An estimated 780,000 gang members were actively involved in gangs in 1998, down from 816,000 members in 1997.
Witness protection goes hand in hand with witness cooperation.
Provide emergency and short-term relocation for victims and witnesses. Videotape pretrial testimony. Remove gang members from the court. For example, the District Attorney's Office in Shelby County, TN found that local gangs directed a growing amount of violence towards immigrants known to have entered the county illegally. The gangs preyed upon neighborhoods with large populations of immigrants recognizing that for fear of deportation, the victims were less likely to report crimes and the witnesses were less likely to come forward to offer evidence.