F B I Law Enforcement Bulletin - June 2003 Issue

Perspective
Career Criminals,
Security Threat Groups,
and Prison Gangs
An Interrelated Threat
By David M. Allender and Frank Marcell
ust after midnight, a young police officer
Ja
stopped a vehicle unaware that the driver was
gang member recently released from prison, strung
out on crystal meth, and resolved not to return to jail.
Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer first noticed
a female passenger and then saw the driver, wearing
a trench coat, quickly exit the vehicle. The officer
instinctively knew that something was wrong. He
immediately searched the driver and found a .45caliber
handgun in a shoulder holster. A fight ensued
during which the driver shouted to the female, “Shoot
him, shoot him!” As the officer turned toward the
vehicle, he saw the woman in a crouched position,
pointing a weapon at him. He immediately drew his
service weapon and fired, terminating the threat and
the life of this accomplice.
Such incidents occur, sometimes daily, involving
individuals who belong to criminal gangs and have
served time in prison. Who are these individuals,
these “career criminals,” who seemingly have chosen
crime as a way of life? What are some characteristics
that law enforcement officers can learn to assist in
identifying them? And, most important, what can
officers do to protect themselves and the citizens
they serve from such threatening individuals? 1
Defining the Threat
A broad spectrum of people use the term gang to
describe diverse groups with a wide range of characteristics.
Academicians, police investigators, politicians,
researchers, and residents of crime-ridden
neighborhoods all have a mental picture based on
their experiences of what constitutes a gang. To some,
a gang is a loose confederation of neighborhood
youths engaged in delinquent activity. Other people
refer to gangs as highly structured drug-dealing
organizations, and still others form mental images of
outlaw motorcycle clubs when they think of gangs.
8 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
This brief sketch shows the necessity for, and the
difficulty of, achieving a consensus for the definition
of the term gang. 2 The authors, however, have employed
the FBI’s definition of a criminal street gang:
“A group of people who form an allegiance based on
various social needs and engage in acts injurious to
public health and morals. Members of street gangs
engage in (or have engaged in) gang-focused criminal
activity either individually or collectively; they create
an atmosphere of fear and intimidation within the
community.” 3
When criminal street gangs engage in violence
or large-scale illegal pursuits, they threaten the communities
where they exist. Criminal street gangs, or
sets, operate in neighborhoods throughout the United
States. Some are small, whereas others have many
members or associates, and all vary greatly in organizational
sophistication.
Captain Allender serves
with the Indianapolis,
Indiana, Police Department.
Mr. Marcell is an executive
board member of the
National Major Gang Task
Force and a jail intelligence
supervisor with the
Maricopa County, Arizona,
Sheriff’s Department.