Gang intelligence unit

A Gang Intelligence Unit (GIU) is a unit within American law enforcement that works to recognize threats posed by gangs within a geographical location, and often assists federal, state, and local law enforcement operations. GIUs are highly effective in reducing gang crime and community fear of gang activity. They exist to provide safety as well as information regarding gang activity in an area, and are also commonly found within correctional facilities. GIUs seek advanced awareness of gang activity as a method to suppress gang violence. Intelligence, therefore, forms the foundation of GIUs' efforts to suppress gang violence and crime and maintain safety within the community.

In 1967, the Chicago Police Department created a Gang Intelligence Unit (GIU) to respond to Black street gangs. Raids and arrests were conducted, and by the early 1970s Illinois's prisons had a growing Black gang population, including gang leader Jeff Fort, co-founder of the Black P. Stone Nation. The need for gang intelligence units rose during an increase in gang activity in the 1990s. In 1995, the National Youth Gang Center conducted its first assessment of the national gang problem, and concluded that out of the 3,440 reporting agencies, 2,007 reported an issue with youth gangs. The survey counted a total of 23,388 youth gangs and 664,906 gang members, and concluded that many gangs were growing in size. Further studies by the Denver Youth Study and the Rochester Youth Development Study determined that consistent conclusions existed between gang membership and crime, and that being in a gang increases the level of delinquent and criminal behavior as well as violent offending. These findings prompted the formation of gang units within police departments, as many began to realize that gangs should be treated differently than other groups of criminal offenders. However, by the new millennium, the number of GIUs in the country was a fraction of what it was in the early 1990s. In 1993, 76% of all major police departments implemented a GIU, while by 2000, only 48% of all large departments had a GIU. Furthermore, one “unit” was at this time defined as “a separate special unit with one or more full-time employees,” indicating that some departments only employed one single individual tasked with gang intelligence.

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