Youth gangs threaten public safety across urban, suburban, and rural areas. Gangs commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime and offenses, and drug-related factors and intergang conflict are major contributors to gang violence. To highlight the administration’s commitment to addressing this serious problem, President Donald J. Trump proclaimed September 16–22, 2018, as National Gang Violence Prevention Week.

For decades, through its programs, research publications, and cofunding of the National Gang Center with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, OJJDP has worked to reduce gang violence and crime. The center is a major resource for professionals in juvenile and criminal justice, law enforcement, and youth and community organizations. The center offers an array of best‐practice information, training, and strategic tools in the areas of prevention, intervention, and suppression of criminal and violent gang activity.

OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model is an evidence-based framework for the coordination of multiple data-driven, anti-gang, and violence-reduction strategies to address serious, violent, and entrenched youth gang problems. The model has been tested with more than 20 years of implementation experience and has shown positive results in reducing serious gang-related crimes.

In 2017, OJJDP released A Law Enforcement Official's Guide to the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model, which provides information on how to effectively implement the model, including the importance of agency buy-in and collaboration with citizens and organizations to address not only the immediate threat of youth gangs but also the underlying conditions that allow them to exist.

OJJDP is currently reviewing applications received for two fiscal year 2019 grants in the area of gang suppression:

• Gang Suppression Planning Grants Program. Funding will support jurisdictions that have high levels of youth-perpetrated gun crime and gang violence and are prepared to develop communitywide, data-driven responses. Awardees will undertake strategic planning and capacity-building work through multidisciplinary and community partnerships.
• Gang Suppression: A Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Approach To Address Gang Recruitment of Unaccompanied Alien Children. This program is designed to reduce violent crime, gangs (specifically transnational gangs), and victimization of unaccompanied minor children. Funding will support selected jurisdictions to undertake strategic planning and capacity-building work.

Resources:

Comprehensive resources for assessing community gang problems and implementing intervention and prevention strategies, part of OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model, are available on the National Gang Center website.

To learn more about research in the area of gang prevention, read the literature review in OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide. See also the guide’s evaluations of 14 programs to address gang violence and crime.

Detailed information on gang prevention is also available at Youth.gov.