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Gang Involvement Indicators
Tell-Tale Signs of Gang
Involvement |
Gang Busted
See Gang Members doing
Hard Time |
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Since its establishment in
1991, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s
Gang Prosecution Unit has become a model by developing
legal theories that are now recognized as cornerstones
for gang prosecution efforts in Texas. Local law
enforcement agencies, as well as federal agencies, call
upon the Gang Prosecution Unit’s prosecutors and
investigators for their expertise and knowledge of the
current gang situation throughout Tarrant County and
north central Texas.
The nature of gang life, and the covert interaction of
gang members with each other and their enemies, requires
a special unit knowledgeable of gang activities and
experienced with the local personalities and
circumstances. The Gang Prosecution Unit consists of
five attorneys, three investigators, and a secretary who
devote their time to understanding the intricacies of
these criminal organizations and to prosecuting these
violent offenders. Without a specialized prosecution
unit, many violent gang offenses would go unpunished.
To this day, gangs persist in Tarrant County in a number
of different forms. While many gangs are “home grown,”
others originated outside Texas. Conflicts among gangs
and their members commonly result in violence.
Additionally, gang crime affects businesses and
individuals with offenses including graffiti, robbery,
and capital murder. The District Attorney’s Office is
committed to mobilizing the necessary community
resources to successfully combat and reduce gang crime.
Both the scholarly literature and our experience over
the years have shown that gang members tend to commit
more crimes and to repeat criminal behavior to a greater
degree than “ordinary” criminals. The Gang Prosecution
Unit pursues meaningful coordination among the
forty-four police agencies in Tarrant County and engages
in routine gang information sharing sessions with law
enforcement in an effort to keep the county’s residents
safe.
To promote the sharing of gang information between law
enforcement agencies, the Tarrant County District
Attorney’s Office developed and implemented “Gangnet.”
This computer database makes the most recent information
about gang members immediately available to prosecutors
as well as law enforcement officers across the county
and helps them to identify, capture, and prosecute these
gang members. Improvements in the “Gangnet” database are
ongoing in an effort to provide the most up-to-date
information about gang and gang members for all local
law enforcement.
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office has a
proven track record of successfully prosecuting gang
offenders. We remain dedicated to preventing gangs from
succeeding in Tarrant County. |
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