Planning to Evaluate a Gang Program/Strategy? What Are Some Challenges?

The lack of consistent definitions of gang crime and gang membership limits cross-jurisdiction comparisons.

Definitions of gang members and gang-related crime vary across and within jurisdictions. For instance, prosecutors in some jurisdictions may categorize gang crime as a crime committed by a gang member for the benefit of the gang while prosecutors in other jurisdictions may categorize gang crime as any crime committed by a gang member. Varying definitions of gang-related crime make cross-jurisdiction comparisons of program effectiveness difficult.

Estimating the number of gang members in a community or institutional setting is difficult.

Factors such as lack of awareness regarding the presence of gang problems or difficulty determining whether an individual is a gang member may result in an undercount of the population of gang members. This is particularly problematic when the number of gang members is used to assess program performance.

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