About the NJSP Street Gang Survey
Since 2001, the New Jersey State Police has conducted triennial surveys of municipal
law enforcement agencies for three different audiences: policy makers wishing to
craft anti-gang policy, law enforcement agencies looking to develop anti-gang strategies,
and members of the public who want a better understanding of their communities.
In that regard, we believe the 2010 survey provides the most comprehensive picture
of gangs in New Jersey available.
The 2010 survey set out to conduct a census of all 566 municipalities in New Jersey,
and for the first time since the project began succeeded in gathering responses
concerning New Jersey street gangs for every municipality in the state. Survey responses
for municipalities that do not maintain their own full-time police department were
collected from the agency that provides law enforcement and public safety services
to the municipality - either the New Jersey State Police or another municipal police
department that has contracted with the municipality in question.
The 2010 iteration of the survey marks a new step in our efforts to provide the
general public with information on the gang environment in their communities by
partnering with academic institutions such as the University of Maryland to make
the 2010 survey data more accessible to the residents of New Jersey and provide
information that will raise awareness and understanding of the gang phenomenon.
Report gang activity to the New Jersey State Police at: 1-877-SGU-NJSP (1-877-748-6577)
Questions about the NJSP Street Gang Survey can be forwarded to: GANGSURVEY@gw.njsp.org
Links and Additional Info Page Links
Gangs in New
Jersey: Municipal Law Enforcement Response to the 2004 & 2001 NJSP
Gangs in New Jersey:
Municipal Law Enforcement Response to the 2007 NJSP Gang Survey
National Gang Center
2010 NJSP Initial Gang Survey Questionnaire
2010 NJSP Gang Specific Survey Questionnaire
2010 NJSP Initial Gang Survey Data
2010 NJSP Gang Specific Survey Data
Credits
The New Jersey Gang Survey web site was created by the Creative Alliance team, a
group of Software Engineering graduate students at the University of Maryland University
College, in cooperation with the New Jersey State Police. For information on the development of this site, please send an email to
Larry Day.
Disclaimer
The New Jersey State Police Gang Surveys measured perceptions of the New Jersey
gang environment at the municipal level and there are many reasons why individual
perceptions can vary. Responses are subjective, reflecting an individual survey
respondent's perception based on his/her training and experience. An officer who
has received gang awareness training may be more likely to report the presence of
gangs in his or her jurisdiction if he or she is able to interpret gang indicia
that other officers do not observe or notice.
In addition, the presence or perceived presence of gangs can have significant political,
economic and social consequences for municipalities. In some cases, depending on
the circumstances of a particular time and place, a political rationale may exist
to either deny -or exaggerate- the presence of gangs. Every police chief in New
Jersey was notified about the survey, either requesting their assistance in completing
the questionnaire, or as a courtesy to advise them that their personnel would be
interviewed at a later date. The responses that resulted may or may not represent
the 'official' position of a particular police department or municipal administration.