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AG Harvey Announces
Gang Survey Results: N.J. Home
to 17,000 Street Gang Members
TRENTON - Attorney General Peter C. Harvey today
released the results of a new, statewide report on illegal
street gang activity that places the number of street gang
members operating in New Jersey at nearly 17,000, and the
number of gangs at nearly 700.
Based on a 2004 State Police Gang Bureau survey of law enforcement
personnel in the 479 municipalities that maintain full-time
police departments – 91 percent of those departments responded
-- the survey provides the most comprehensive, law-enforcement-based
estimate of street gang membership in New Jersey to date.
Attorney General Harvey said that, in addition to providing
a statistical picture of the street gang presence in New
Jersey, the 2004 survey offers compelling anecdotal evidence
that gang activity is on the rise statewide. For example:
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In 44 percent of the municipalities in which an active
street gang presence was reported, gang activity was
said by police to have increased compared to the previous
year.
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In 37 percent of municipalities that reported no street
gang presence during a similar survey done in 2001, police
now report that there is gang activity taking place.
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In 39 percent of responding suburban municipalities,
police reported the presence of gangs in their towns,
an increase of 27 percent compared to 2001.
“We have made many gang-related arrests, and conducted many
successful gang-related prosecutions. We have launched a
number of gang-prevention initiatives that are already making
a difference in young lives. Despite these efforts, New Jersey
continues to have a significant problem with street gangs
and related community violence, ” said Attorney General Harvey
during a press conference today at the Hughes Justice Complex.
Joining Harvey at the press conference were State Police
Superintendent Col. Joseph R. Fuentes and Division of Criminal
Justice Director Vaughn L. McKoy. Also attending were Dr.
Duane Dyson, Chairman of the Violence Prevention Institute,
and Dr. Robert Johnson, Chairman of Pediatrics and Director
of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University
of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
“Too many young people are being maimed or killed in gang-related
violence, and too many innocent citizens are being impacted
when that violence takes place on the street, which it often
does,” said the Attorney General. “Collectively, we have
to stop being reactive to the gang problem, and begin to
address it through comprehensive and collaborative prevention
strategies. Of course, we cannot begin to effectively deal
with the gang problem until we fully understand it, which
surveys like this are helping us to do.”
In conducting the 2004 gang survey, said Superintendent
Fuentes, State Police asked municipal law enforcement agencies
to respond to a detailed questionnaire about gang activity
in their communities. Some of the surveys were done in the
form of a telephone interview between State Police personnel
and the chief of a department, or the chief’s designee. Other
surveys were done by mail, although the questions posed were
the same in both cases.
Current Gang Membership
Fuentes said that, according to the 2004 survey, there are
28 gangs in New Jersey made up of 100 or more members. Those
gangs account for more than half of all gang members throughout
the state. The survey results also indicate that, despite
evidence of gang proliferation in the suburbs, inner-city
neighborhoods continue to be the principal home ground for
street gangs. Approximately 70 percent of gang members reported
in the 2004 survey were reported by police in New Jersey’s
urban centers.
The three gangs consistently mentioned by local police agencies
as their most serious problem were the Bloods, Crips and
Latin Kings. Those three gangs also have the largest estimated
aggregate membership: Bloods (4,000), Latin Kings (2,345)
and Crips (2,100).
According to other survey results:
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Approximately 17 percent of all reported homicides in
New Jersey involve gang members.
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There are more than an estimated 2,300 gang members
in New Jersey under age 15. Statewide, 18-to-24-year-olds
form the largest single sub-group of gang members, followed
by 15-to-17-year-olds, and then those older than 24.
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Within the estimated statewide membership of 16,700
gang members, the ratio of male gang members to female
gang members is about 9-to-1. However, 22 street gangs
were reported to have a female membership of 25 percent
or more.
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The majority of identified street gangs – about 76 percent – are
made up of members from the same racial and ethnic backgrounds.
(30 percent black, 29 percent hispanic, 15 percent white,
less than 1 percent Asian). Multi-racial or multi-ethnic
gangs made up about 14 percent of all gangs reported
in the 2004 survey. For the remainder of street gangs
identified by police, no information was provided on
racial/ethnic composition.
The former head of the State Police gang unit, Fuentes noted
that is sometimes difficult to obtain reliable information
about gang activity. For example, a group of lawbreakers
that appears to function as a street gang may disband due
to poor organization or lack of sustained interest, only
to re-emerge later and once again become active. Other street
gangs, meanwhile, may operate in multiple jurisdictions at
the same time, or on a shifting basis, making it difficult
to determine if their membership constitutes one outlaw gang
or several.
“Developing reliable information that helps us understand
gang activity -- and then keeping that information current
-- is the challenge that confronts us,” said Fuentes. “By
its very nature, the process of quantifying the gang problem,
identifying regions of the state where gangs are most prevalent,
and understanding the nature of gang activity is an inexact
science. However, this survey provides a great deal of useful
information on gangs for law enforcement, policy makers,
and the public at large.”
Dr. Dyson, of the Violence Prevention Institute, said such
information is essential to targeting street gang education
and violence-prevention-related efforts.
“The problem of youth violence and gang involvement is a
complicated issue that has the potential to destroy the fabric
of our communities and this nation,” said Dyson. “As community
leaders, we must fight this plague with all available resources,
starting at the grass roots level. Youth violence must be
dealt with through intervention and education. If we choose
not to do so, there will be a continuing cycle of despair.”
Dr. Johnson, the UMDNJ Director of Adolescent and Young
Adult Medicine, said that “no teenager is immune to the seductive
power of gangs and gang membership. “
”For many young people, these often violent social structures
provide a powerful response to their need to belong and be
accepted,” said Dr. Johnson. “In view of this reality, we
need to find more and better ways to strengthen families
and strengthen communities. Stepped up enforcement efforts
alone, no matter how vigorous or well-intended, will not
get the job done.”
Comparison With Prior
Gang Surveys
In 2001, a State Police street gang survey found there were
an estimated 7,500 gang members and nearly 300 gangs – fewer
than half the number of gang members and gangs reported in
the 2004 survey. However, Attorney General Harvey urged perspective
when considering the degree of increase suggested by numbers
reported in the 2001 and 2004 surveys.
While the newest survey results provide convincing statistical
and anecdotal evidence that street gang activity is on the
rise, he said, some of the stark contrast in data between
the 2001 and 2004 studies may also have to do with fundamental
differences in survey methodology, and in levels of police
participation.
For example, the 2001 gang survey excluded from consideration
any motorcycle gangs, hate or “ideology” groups and/or prison
gangs. The 2004 survey more broadly defined gangs -- consistent
with language drawn from the New Jersey Criminal Code --
as “three or more people who are associated in fact ... people
who have a common group name, identifying sign, tattoos or
other indicia of association, and who have engaged in criminal
offenses while engaged in gang-related activity.”
Law enforcement participation levels were also significantly
higher in the 2004 survey compared with 2001.
Three years ago, the State Police survey sample consisted
of about 200 police departments chosen because one or more
of their personnel had attended State-Police-sponsored gang
awareness training.
In 2004, the target survey sample was expanded to include
each of the 479 full-time police departments in the State.
Of those, 439 responded, while 40 departments either did
not reply in time, or simply did not respond.
“While it is by no means the final word on the subject,
this survey is vital, because it is helping us to develop
as comprehensive and accurate a picture of street gang activity
as possible,” said Division of Criminal Justice Director
McKoy. “Whether we are talking about targeted street gang
enforcement activity, or about gang awareness and prevention
programs, the first step for law enforcement is to have a
reliable frame of reference.”
Said Attorney General Harvey, “I applaud the full-time municipal
police departments of New Jersey, because their level of
responsiveness to the survey was excellent. With relatively
few exceptions, local law enforcement has demonstrated a
readiness to work with us cooperatively, and candidly, to
identify the scope and nature of the gang problem, which
is the first step toward effectively combating it.”
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