Form LEGU - 07 LEGU - 07 2007 Survey of Law Enforcement Gang Units (OLD)

2007 Survey of Law Enforcement Gang Units

General Information

1. Please provide the official name of your gang unit: (for example, ‘Union City Gang Unit’)

2. What year was the gang unit created?

3. Does your gang unit routinely address any of the following types of groups?

Yes No

□ □ A. Street Gangs

□ □ B. “Wannabe” gangs (emulate the gang lifestyle but commit few actual crimes)

□ □ C. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMG)

□ □ D. Hate groups (for example, Aryan Nation)

□ □ E. Prison gangs

□ □ F. Terrorist organizations

□ □ G. Organized crime families (e.g. mafia)

□ □ H. Other:

4. Does your jurisdiction make use of civil gang participation injunctions?

□ Yes

□ No

5. Does your unit have a formal definition someone must meet in order to be classified as a gang member?

□ Yes

□ No

If yes, is this definition set by statute?

□ Yes

□ No

What is this definition?

_______________________________________________________________________

6. Does your unit have a formal definition a group must meet in order to be classified as a gang?

□ Yes

□ No

If yes, is this definition set by statute?

□ Yes

□ No

What is this definition?

________________________________________________________________________

Personnel

7. Report the number of full-time equivalent employees assigned to your gang unit by the following categories as of June1, 2007

A. Total sworn personnel assigned to gang unit:

Full-Time_______________

Part-Time_______________

a. The total number of sworn personnel includes:

Yes No

□ □ Uniform officers

□ □ Plainclothes officers

B. Total sworn personnel assigned to gang unit by gender:

Full-Time Part-Time

a. Males: ________ _______

b. Females: ________ _______

C. Total sworn personnel assigned to gang unit by race/ethnicity:

Full-Time Part-Time

a. White (non-Hispanic) officers: ________ ________

b. Black (non-Hispanic) officers: ________ ________

c. Hispanic officers: ________ ________

d. Asian officers: ________ ________

e. Native American officers: ________ ________

f. Other:_____________________ ________ ________

D. Total non-sworn personnel assigned to gang unit:

Full-Time____________

Part-Time____________

8. How are officers primarily selected or assigned to your gang unit?

□ Competitive selection process when vacancies/opportunities occur (e.g. promotion board)

□ Command staff identifies line officers who are then assigned to the unit

□ Current gang unit officers identify line officers who are then assigned to the unit

□ Other ____________________________________

9. Which of the following best describe the formal selection standards/criteria for gang unit officers? Mark (X) one for each:

Standard set the same for all officers	Standard set higher for gang unit officers	Not used as a selection standard
□	□	□	A. Complaint history
□	□	□	B. Discipline history
□	□	□	C. Use-of-Force record
□	□	□	D. Financial/credit history

10. Is there a maximum amount of time that officers can serve in the gang unit?

□ Yes → If yes, what is the maximum time?: years months (include all possible extensions)

□ No

11A. Do you specifically recruit officers with any of the following characteristics?

Yes No

□ □ a. Minority officers

□ □ b. Female officers

□ □ c. Officers who speak foreign languages

□ □ d. Officers raised in neighborhoods similar to those typically served by the gang unit.

11B. Do you have difficulty recruiting officers with any of the following characteristics?

Yes No

□ □ a. Minority officers

□ □ b. Female officers

□ □ c. Officers who speak foreign languages

□ □ d. Officers raised in neighborhoods similar to those typically served by the gang unit.

Other characteristics your unit looks for in potential members:______________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

12. Do new members of your gang unit receive any formal training related to gangs?

Yes No

□ □ A. Specialized training at an academy or other formal setting.

□ □ B. On-the-job training

□ □ C. Other_____________________________________________________

13. Do members of the gang unit receive periodic training on gang issues at conferences or other formal settings outside of your agency?

□ Yes

□ No

Operations

14. Do officers in your gang unit regularly respond to general calls for service (not necessarily gang related)?

□ Yes

□ No

15. Rank the following functions in terms of how your unit spends the greatest proportion of time? (1 = the unit spends the greatest proportion of time on this function)

_____ Investigation

_____ Intelligence

_____ Support

_____ Field contact/suppression

_____ Prevention programs

16. Does your gang unit utilize any of the following types of patrol or operational activities?

Yes No

□ □ A. Foot patrol

□ □ B. Bicycle patrol

□ □ C. Directed/targeted patrol of high crime areas

□ □ D. Routine patrol

□ □ E. Undercover gang infiltration

□ □ F. Undercover surveillance operations

□ □ G. Other:

17. Do any of the following agencies assign personnel to work with the gang unit on a regular basis?

Yes No

□ □ A. Housing authority management

□ □ B. Probation

□ □ C. Parole

□ □ D. State or local prosecutor

□ □ E. Officials from local, state, and/or federal detention facilities

□ □ F. Other:__________________________________________________

18. Does your gang unit participate in any local/regional task forces that primarily investigate gangs?

□ Yes → If yes, what is the name of the task force?_____________________________

□ No

19. Does your unit work with federal law enforcement agencies in any of the following capacities?

Yes No

□ □ A. Investigation of crimes

□ □ B. Participation in federal task force

□ □ C. Screening of selected cases

□ □ D. Participation in enforcement/operational planning

□ □ E. Other:__________________________________________________

Gang Information

20. Do your gangs finance themselves through any of the following sources? Mark (X) all that apply.

Yes No

□ □ a. Weapons trafficking

□ □ b. Drug trafficking

□ □ c. Street-level drug sales

□ □ d. Human trafficking

□ □ e. Gambling

□ □ f. Gang member maintain legitimate employment and pay dues to the gang

□ □ g. Prostitution

□ □ h. Sales of forged identity documents

□ □ i. Economic crimes (e.g. credit card theft, forged checks, mortgage fraud)

□ □ j. Pornography

□ □ k. Other __

Intelligence

21. Does your department/unit track ‘gang-related’ or ‘gang-motivated’ incidents, offenses, and/or arrests?

□ Yes→If yes, please supply the total number of ‘gang-related’ and/or ‘gang- motivated’ arrests in each of the following categories over the most recent 12 month period available (please check the box(es) to indicate whether the counts refer to arrests that are gang-related, gang-motivated, or both)

related motivated

A. Homicide ___________ □ □

B. Other Violent Offenses ___________ □ □

C. Property Offense ___________ □ □

D. Narcotics ___________ □ □

E. Economic Crimes ___________ □ □

F. Misdemeanors ___________ □ □

(not included in above categories)

□ No

22. Does your unit monitor gang graffiti?

□ Yes

□ No

23. Does your gang unit track individual gang members?

□ Yes

□ No

If yes, how is the done? Mark (X) all that apply

□ Paper system

□ Computerized system

Which computer system(s) do you use:

□ Gangnet

□ Rissnet

□ VGTOF

□ GRIP

□ CalGangs

□ System created within the department

□ Other:

24. Does anyone routinely audit your gang databases to remove:

Yes No

□ □ A. Deceased members

□ □ B. Incarcerated members

□ □ C. Inactive members

25. Does your gang unit employ any of the following technologies as part of gang investigations

Yes No

□ □ A. Monitoring internet sites (eg. MySpace)

□ □ B. Closed circuit cameras located in gang neighborhood

□ □ C. GPS tracking devices

□ □ D. Crime analysis software (eg. Linkage analysis, GIS)

□ □ E. Electronic listening devices

□ □ F. Other:

26A. The following relates to your sharing of criminal intelligence information gathered by the gang unit. Mark (X) any boxes that apply.

Group	Receive requests from this group	Provide periodic reports without a specific request	Provide general training on gang issues to this group	Do not provide any information
a. Command staff within my department	□	□	□	□
b. Other units/bureaus within my department	□	□	□	□
c. Neighboring law enforcement agencies	□	□	□	□
d. Other criminal justice agencies (e.g. courts, prosecutors)	□	□	□	□

26B. The following relates to your sharing of non-intelligence information gathered by the gang unit. Mark (X) any boxes that apply.

Group	Receive requests from this group	Provide periodic reports without a specific request	Provide general training on gang issues to this group	Do not provide any information
a. Command staff within my department	□	□	□	□
b. Other units/bureaus within my department	□	□	□	□
c. Neighboring law enforcement agencies	□	□	□	□
d. Other criminal justice agencies (e.g. courts, prosecutors)	□	□	□	□
e. Non-criminal justice agencies	□	□	□	□
f. Media outlets	□	□	□	□
g. The general public	□	□	□	□

27. How much of your gang unit activity is spent on investigating the following types of crimes. Mark (X) one box for each crime type.

None <25% 26-50% 51-75% >76%

A. Serious violent felonies □ □ □ □ □

B. Economic crimes □ □ □ □ □

C. Prostitution □ □ □ □ □

D. Narcotics □ □ □ □ □

E. Graffiti □ □ □ □ □ F. Immigration □ □ □ □ □

28. Does your gang unit submit records to the NCIC Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF)?

□ Yes → If yes, enter the number of submissions during the past month: ________ □ No

29. Does your gang unit run queries on the NCIC Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF)?

□ Yes → If yes, enter the number of queries during the past month: _________

□ No

Prevention/Intervention

30. Does your gang unit, as part of its official responsibility, participate in formalized programs aimed at preventing youth involvement in gangs? This does not include on-the-street contacts aimed at preventing gang involvement.

□ Yes→ If yes, do you include ex-gang members in your prevention programs.

□ Yes

□ No

□ No

31. Does your gang unit participate in the following activities.

Yes No

□ □ A. Prevention activities with youth not involved in gangs

□ □ B. Prevention activities with gang-involved youth

□ □ C. Instructing G.R.E.A.T. or other gang prevention programs

□ □ D. Providing gang prevention literature to community members, families, youth, etc.

□ □ E. Prevention activities with faith-based organizations

□ □ F. Other:__________________________________________________