Highlights of the gangs

[The Streets Don't Love You Back]

Highlights of the

2008 National Youth Gang Survey

.,

Gang activity remains a widespread problem across the United

States, with prevalence rates remaining significantly elevated

in 2008 compared with recorded lows in the early 2000s.

Approximately one-third of the jurisdictions in the National

Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) study population1 reported gang

problems in 2008. This is a significant change over the 2002

estimate, but a statistically negligible one from 2007. The 13-year

trend is shown in figure 1.

The National Gang Center estimates that 32.4 percent of all cities,

suburban areas, towns, and rural counties (more than 3,330

jurisdictions served by city and county law enforcement agencies)

experienced gang problems in 2008. This represents a 15-percent

increase from the 2002 figure. Approximately 774,000 gang

members and 27,900 gangs are estimated to have been active in

the United States in 2008. The number of gangs increased by 28

percent, and the number of gang members increased by 6 percent

from 2002 to 2008 (see table 1).

Percent

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

2008

Figure 1: Prevalence of Gang Problems in Study Population,

1996–2008

Table 1: Percentage Change in Gang Estimates From 2002 to 2008

Percentage Change, 2002–2008 Percentage Change, 2007–2008

Gang-

Problem

Jurisdictions Gangs

Gang

Members

Gang-

Problem

Jurisdictions Gangs

Gang

Members

Rural Counties +16.4 +26.3 +7.8 -6.2 -23.2 -20.9

Smaller Cities +15.0 +35.0 +14.6 -9.7 -4.2 -14.5

Suburban Counties +21.8 +30.1 +9.6 -8.6 +11.2 -2.2

Larger Cities +12.5 +23.3 +2.2 +0.4 +7.0 +3.0

Overall Estimate in

Study Population

+15.4 +28.4 +5.8 -7.7 +2.3 -1.8

Furthermore, sizable increases are most pronounced for the

number of gangs across all population categories over this

7-year span.

1 For a description of the NYGS study population and sample methodology see

www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Methodology.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

PRESORTED.think