice from the publication entitled “Early Warning, Timely Response, A Guide to Safe Schools” which was released by the Department of Education and the Department of Justice. In this publication, insightful advice is presented stressing that early warning signs are indicators and should not be misrepresented as a rationale to exclude, punish or isolate youth. Indicators of violence and aggression must be understood within a context, stereotypes must be avoided, signs must be viewed within a developmental context and these signs, words and actions must not be overreacted to. The goal of the educator, family member, security and law enforcement official is to learn from the signs and lead the youth to a proper growth path and not to lose the youth by inappropriate overreaction. The capacity of educators, security, law enforcement, families and the community to effectively intervene must be developed. Interventions must be sustained, multiple, coordinated and without burdensome referral systems.

Complimenting the insights of this report is the “Safe School Initiative, An Interim Report of Targeted Violence in Schools” which was published by the U.S. Secret Service in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education. Although this report focuses on school violence and a school shooter; gang awareness, prevention and intervention is intimately intertwined with the schools and therefore advisements from this report are beneficial. Specifically, the report emphasizes that there is no accurate or useful profile of a school shooter. Profiles carry a risk of over identification and the ultimate question is if a student is on a path toward a violent attack and the goal must always be how to intervene quickly and most effectively.

During a congressional testimony by the Director of the FBI before the United States Senate Committee on Intelligence on February 16, 2005, the Director stated that there is a convergence of criminal threats with rare clear dividing lines that distinguish terrorist and criminal activity. Violent gangs were specifically addressed as more organized, larger, more violent and more widespread then ever before and that they pose a growing threat to the safety and security of Americans. In this testimony, the Director emphasized that communities continue to experience devastating incidences of murder, drive-by shootings and assaults by gangs mainly involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs. Yet, gang activity extends far beyond protection of turf. It impacts innocent citizens who have no connection or involvement with gangs and it increasingly transcends municipal boundaries. Gang members travel from city to city, between states and, on occasion, between countries to commit crimes.

The Director continued to state that the problem is so pervasive that the FBI is implementing a coordinated, intelligence-driven National Gang Strategy to disrupt and dismantle gangs that pose the greatest threats to America’s communities and that the bureau is centralizing gang investigations at FBI Headquarters with a new $10 million National Gang Intelligence Center. This center will collect intelligence on gangs from across the United States to analyze this intelligence and disseminate it to help law enforcement authorities execute strategies to prevent gang violence. Gang matters have been reclassified from “violent criminal offenders” to “criminal organizations and enterprises” which is a higher priority area allowing the U.S. Department of Justice to charge gang members under federal racketeering statues which can result in stiffer prison sentences for convicted subjects.

Gang violence is a reality of the environment of disenfranchised and marginalized youth who are themselves victims of the deterioration of the American family. The desperate association of America’s youth to the deceptive allure of gangs due to a need to be loved, recognized, appreciated and needed is expressive of a culture of violence and alienation. This can only be effectively responded to with collaborative law enforcement, private security, family, community and educational partnerships with cohesiveness, dedication and perseverance for their health, safety and welfare as the order of the day.

Vincent J. Bove, CPP is a Board Certified Protection Professional, Board Certified Crime Prevention Specialist, Certified Law Enforcement Instructor and U.S. Department of Justice Certified Community Anti-Terrorism Awareness Trainer.

He is the 2007 New Jersey recipient of the prestigious FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and was hand-selected to serve as a facilitator and mentor for the 2007 National Conference on Ethics in America and speaker for the 2008 conference at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

"Vincent J. Bove is considered one of the foremost national experts on school and workplace violence prevention, specializing in facility protection, evacuations, terrorism prevention and leadership training." -- U.S. Senate

You can visit Mr. Bove's website at www.vincentbove.com or email him at vincent@vincentbove.com