The State Attorney’s Office works with law enforcement agencies throughout the area in sharing information and intelligence involving documented members of criminal street gangs in an attempt to provide better documentation on the activities of over 60 individual threat groups within the jurisdiction.
While the philosophy in the juvenile division is related to protecting youth from exposure to the threat of gang involvement, the emphasis on the program in the adult divisions is to use every means possible to hold identified gang members responsible for their crimes and if possible, remove them from the community. This interrupts their activities and organizational capabilities and in turn cripples the ability of the gang to continue its criminal enterprise. Thus, prosecutors handle cases for these individuals in misdemeanor and felony divisions with an aggressive profile for prosecution making sure that the gang association is well known to the Court and demonstrating the impact that membership has. Utilizing all the legal tools available to enhance sentencing, the prosecutors are able to secure significant sentences for documented gang members and leaders.