U.S.

Department
of
Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator April 2009

Highlights
of
the

2007
National
Youth
Gang
Survey

by Arlen Egley, Jr. and Christina E. O’Donnell

Survey
Findings
Figure 1: Prevalence of Gang Problems in Study Population,
Following a marked decline from the mid­1990s to the early 1996–2007
2000s, a steady resurgence of gang problems has occurred in 50
recent years. As shown in Figure 1, more than one­third of the 45
jurisdictions in the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) study 40
population experienced gang problems in 2007, the highest 35
annual estimate since before 2000. Within the four area types 30
surveyed, 86 percent of law enforcement agencies that serve
Percent

25
larger cities, 50 percent of agencies that serve suburban counties, 20
35 percent of agencies that serve smaller cities, and 15 percent 15
of agencies that serve rural counties reported experiencing youth 10
gang problems in 2007. 5
Overall, an estimated 3,550 jurisdictions served by city (popula­ 0
tion of 2,500 or more) and county law enforcement agencies 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Year
experienced gang problems in 2007. These survey results also
indicate that an estimated 788,000 gang members and 27,000 the percentage change in gang­problem jurisdictions, gangs, and
gangs were active in the United States in 2007. Table 1 shows gang members by area type between 2002 and 2007. The data

Methodology
Annually
since
1995,
the
National
Youth
Gang
Center
u A
randomly
selected
sample
of
police
departments
that

(NYGC)
has
conducted
a
systematic
survey
of
law
enforce­ serve
cities
with
populations
between
2,500
and
49,999

ment
agencies
across
the
United
States
regarding
the
pres­ (n=694)
(smaller
cities).

ence
and
characteristics
of
local
gang
problems.
This
Fact

Sheet
summarizes
findings
from
the
2007
National
Youth
u A
randomly
selected
sample
of
rural
county
police
and

Gang
Survey
(NYGS).
The
current
nationally
representa­ sheriffs’
departments
(n=492)
(rural
counties).

tive
sample
was
selected
in
2002
and
includes
the
following

NYGC
asked
survey
recipients
to
report
information
solely

agencies:

for
youth
gangs,
defined
as
“a
group
of
youths
or
young

u All
police
departments
that
serve
cities
with
populations
adults
in
your
jurisdiction
that
you
or
other
responsible
per­
of
50,000
or
more
(n=624)
(larger
cities).
sons
in
your
agency
or
community
are
willing
to
identify
as

a
‘gang.’”
Motorcycle
gangs,
hate
or
ideology
groups,
prison

u All
suburban
county
police
and
sheriffs’
departments
gangs,
and
exclusively
adult
gangs
were
excluded
from
the

(n=739)
(suburban
counties).
survey.
Of
the
2,549
survey
recipients,
2,120
(83
percent)

responded
to
the
2007
survey.

Office of Justice Programs Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods www.ojp.usdoj.gov

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of
Justice
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&
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&
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&
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PAID

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Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

PERMIT NO.
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NO.
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Washington, DC 20531
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300

Fact Sheet NCJ

225185

reveal sizable and significant increases across most of these esti­ aggravated assaults, robberies, or firearm use in 2007. Moreover,
mates. In rural counties, the number of gang­problem jurisdic­ one in five larger cities reported an increase in gang homicides in
tions increased by nearly one­quarter, and the overall number of 2007 compared with 2006, and approximately two in five report­
gangs and gang members increased by 64 percent and 36 percent, ed an increase in other violent offenses by gang members.
respectively, between 2002 and 2007. These increases, although
noteworthy, must be considered concurrently with the overall Table 2. Distribution of Estimated Gangs and Gang Members by
distribution of gangs and gang members throughout the study Area Type, 2007
population. As shown in Table 2, larger cities and suburban coun­ Gangs (%) Gang Members (%)
ties remain the primary location of gangs and gang members,
Rural
Counties
5.9
2.3

accounting for more than 60 percent of gangs and 80 percent of

gang members, with rural counties accounting for a relatively Smaller
Cities
33.5
16.8

small percentage of each. Suburban

Counties
19.9
25.0

Larger
Cities
40.7
55.9

To compensate for the commonly known and widespread limita­

tions of officially recorded data on gang crime, law enforcement Total 100% 100%
respondents provided information on general trends regarding
gang­related violence in their jurisdictions. As in previous survey
years, gang violence was most likely to occur in larger cities and
For
Further
Information

suburban counties, with smaller cities and rural counties dispro­ For additional information about youth gangs, call OJJDP’s
portionately reporting no incidence of gang­related homicides, Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800–851–3420, or contact the
National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) at 800–446–0912 or
www.iir.com/nygc/.
Table 1. Percentage Change in Gang Problem Estimates From
2002 to 2007 Arlen Egley, Jr., Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate and Christina
Percentage Change, 2002–2007 E. O’Donnell, M.S., is a Research Associate with NYGC, which is
Gang- operated for OJJDP by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research in
Problem Gang Tallahassee, FL.
Jurisdictions Gangs Members
Rural
Counties
+24.1
+64.4
+36.2

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a compo­

Smaller
Cities
+27.4
+40.9
+34.0
nent of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau
Suburban
Counties
+33.2
+17.0
+12.2
of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Community
Larger
Cities
+12.1
+15.3
­0.7
Capacity Development Office; the National Institute of Justice; the
Overall
Estimate
Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing,
in
Study
Population
+25.1
+25.5
+7.7
Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).