ABSTRACT
Deeply imbedded within the twin contexts of gang proliferation and drug market expansion is public concern about gang migration—the movement of gang members from one city to another. The disparity between the empirically based studies and the law enforcement and media reports can be resolved through analysis of the patterns of gang migration. Law enforcement officers were asked about the use of specific strategies and their effectiveness in reducing the volume of gang migrants or their impact. Although officers in more than half the cities viewed community collaboration as an effective response to migration, less than one-fourth could provide the name of someone outside law enforcement who was informed about gang migration. The departmental assessment may help to explain the absence of innovation, and that absence also likely reflects the recent occurrence of migration and its relatively minor role in the overall gang problem in many cities.
