June 9th, 2011
The following post appears courtesy of Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.
Preliminary FBI crime figures for 2011 show that violent crime is declining in many communities across the country. Nevertheless, while overall violent crime rates may be down, one thing is clear: gangs remain a threat to public safety in this country’s major urban areas. The challenge is to find the most effective means to combat gang crime.
The Obama Administration is committed to using science-based efforts to prevent and reduce crime. Research and experience have shown that successful anti-gang strategies include community partnerships with law enforcement, education, public health, community-based and faith-based organizations, business and philanthropic communities, and balanced approaches, beginning with prevention and through reentry.
This week, representatives from the Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) joins more than 900 law enforcement officers, school personnel, and community leaders at the 2011 National Gang Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The agenda includes sessions on national gang trends, prosecuting gang cases, intervening with girls in gangs, conducting a community gang assessment, gang issues in a correctional setting, and best practices to prevent, intervene, and suppress gang violence.
OJJDP today released a fact sheet on 2009 National Youth Gang Survey, estimating 28,100 gangs and 731,000 gang members throughout 3,500 jurisdictions nationwide. The National Gang Center conducts the annual gang survey and analyzes its trends. Findings showed that as recently as 2009, one-half of homicides in Los Angeles and one-third of homicides in Chicago were gang related, and about a quarter of all homicides in other large cities were gang related. To combat gang-related violence, the National Gang Center, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and OJJDP, offers state and local law enforcement agencies training and technical assistance to plan and implement anti-gang strategies.
We also work with other federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor, on the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, established by President Obama in October 2010. The Forum’s six cities, selected last year to develop comprehensive anti-gang strategies, shared their plans at the Summit on Preventing Youth Violence in Washington, D.C. More details on how officials in the selected cities use partnerships, balanced approaches, and data-driven strategies to combat gangs are available at www.findyouthinfo.gov.
Another anti-gang resource for state and local partners is the Department’s Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program, created in 1991 by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Phoenix Police Department. Now coordinated by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed curriculum focuses on prevention through offering life skills to students to help them avoid joining a gang and using violence to solve problems. Two longitudinal studies of the G.R.E.A.T. program showed positive results for middle school students. Now in its 20th year in operation, G.R.E.A.T. is taught in schools in all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, and internationally, and has nearly 6 million student graduates.
The Obama Administration’s commitment to combating gangs continues in Fiscal Year 2012. The President’s budget request includes funding for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, and a Gang and Youth Violence Prevention program to support community strategies for gang prevention, intervention, suppression, and reentry.
Information about current anti-gang resources is available at www.ojp.gov.
Preliminary FBI crime figures for 2011 show that violent crime is declining in many communities across the country. Nevertheless, while overall violent crime rates may be down, one thing is clear: gangs remain a threat to public safety in this country’s major urban areas. The challenge is to find the most effective means to combat gang crime.
The Obama Administration is committed to using science-based efforts to prevent and reduce crime. Research and experience have shown that successful anti-gang strategies include community partnerships with law enforcement, education, public health, community-based and faith-based organizations, business and philanthropic communities, and balanced approaches, beginning with prevention and through reentry.
This week, representatives from the Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) joins more than 900 law enforcement officers, school personnel, and community leaders at the 2011 National Gang Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The agenda includes sessions on national gang trends, prosecuting gang cases, intervening with girls in gangs, conducting a community gang assessment, gang issues in a correctional setting, and best practices to prevent, intervene, and suppress gang violence.
OJJDP today released a fact sheet on 2009 National Youth Gang Survey, estimating 28,100 gangs and 731,000 gang members throughout 3,500 jurisdictions nationwide. The National Gang Center conducts the annual gang survey and analyzes its trends. Findings showed that as recently as 2009, one-half of homicides in Los Angeles and one-third of homicides in Chicago were gang related, and about a quarter of all homicides in other large cities were gang related. To combat gang-related violence, the National Gang Center, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and OJJDP, offers state and local law enforcement agencies training and technical assistance to plan and implement anti-gang strategies.
We also work with other federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor, on the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, established by President Obama in October 2010. The Forum’s six cities, selected last year to develop comprehensive anti-gang strategies, shared their plans at the Summit on Preventing Youth Violence in Washington, D.C. More details on how officials in the selected cities use partnerships, balanced approaches, and data-driven strategies to combat gangs are available at www.findyouthinfo.gov.
Another anti-gang resource for state and local partners is the Department’s Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program, created in 1991 by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Phoenix Police Department. Now coordinated by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed curriculum focuses on prevention through offering life skills to students to help them avoid joining a gang and using violence to solve problems. Two longitudinal studies of the G.R.E.A.T. program showed positive results for middle school students. Now in its 20th year in operation, G.R.E.A.T. is taught in schools in all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, and internationally, and has nearly 6 million student graduates.
The Obama Administration’s commitment to combating gangs continues in Fiscal Year 2012. The President’s budget request includes funding for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, and a Gang and Youth Violence Prevention program to support community strategies for gang prevention, intervention, suppression, and reentry.
Information about current anti-gang resources is available at www.ojp.gov.
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