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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           AG

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2008  (202) 514-2007

[WWW.USDOJ.GOV](../../../../../../../../%5C%5CWWW.USDOJ.GOV)          
TDD (202) 514-1888

**[FACT SHEET: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COMPREHENSIVE]{.underline}**

**[EFFORTS TO FIGHT GANG VIOLENCE]{.underline}**

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice has enacted a comprehensive plan
across its many components to effectively fight and limit the impact of
gang violence nationwide. This plan includes two primary elements:
Prioritize prevention programs to provide America's youth, as well as
offenders returning to the community, with opportunities that help them
resist gang involvement; and ensure robust enforcement policies when
gang-related violence does occur. This approach also recognizes the
critical need for the Department to continue to work hand-in-hand with
state and local law enforcement and local community groups.

**[Focused Attention in Each District]{.underline}**

The Department established an Anti-Gang Coordination Committee to
organize the Department's wide-ranging efforts to combat gangs, which
includes focusing needed attention in every region.

-   Each United States Attorney has appointed an Anti-Gang Coordinator
    to provide leadership and focus to anti-gang efforts at the district
    level.

-   The Anti-Gang Coordinators, in consultation with their state and
    local law enforcement and community partners, have developed
    comprehensive, district-wide strategies to address the gang problems
    in their districts.

**[Preventing Gang Violence]{.underline}**

The first element in the Department's approach to fighting gang violence
starts at the root of the problem. The Department has organized and
supported the following programs aimed at preventing youth entry into
gangs, and giving recently released prisoners an alternative to gang
membership.

-   **Gang Prevention Summits** -- In FY 2006, the Department directed
    each United States Attorney to convene a Gang Prevention Summit in
    his or her district designed to explore additional opportunities in
    the area of gang prevention.  These summits brought together law
    enforcement and community leaders to discuss best practices,
    identify gaps in services, and create a prevention plan to target
    at-risk youth within their individual communities.  The summits
    reached over 10,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, social
    service providers, prevention practitioners, and members of the
    faith-based community.

-   **G.R.E.A.T. Program** - The Gang Resistance Education and Training
    (G.R.E.A.T.) Program is a school-based, law enforcement
    officer-instructed elementary and middle school classroom curriculum
    that also includes a Families and Summer component.  The program\'s
    primary objective is prevention and is intended as an immunization
    against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. G.R.E.A.T.
    lessons focus on providing life skills to students to help them
    avoid delinquent behavior and violence to solve problems.  In FY
    2007, the Department awarded nearly \$15 million in funding for 167
    local law enforcement G.R.E.A.T. programs.

-   **Gang Reduction Program** -- The Gang Reduction Program is designed
    to reduce gang activity in targeted neighborhoods by incorporating a
    broad spectrum of research-based interventions to address the range
    of personal, family, and community factors that contribute to
    juvenile delinquency and gang activity.  The Gang Reduction Program
    funded pilot sites in four communities characterized by significant
    existing program investment, strong indicators of citizen
    involvement, and high rates of crime and gang activity.  The sites
    are located in: 1) East Los Angeles 2) Milwaukee 3) North Miami
    Beach and 4) Richmond, Va..

-   **Helping America's Youth Initiative** -- DOJ has played a major
    role in the President's Helping America's Youth initiative led by
    First Lady Laura Bush.  This initiative features an online Community
    Guide that aids community coalitions in developing strategic gang
    and juvenile crime prevention programs, and provides a database of
    effective prevention programs.

-   In addition, the DOJ has long supported gang prevention activities
    such as the National Youth Gang Center, and the Boys & Girls Clubs
    of America, while also developing gang prevention webcasts and
    publications which assist law enforcement and communities in
    addressing gang problems.

-   Part of the Department's prevention work focuses on providing
    opportunities to offenders who are reentering the community. Through
    prisoner reentry initiatives, including Going Home: the Serious and
    Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, the President's Prisoner
    Reentry Initiative, and initiatives being developed through the
    Attorney General's Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative, the
    Department has provided more than \$100 million to develop
    programming, training, and reentry strategies at the community level
    to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for participants.

**[Coordination, Intelligence and Enforcement]{.underline}**

Through the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC), Gang Targeting,
Enforcement, and Coordination Center (Gang TECC), and Gang Squad the
Department has established national coordination on intelligence and
enforcement mechanisms aimed at dismantling the most significant violent
national and regional gangs.

**Coordination:** The GangTECC brings together all of the operational
components of the Department, as well as other agencies within the
Federal Government to ensure that tactical and strategic intelligence is
shared among law enforcement agencies, and serves as a central
coordinating center for multi-jurisdictional gang investigations
involving federal law enforcement agencies.\
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**Intelligence:** The NGIC integrates the gang intelligence assets of
all Department of Justice agencies, and has established partnerships
with other federal, state, and local agencies that possess gang-related
information.\
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**Enforcement:** The Criminal Division's Gang Squad is a core team of
experienced anti-gang prosecutors who serve as the prosecutorial arm of
the Department's efforts to achieve maximum national impact against
violent gangs.\
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**[Expanding Programs that Work]{.underline}**\
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**Project Safe Neighborhoods:** In May 2001, President Bush announced
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a comprehensive initiative to reduce
gun crime in America. In 2006, the Department of Justice expanded PSN to
include new and enhanced anti-gang efforts.  The goal is to use
strategies and partnerships with state and local law enforcement and
communities pioneered under PSN to shut down violent gangs in America.

-   In FY 2007, the Department prosecuted 12,087 defendants on federal
    firearms cases. Nearly 94 percent of those offenders received prison
    terms and nearly 75 percent were sentenced to three or more years in
    prison.

-   From FY 2001 to 2007, the Department of Justice has filed 68,543
    cases against 83,106 defendants for federal firearms violations. 
    This represents more than a 100 percent increase in cases filed over
    the prior seven year period. 

**Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative**: In April 2007, the Department
expanded the "Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative" from six to 10 sites
nationwide. The initiative provides \$2.5 million in targeted grant
funding to each of the ten sites to implement a three prong strategy in
the fight against gangs:  prevention, enforcement and prisoner
re-entry.  The 10 sites include Los Angeles; Tampa, Fla; Cleveland,
Ohio; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Milwaukee, Wis.; Eastern District of
Pennsylvania's "222 Corridor" which stretches from Easton to Lancaster;
Rochester, N.Y.; Oklahoma City; Indianapolis, Ind.; and Raleigh-Durham,
N.C.

-   Focused enforcement efforts under the Comprehensive Anti-Gang
    Initiative are showing strong early results.  In Cleveland, one of
    the most violent gangs and their associates, operating in and around
    the target area, have been dismantled through both federal and state
    investigations and prosecutions.  These tough actions have resulted
    in over 169 federal and state indictments.  Through vigorous
    prosecutions, 168 defendants have been convicted and one awaits
    trial.  In Cleveland's target area, violent crime is down by more
    than 15 percent.

**[Initiative for Safer Communities]{.underline}**

In May 2007, the Department launched a series of new and comprehensive
initiatives designed to expand and enhance federal law enforcement
efforts aimed at reducing violent crime, provide assistance to state and
local law enforcement, and strengthen laws and increase funding.  These
efforts include:

-   **Focus on the "Worst of the Worst\"** - The Department, working
    with state and local law enforcement, identifies cases that focus on
    the "worst of the worst" offenders.

-   **Coordinated Fugitive Sweeps and Take downs** - The Department has
    conducted coordinated fugitive sweeps and take downs in cities such
    as Cleveland; Modesto/Bakersfield, Calif.;  Trenton/Newark/Jersey
    City, N.J.; Dallas; Gadsden, Ala.; and Los Angeles; and conducted
    Fugitive Safe Surrender operations in Akron, Ohio, Nashville and
    Memphis, Tenn.;  Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis, Ind..

-   **Expansion of Task Forces** -- ATF expanded their Violent Crime
    Impact Teams (VCITs) to 31 cities, which includes teams in Los
    Angeles and San Bernardino, Calif; and the FBI has increased the
    number of Safe Street Task Forces (SSTFs) to 187, with 146 focusing
    on violent gangs and 41 focusing on violent crime. 

-   **PSN Comprehensive Anti-Gang Training** -- The goal of the regional
    training is to improve the level of knowledge, communication, and
    collaboration involved in addressing the criminal gang issue
    impacting communities throughout the nation. The trainings have or
    will be offered in the following areas: Chapel Hill, N.C.;
    Nashville, Tenn.; Oklahoma City, Rochester, N.Y.; Spokane, Wash.;
    Mesa, Ariz.; Houston; Birmingham, Ala.; Salt Lake City; Sacramento,
    Calif.; Lexington, Ky.; Lincoln, Neb. and Chicago, IL.

-   **Targeting Violent Crime Initiative** -- The Department awarded
    nearly \$75 million for 106 task forces to 103 state and local law
    enforcement agencies to target specific violent crime challenges in
    their jurisdiction and region. The initiative is driven by the
    intelligence-led policing strategy which requires the use of
    data-driven law enforcement responses to prevent and control crime
    as opposed to simply responding when crime occurs.  The task forces
    are located throughout the U.S. and address issues including gun
    violence, gang violence, and drug-related violence.

-   **Violent Crime and Anti-Terrorism Act of 2007** -- The Department's
    proposed comprehensive legislation meant to ensure that federal law
    enforcement agencies are able to successfully investigate and
    prosecute many types of violent crime. The proposed bill would
    improve existing criminal laws to close gaps and strengthen
    penalties, provide greater flexibility in the penalties that could
    be imposed on federal firearms licensees who knowingly violate the
    Gun Control Act, and restore the binding nature of sentencing
    guidelines.  The bill also includes provisions that strengthen laws
    pertaining to drug enforcement, terrorism and child pornography.

**[Supporting Local Law Enforcement]{.underline}**

-   The President's FY 2009 budget request includes \$200 million for
    Violent Crime Reduction Partnership grants that will support
    multi-jurisdictional task forces and increase the prosecution of
    gangs and violent criminals.  The nearly \$75 million in grants
    awarded in FY 2007 through the Targeting Violent Crime Initiative is
    considered an initial demonstration of the approach proposed in the
    President's budget. 

**[Combating  Transnational Gangs]{.underline}**

The Department's comprehensive gang strategy also involves working with
the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State and our
international partners to fight gangs that operate both in the United
States and other countries. These efforts include:

-   **The Merida Initiative and U.S. Anti-Gang Efforts** - Parallel with
    its efforts to combat gangs domestically, the Department has
    drastically expanded efforts to attack the links that connect
    transnational gang members across the region, especially in Mexico
    and Central America. The Department's efforts to further combat
    transnational gangs is part of the President's Merida Initiative,
    aimed at strengthening our borders, regional security and effective
    law enforcement, especially against violent crime.

-   **U.S. Anti-Gang Strategy** -- The Department has lead
    responsibility for implementing the law enforcement components of
    the Strategy to Combat the Threat of Criminal Gangs from Central
    America and Mexico, adopted by the U.S. Government in 2007. The
    Strategy is a key component of the overall Merida Initiative, and
    recognizes that effectively combating violent gangs at home requires
    combating violent gangs abroad. A series of recent initiatives aim
    to reduce the danger and the violence posed by transnational gangs.
    As part of this strategy, the Department announced in June 2007 the
    indictment by the Criminal Division's Gang Squad and the United
    States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland of two leaders
    of the transnational street gang La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), who
    were alleged to have directed the murder of rival gang members in
    the United States from their prison cells in El Salvador.

-   **Improved International Coordination** -- The Department continues
    to enhance international partnerships in the fight against
    transnational gangs.

-   **Anti-Gang Initiatives** -- One example of the progress made by the
    Department of Justice is the comprehensive, four-part, regional
    initiative on combating transnational gangs launched by the
    Department in El Salvador on February 5, 2007. These initiatives are
    strengthening efforts to identify and prosecute the most dangerous
    Salvadoran gang members through programs to enhance gang
    enforcement, fugitive apprehension, international coordination,
    information sharing and training and prevention. This series of
    initiatives includes:

-   **Vetted Anti-Gang Units** -- In fall 2007 the FBI, the Department's
    Criminal Division and the Department of State assisted El
    Salvador\'s National Civilian Police (Policia Nacional Civil, or
    PNC) in creating a new Transnational Anti-Gang (TAG) unit to better
    pursue and prosecute gang members. FBI agents provide front-line
    training and information-sharing, increasing the ability of the PNC
    to identify and arrest the worst offenders. FBI has agents in the
    country to directly support the TAG unit. At the request of El
    Salvador, the FBI, USMS, DEA, ATF and other law enforcement agencies
    are conducting a series of joint assessments (a pilot program) of
    anti-gang capabilities in El Salvador, identifying the best
    strategic options for El Salvador in undertaking additional steps to
    enhance domestic and regional anti-gang efforts.

-   **CAFÉ Fingerprint Initiative** - The FBI, with funding support from
    the State Department, has accelerated the implementation of the
    Central American Fingerprinting Exploitation (CAFE) initiative in
    order to better identify, track and apprehend gang members. CAFE has
    provided equipment and training to help law enforcement agencies in
    El Salvador and other Central American nations acquire digital
    fingerprints of violent gang members and other criminals who commit
    crimes under different identities in different countries. FBI is
    working to expand the CAFÉ initiative to Guatemala and Honduras in
    2008, and expects to expand the initiative to other Central American
    nations in the future. Complementing this step forward, the Justice
    Department has supported implement by the Department of Homeland
    Security of its Electronic Travel Document (eTD) System. This
    provides law enforcement officials in Honduras, Guatemala, and El
    Salvador with information on Salvadoran gang members and other
    criminals who are being deported from the U.S. to their home nations
    after serving criminal sentences in the U.S.

-   **International Anti-Gang Training** - The U.S. has vastly increased
    its anti-gang training in Central America, including efforts through
    the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in San Salvador.
    Since 2006, the Department has led or participated in a series of
    four regional anti-gang training programs at the ILEA, bringing both
    police investigators and prosecutors from throughout the region to
    the Academy for anti-gang training. The curriculum covers best
    practices in targeting and fighting gang activity and other crimes.
    The  Department's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development,
    Assistance and Training (OPDAT) has developed and is coordinating a
    series of three additional anti-gang training programs at the ILEA
    that will stretch out into 2009.   Agencies participating as
    instructors are FBI, ATF, USMS, DHS, Interpol and Gang Squad.

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