874 Gang Identifier Project

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

Citizens throughout the county are rightly concerned with gang-related violence, gang membership and the effects of criminal street-gang activity on local communities. Many experts contend that failure to understand the extent of the gang problem is a major flaw in developing strategies to combat their influences in communities. The mechanics of documenting gang members as described by Florida Statute 874 and the ability to provide information and statistics on the extent of gang membership within the county was ineffective and inefficient. The information was neither readily available, nor computerized. The 874 Gang Identifier Project was developed to provide a unified system for the proper documentation of criminal street gang members throughout Miami-Dade County. It denotes that a person is a documented gang member known to investigators and uniformed officers and provides automated information on specific documented gang members. The program was developed by the Miami-Dade Police Department Street Gang Section, who is responsible for the investigation of criminal street gangs within unincorporated Miami-Dade County. This group also coordinates and leads the countywide Multi-Agency Gang Task Force. Utilizing the Gang Identifier Project has only increased the effectiveness of this group.