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National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Added to archive: May, 2004
Gangs - Facts and Figures
The latest information and statistics pulled from a wide variety of Gangs publications.
- "The overall number of youth gang homicides in U.S. cities declined during the 1990s, but trends varied in the early and later parts of the decade and by city" (Youth Gang Homicides in the 1990s, 2001).
- Within the correctional setting, when a victim was attacked, "weapons were used 49.5 percent of the time against staff and 86.1 percent of the time against inmate victims" (The Influence of Prison Gang Affiliation on Violence and Other Prison Misconduct, 2001).
- Two nationwide surveys conducted of law enforcement agencies in 1996 and 1998 estimated that "11 percent and 8 percent respectively of all gang members were female" (Female Gangs: A Focus on Research, 2001).
- According to the Highlights of the 2001 National Youth Gang Survey, "sixty-three percent of gang-problem jurisdictions reported the return of gang members from confinement to their jurisdictions in 2001. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of these jurisdictions reported that gang members returning from confinement considerably affected their jurisdictions' gang problem in 2001. A large proportion of these jurisdictions reported that returning members noticeably contributed to an increase in violent crime (63 percent of respondents) and drug trafficking (68 percent) by local gangs."
- Gang-affiliated inmates were more likely to be involved in drug trafficking, property destruction, and other misconduct (The Influence of Prison Gang Affiliation on Violence and Other Prison Misconduct, 2001).
- "The percentage of male inmates who have been identified as gang members has risen from 9.4 percent in 1991 to 24.7 percent in 1999. Females gang members have constituted about 5 percent of the prison population" (A National Assessment of Gangs and Security Threat Groups In Adult Correctional Institutions: Results of the 1999 Adult Corrections Survey, 1999).
- "Eighty-four jurisdictions (including 63 larger cities) said their gang problem began before 1981, and 72 (including 54 larger cities) said their problem began between 1981 and 1985. Of all jurisdictions that responded to the year-of-onset question in 1996, 53 percent reported onset during 1991-96 (20 percent in 1991-92, 25 percent in 1993-94, and 8 percent in 1995-96), 33 percent during 1986- 90, 6 percent during 1981-85, and 8 percent before 1981" (Modern Day Youth Gangs, 2002).
- By 1999, a third of all adult correctional institutions would report gang members as a problem in terms of assault on staff. The higher the level of security, the greater the frequency of assaults (A National Assessment of Gangs and Security Threat Groups In Adult Correctional Institutions: Results of the 1999 Adult Corrections Survey, 1999).
- In 1996, 50 percent of gang members were juveniles (i.e., younger than 18) and 50 percent were adults (i.e., 18 and older). In 1999, these numbers were 37 percent and 63 percent, respectively. In 1999, respondents reported that 47 percent of gang members were Hispanic, 31 percent African American, 13 percent white, 7 percent Asian, and 2 percent "other" (National Youth Gang Survey Trends From 1996 to 2000, 2002).
- In the early 1990s, prison disturbances soared 400 percent, indicating an increase in gang activity (The Influence of Prison Gang Affiliation on Violence and Other Prison Misconduct, 2001).
- "Among the non-gang members, some 71.6 percent felt strong family involvement would prevent people from joining a gang; compared to only 60.4 percent among gang members" (Special Report of the NGCRC: Preliminary Results of Project GANGMILL, 2001).
- According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, killings by juvenile gang members increased 500 percent between 1980 and 1994, making this one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States (Focus on Information Resources: The Violent Gang and Terrorist Organizations File, 1996).
- Some 61 percent of all correctional institutions reported that the gangs inside correctional institutions are basically the same gangs that exist on the street (The Facts About Gang Life in America Today: A National Study of Over 4000 Gang Members, 1997).
This document is not necessarily endorsed by the Almanac of Policy Issues. It is being preserved in the Policy Archive for historic reasons.