Chicago Crime Commission: Mission
The Chicago Crime Commission is a non-for-profit organization that is focus on improving the quality of public safety and justice for our neighborhoods. Since 1919 the Chicago Crime Commission has worked towards improving the criminal justice system by building and supporting solutions to crime. Its focus has been educating the public on organized criminals and gangsters who control the illicit drug market, and illegal guns to resolve disputes at an alarming rate, imposing a greater risk of violence on all Chicago residents. Currently working to support community based crime prevention programs, producing educational material and seminars, and consulting with a number of legislative leaders on issues such as gun policy, gang prosecution and gambling. The Commission was first to release a list of the worse criminals known as Public Enemies List, this list was adopted by the FBI and renamed FBI’s most wanted. This guide and training tool was developed to be of use to the most expert gang investigators, as well as to the parent, educator or business owner who may know little about Chicago metropolitan street gangs. It was designed to give the public the most complete and current information possible on the subject of gangs in a concise, easy-to-read manner. |
The Chicago Crime Commission was able to produce this document due to the enthusiastic investment and strong partnership of numerous law enforcement agencies and other sources. These sources, noted in the beginning of the book, provided the Commission with invaluable information and expert insight into the gang problems of today.
There are an estimated 70 to 100 gangs in the Chicago metropolitan area with a membership of between 68,000 to over 150,000. Section One of this report includes a summary of the history, current gang statistics, suburbs in which gangs are active, gang colors and identifiers, and current gang leadership of Chicago’s 70 most prominent gangs. The second section, Chicago gang maps, features gang territorial boundaries for the city from years 2008-2011 and gang territorial boundaries by district and area for 2011. Section Three includes information from surveys the Commission sent to all police agencies in the surrounding six-county area, totaling 249 departments. 170 or 68% of all departments responded, a 36% increase from the 81 Chicago area suburban police department responses to the previous survey in 2006. Section IV explores current gang trends, their use of social media, highlights successes of the Gang School Safety Team and the Violence Reduction Strategy, and displays old gang manifestos showing the gang’s original laws and their current negligence of them. Gangs’ use of social media incites violence and encourages gang members to respond to threats impulsively. |
Community crime prevention programs target changes in community culture or the physical environment in order to reduce crime. The diversity of approaches includes neighborhood watch, community policing, urban or physical design, and comprehensive or multi-disciplinary efforts. These strategies may seek to engage residents, community and faith-based organizations, and local government agencies in addressing the factors that contribute to the community’s crime, delinquency, and disorder.
The Chicago Crime Commission has donated over 4,000 copies of The Gang Book (2012) to the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Department, Chicago Public Schools and numerous other organizations in the criminal justice field throughout the State of Illinois. The Commission believes the book will be a tremendous training tool and guide, as well as a thorough source of information and insight for these organizations. The book’s widespread national media |