By: Lou Savelli

Gang intelligence is the foundation of every gang case. Reports are the building blocks of the case structure.  Each report, regardless of the type, will add another block of information to the overall case.  While all reports can be useful, here are some of the most commonly utilized and valuable reports to document gang activity or compile information on a gang and its members:
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• Intelligence Report:  This report should be completed for any suspected criminal activity or incident that has not reached the point of being documented on a Criminal Complaint Report.

 

• Field Interview Card:    Field interview cards, also known as Stop, Question, and Frisk Reports, have proven to be extremely valuable in gang investigations and other criminal investigations.  Field Interview Cards should be used to document anyone, a group of people, at a specific location at a certain time and date.  This documentation can help build conspiratorial associations between gang members, document the gang clothing they are wearing, and track their actions which may prove to solidify an investigation later when such documentation is needed.

 

• Gang Incident and Intelligence Report:  This report should be completed for any incident or bit of gang intelligence information that has been reported involving a gang or gang member not targeted by an active investigation.  When an officer knows that a specific gang under current investigation, or one of its members, has been involved in an incident or activity necessitating documentation, an Investigative Report should be used instead.

 

• Investigative Report:  This report must be completed for any piece of pertinent information involving a gang under investigation or a gang that can potentially be under investigation.  The Investigative Report is the most frequently used report because it can be used to document surveillance results, undercover operations, informant deployment, informant information, information from other law enforcement officers, results of interviews and interrogations, and  to document a variety of investigative tasks such as Vehicle Registration information, Criminal History Reports, other official records, etc…

 

• Arrest Reports:   Obviously, Arrest Reports are filed when an individual is arrested.  The information on Arrest Reports can be extremely useful in investigations so it is important for a law enforcement officer to remember to fill out as much information as possible and to insure the information is accurate.  The information on the Arrest Report has valuable data that can be used during an investigation for the purposes of locating a suspect, documenting accomplices, establishing a criminal past, and other important information. These Arrest Reports are also valuable as an investigative technique used to track court appearances and jail release dates of gang members.  For a gang investigator, court appearances and jail release dates can help facilitate surveillances and missed court appearances, resulting in the issuance of an Arrest Warrant, can be a good opportunity for a gang investigator to arrest a gang member.

 

• Traffic Tickets, Parking Tickets, Minor Violations/Desk Appearance Tickets, Notices To Appear:  Tickets and Summonses used to document a minor violation such as a traffic infraction, parking ticket, code violation, quality of life violation, and sometimes minor Misdemeanor offenses can provide information on the gang member and help establish generally the same information as that of an arrest report.  Additionally, gang members tend to disregard these ‘paper’ infractions as insignificant and may fail to pay the fine or appear in court.  As a result of the failure to pay a fine or appear in court, many times, an arrest warrant will be issued.  As with Arrest Reports, it lends itself to another opportunity for a smart gang investigator to personally enforce the Arrest Warrant.

 

• Motor Vehicle Accident Report:  A good source of information to aid in the documenting of a gang member’s associations, whereabouts, vehicles used, and personal data, is the Motor Vehicle Report. 

Any report that can document a gang member’s actions, whereabouts, and associations can prove extremely useful in a gang investigation.  For example, a violent street gang member we were attempting to tie into a conspiracy case was adamant he never drove a black Honda sedan like the vehicle used in a recent drive-by shooting in which four people were shot and two were killed.  After a search of parking tickets around his residence, we determined the same type of vehicle was being tagged by the precinct summons officer.  A careful check of the gang member’s driving record showed him being issued a red light ticket several months prior while driving a black Honda sedan. 

​Furthermore, the owner of the Honda was identified and placed in a photo array in front of witnesses to the shooting.  While the witnesses could not identify our original target gang member, they did identify the owner of the car as the driver of the Honda on the day of the shooting.  The driver, after being arrested, gave up our target gang member as the shooter. 

Few effective gang cases, or other cases for that matter, were ever made without the use of paperwork.  As tedious as it can be, paperwork is an investigator’s friend.

By: Lou Savelli

Gang Files must be working intelligence data files are files that can be carried around from place to place.  They need to portable so they can be taken into a car for your unit’s members to view them and be able to identify gang members on the street or bring the photos to a victim’s house for viewing.  Laptops and PDAs make this more possible than ever.  Having a comprehensive database or file system will pay for itself in gang investigations over and over. 

Data Files include, but are not limited to:

Photo File

A Photo File should include clean, usable, legal photographs, similar in size, of any gang member you have come in contact with, heard about, or presently have documented. You should endeavor to obtain a photo of any gang member you presently do not have a photo of and obtaining it by any legitimate means. (seizure, surveillance, government agencies, etc)

Individual File


An individual file is a file that maintains any pertinent information related to a particular gang member. This information can include witness statements, hearsay, any police reports, intelligence reports or notes taken by you or a fellow officer about the individual.  This information will come in handy.

Associate(s) File

An associate file contains anyone’s information that associates with a gang or gang member within your jurisdiction. These associates may be able to provide, at a later date, pertinent information on one of your targets.

Rival File

A rival file includes information on individuals and gangs at odds with your targeted gangs or gangsters (other gang member or victim).  These individuals (rivals) may be able to provide information needed against your targets.  Also, today’s victim is tomorrow’s perpetrator. Today’s victim is tomorrow’s witness for the prosecution.

Tag/Nickname Files

Gang members will place their tag upon a wall while sending a derogatory or threatening message to an enemy or rival gang member. Most gang members and street people only know each other by nicknames.  It is important to create a tag/nickname file and endeavor to match those names with the real (Government) names and appropriate gangs.

Updated Parole List

Up to date Parole lists will keep you abreast of which gang members are on Parole and susceptible to violation of Parole when they break the rules of their Parole.  Also, Parolees and gang members on Parole, with the right circumstances, can become valuable informants.

Updated Probation List

Up to date Probation lists will keep you abreast of which gang members are on Probation and susceptible to violation of Probation when they break the rules of their Probation.  Also, Probationers and gang members on Probation, with the right circumstances, can become valuable informants.

NOTE: In most jurisdictions, Parolees and/or Probationers cannot associate with gang members.

Vehicle File

It is important to maintain information on vehicles used or owned by gang members since a vehicle description, license plate number or partial plate number may be mentioned in a drive by shooting or other crimes.

Surveillance Archives

Surveillance conducted by you or your unit, as well as fellow officers (Field interviews, etc) must be documented since such information may connect your target to gang associations, crimes, and place (document) them in areas near a crime.  Many of this information will come into play later on in your investigations.

Organization Charts w/ photos

Maintaining organization charts of your local gangs is important.  They act as a guide to proper targeting of key figures in the gang.  It is a great reference guide for other officers to understand the leaders and soldiers of the gang.  It is important as a constant reminder of the gang members faces.

Hangout File

Gangs hang out in bars, schoolyards, nightclubs, buildings and street corners.  These locations are prone to graffiti and other crime.  Maintaining information on these hangouts will enable you to keep abreast of the gang’s influence on the location and may lead to positive interdiction against the gang and a wealth of other information. 

Creating Set Books

Set books, which will include the photos of the gang members that hang out at a specific location should be Portable, Workable, and Accurate.  The books, can be carried around from place to place, either in a photo book or electronic file on a laptop, CD, DVD, or PDA.  They must be continually updated.  

Gang Intelligence files will be used over and over again and will assist in solving a multitude of gang related crimes.