NCJ Number
118574
Date Published
1984
Length
91 pages
Annotation
This 1983 annual report of the Illinois Gang Crimes Study Commission provides an overview of the commission's mandate, reports on completed 1983 investigations, documents weapons seized from gangs, reviews public hearings and a commission meeting, details rules of procedure, and recommends legislation.
Abstract
The law establishing the Commission was signed on August 6, 1982. The Commission's primary purpose is to identify important gang crime problems in Chicago and its suburbs and suggest directions for addressing these problems, including community action programs and legislation. After outlining the history of street gangs in Chicago, the current status of Chicago gangs is summarized. Subjects covered include statistics on the number of gangs and membership, street gang components, organization, major sources of illegal and legal incomes, weapons, gang fights, recruitment, and gang affiliations. Investigative reports pertain to the nature and activities of the various street gangs in 1983. The number and types of weapons seized are presented for each gang. The rules of procedure pertain to the Commission's operations. The Commission recommends that the Juvenile Court Act be amended to allow police to use juvenile arrest photos for fair and nonsuggestive identification of offenders out of court and to use at trial those photos from which identifications were made. The creation of a separately maintained computerized juvenile arrest warrant file with full law enforcement access is also recommended. Other recommendations pertain to a fund to assist victims and witnesses in gang crime prosecutions and a plan to deal with the problem of defendants who commit crimes during pretrial release.