NCJ Number
209219
Date Published
March 2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This document presents both the executive summary and final report of an analysis concerning interrupting and decreasing the prevalence and activities of violent youth gangs.
Abstract
While youth gangs have been a part of life since the American Revolution, today their increasing numbers and globalization present an unprecedented threat to public security. Previously a phenomenon of inner city life, violent youth gangs have now penetrated most United States cities, as well as Mexico and Central America. Their deviant activities include trafficking in drugs and arms, smuggling persons across U.S. borders, extortion, robbery, and a host of other illegal and violent activities. As a result of the continuous flow of undocumented migrants crossing porous U.S. borders and the improved global transportation and communications networks, violent youth gangs continue to grow in number and size and continue to expand their illegal activities. Several suggestions are proposed for how to effectively interrupt the activities of gangs and decrease their numbers. Suggestions include the need for a comprehensive and sustained effort involving local law enforcement, probation officers, social workers, community leaders, and other local agencies. Policymakers at all levels should work toward promoting safe neighborhoods via Federal and local law enforcement partnerships and should emphasize the importance of stronger zone border controls in reducing illegal immigration. On the global level, transnational gang activity may be interrupted by supporting open market economies in Mexico and Central America, by supporting judicial reform efforts in these nations that would strengthen the rule of law, by promoting family-oriented policies and education improvement, and by sharing intelligence on gangs with other nations. This type of comprehensive and sustained approach will reduce youth gang activity and the global threat it now poses. Footnotes