Are youth gang homicides increasing?
Due to numerous issues surrounding gang crime data, there is no simple response to this question (see Maxson, Curry, and Howell, 2002, for further discussion). First, there is the issue of availability—or lack thereof—of gang crime data. Most law enforcement agencies report they do not regularly record criminal offenses as “gang-related,” and those that do most often only do so for violent offenses (Egley and Major, 2003). Second, agencies employ varying criteria for recording a crime as “gang-related” (Egley et al., 2006). Broadly speaking, some agencies record a crime as “gang-related” when it involves a gang member as either a perpetrator or victim; other agencies use a more narrow approach and record a crime as “gang-related” only when the motive behind the crime furthers the interest and activities of the gang. Third and consequently, the term “gang homicide” often subsumes lethal outcomes involving such diverse sources, for example, as gang rivalries, drug market participation, s
