National Gang Threat Assessment Emerging Trends
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UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE NATIONAL GANG INTELLIGENCE CENTER 2011 NATIONAL GANG THREAT ASSESSMENT Emerging Trends UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE SPECIAL THANKS TO THE NATIONAL DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS AND SUPPORT. UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment (U) The gang estimates presented in the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment (NGTA) repre- sents the collection of data provided by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) – through the National Drug Threat Survey, Bureau of Prisons, State Correctional Facilities, and National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) law enforcement partners. An overview of how these numbers were collected is described within the Scope and Methodology Section of the NGTA. The estimates were provided on a voluntary basis and may include estimates of gang members as well as gang associates. Likewise, these estimates may not capture gang membership in jurisdictions that may have underreported or who declined to report. Based on these estimates, geospatial maps were prepared to visually display the reporting jurisdictions. (U) The data used to calculate street gangs and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs estimates nationwide in the report are derived primarily from NDIC’s National Drug Threat Survey. These estimates do not affect the qualitative findings of the 2011 NGTA and were used primarily to create the map’s highlighting gang activity nationally. After further review of these estimates, the maps originally provided in 2011 NGTA were revised to show state-level representation of gang activity per capita and by law enforcement officers. This maintains consistency with the 2009 NGTA report’s maps on gang activity. (U) During the years the NGTA is published, many entities—news media, tourism agencies, and other groups with an interest in crime in our nation; use reported figures to compile rankings of cit- ies and counties. These rankings, however, do not provide insight into the many variables that mold the crime in a particular town, city, county, state, region or other jurisdiction. Consequently these rankings lead to simplistic and or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with residents. (U) The FBI and the NGIC do not recommend that jurisdictions use the estimated gang member- ship totals as exact counts for the numbers of gang members. These numbers are not used by the FBI or NGIC to rank jurisdictions on gang activity. The FBI and NGIC recommend contacting state and local law enforcement agencies for more information related to specific gang activity. National Gang Intelligence Center 1 UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment (U) 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment – Emerging Trends (U) Table of ConTenTs (U) Preface . 5 (U) Gangs and Criminal Organizations . 31. (U) Scope and Methodology . 5 (U) Gangs and Drug Trafficking Organizations . 31 (U) About the NGIC . 6 . (U) Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations . 31 (U) Gangs and Organized Criminal Groups . 33 (U) Gang Definitions . 7. (U) Gangs and Corrections Issues . 36 (U) Regional Breakdown . 8 (U) Prison/Street Gang Connections . 36 (U) Executive Summary . .9 . (U) Prison/Family Connection . 37 (U) Key Findings . 9. (U) Communication . 38 (U) Current Gang-Related Trends and Crime . 11 . (U) Contraband Cell Phones . 38 (U) Gang Membership and Expansion . 11 (U) Concealed and Coded Communications 39 (U) Gang-Related Violent Crime. 15 (U) Leadership. 39 (U) Gang-Related Drug Distribution (U) Prison Radicalization . 40 and Trafficking . 17 (U) Gang Infiltration of Corrections, (U) Juvenile Gangs . 19 Law Enforcement & Government . 41. (U) Gang Alliances and Collaboration . 19 (U) Gangs and Indian Country . 42 (U) Gang Sophistication. 20 (U) Gangs and the Military . 45 (U) Expansion of Ethnic-Based and Non-Traditional (U) Gangs and the US Border . 49 . Gangs . .20 . (U) The Southwest Border. 49 (U) Asian Gangs . 20 (U) The Northern Border. 52 (U) East African Gangs . 21 (U) Gangs, Technology, and Communication . 53 . (U) Somali Gangs . 21 (U) Sudanese Gangs . 23 (U) Gangs and Weapons . 56 (U) Caribbean Gangs . 23 (U) Gangs and White Collar Crime . 59 (U) Dominican Gangs . 23 (U) Law Enforcement Actions and Resources . 61 (U) Haitian Gangs . 24 (U) Outlook . 62 (U) Jamaican Gangs. 24 (U) Maps – Gang Presence in the United States . 63. (U) Non-Traditional Gangs. 25 (U) Hybrid Gangs . 25 (U) Appendix A . Gangs by State . 65 (U) Juggalos. 26 (U) Appendix B . MDTOs Alliances and Rivals . 96 (U) Gangs and Alien Smuggling, Human Trafficking, (U) Appendix C . Federal Gang Task Forces . 98 & Prostitution . 28. (U) Appendix D . Acknowledgements . .104 . (U) Alien Smuggling . 28 (U) Endnotes . 110 (U) Human Trafficking . 29 (U) Prostitution . 30 National Gang Intelligence Center 3 UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment (U) Preface (U) Information in the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment-Emerging Trends was derived from law (U) The National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) enforcement intelligence, open source information, and prepared the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment data collected from the NDIC, including the 2010 NDIC (NGTA) to examine emerging gang trends and threats National Drug Threat Survey. NGIC law enforcement posed by criminal gangs to communities throughout the partners provided information and guidance regarding United States. The 2011 NGTA enhances and builds on new trends and intelligence through an online request the gang-related trends and criminal threats identified for information via the NGIC Law Enforcement Online in the 2009 assessment. It supports US Department of (LEO) Special Interest Group (SIG), which is now NGIC Justice strategic objectives 2.2 (to reduce the threat, Online. Law enforcement agencies nationwide con- incidence, and prevalence of violent crime) and 2.4 (to tinuously report new and emerging gang trends to the reduce the threat, trafficking, use, and related violence NGIC, as the NGIC continues to operate as a repository of illegal drugs). The assessment is based on federal, and dissemination hub for gang intelligence. This infor- state, local, and tribal law enforcement and corrections mation provided by our law enforcement partners was agency intelligence, including information and data used to identify many of the trends and issues included provided by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) in this report. and the National Gang Center. Additionally, this assess- ment is supplemented by information retrieved from (U) Reporting used to quantify the number of street open source documents and data collected through and outlaw motorcycle gangs and gang members was April 2011. primarily derived from the 2010 NDIC Drug Threat Sur- vey (NDTS) data and some supplemental NGIC report- ing from our law enforcement partners. NDIC annually (U) Scope and Methodology conducts the NDTS to collect data on the threat posed (U) In 2009, the NGIC released its second threat as- by various illicit drugs in the United States. A stratified sessment on gang activity in the United States. The random sample of nearly 3,500 state and local law en- NGIC and its law enforcement partners documented forcement agencies was surveyed to generate national, increases in gang proliferation and migration nationwide regional, and state estimates of various aspects of drug and emerging threats. This report attempts to expand trafficking activities including the threat posed by vari- on these findings. Reporting and intelligence collected ous drugs, the availability and production of illicit drugs, over the past two years have demonstrated increases as well as the role of street gangs and outlaw motorcy- in the number of gangs and gang members as law cle gangs in drug trafficking activity. Weighted national, enforcement authorities nationwide continue to identify regional, and state-level statistical estimates derived gang members and share information regarding these from NDTS 2010 data was based on responses received groups. Better reporting and collection has contributed from 2,963 law enforcement agencies out of a sample of greatly to the increased documentation and reporting of 3,465 agencies. gang members and gang trends. National Gang Intelligence Center 5 UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE (U) In previous iterations of the NDTS, survey responses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), US De- were validated through targeted outreach to jurisdic- partment of Defense (DOD), National Drug Intelligence tions. In the 2010 NDTS, the key assumption was that Center (NDIC), and US Customs and Border Protection individual respondents provided estimates on gang (CBP). This multi-agency fusion center integrates gang members for their jurisdictions only and not included intelligence assets to serve as a central intelligence other jurisdictions. However, NGIC acknowledges that resource for gang information and analytical support. there may be some