Durbin Initiative to Provide Local and State Prosecutors with Over $860 Million to Fight Growing Gang Violence

DURBIN INITIATIVE TO PROVIDE LOCAL AND STATE PROSECUTORS WITH OVER $860 MILLION TO FIGHT GROWING GANG VIOLENCE

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation to authorize $862.5 million in grants over the next five years to provide local and state prosecutors with essential tools to combat violent gangs. The American Neighborhoods Taking the Initiative—Guarding Against Neighborhood Gangs (ANTI-GANG) Act is a comprehensive bill that will help state and local prosecutors prevent, investigate, and prosecute gang crimes.

The National Youth Gang Survey, conducted by the National Youth Gang Center, estimated that in 2002 there were 21,500 gangs comprised of 731,500 members in the United States. The FBI has noted that "[s]treet gangs and other loosely knit groups are responsible for a substantial portion of the increase in violent crime in the United States."

"Gang violence is a serious and growing threat in communities all across America," Durbin said. "In Chicago, 46 percent of the homicides last year were gang-related. The Chicago Police Department is currently tracking 68 identified gangs, with an estimated 68,000 members. The ANTI-GANG Act is a comprehensive, common-sense approach to fight gang violence that will help communities in Illinois and across the rest of the country as well."

The ANTI-GANG Act of 2005, which is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Russ Feingold (D-WI), contains four major provisions:

(1) It authorizes, per year for the next five fiscal years, $52.5 million for the cooperative prevention, investigation, and prosecution of gang crimes; $10 million for technology, equipment, and training to identify gang members and violent offenders and to maintain databases to facilitate coordination among law enforcement and prosecutors; $60 million for the protection of witnesses and victims of gang crimes; and $50 million for grants to develop gang prevention, research, and intervention services.

(2) It replaces the current provision on criminal street gangs in federal law with a stronger measure that criminalizes participation in criminal street gangs, recruitment and retention of gang members, and witness intimidation.

(3) It will provide Congress with the necessary data to determine whether to expand the federal role in prosecuting juvenile offenders by requiring a comprehensive report on the current treatment of juveniles by the states and the capability of the federal criminal justice system to take on these additional cases and house additional prisoners.

(4) It promotes the recruitment and retention of highly-qualified prosecutors and public defenders by establishing a student loan forgiveness program modeled after the current program for federal employees.