PURPOSE OF ORDER
The purpose of this order is to standardize gang-related crime reporting procedures
throughout Operation Safe Streets (OSS) Bureau and provide a guideline to follow for all other reporting units.
SCOPE OF ORDER
All OSS Bureau Personnel.
ORDER
The following guidelines shall be followed when reporting gang-related crimes and gang-related murders.
GANG-RELATED CRIME
All crimes should be considered gang-related when the participants, acting individually or collectively, are believed to be gang members or affiliates.
A crime should also be considered gang-related when:
• The nature of the offense and the circumstances are consistent with crimes committed by known gang members
• the participants were wearing/using common identifying signs, symbols, or colors
• based upon the expert opinion of a gang investigator.
This determination is not an exact science and need not be one-hundred percent certain the circumstances indicate there was a “gang nexus.”
A gang-related crime should not be confused with a gang-motivated crime.
Example: gang member involved in argument about parents and kills his/her brother. That would be documented as a gang-related murder, although there was no “gang-motivation.”
MURDERS
Gang-related murders shall be determined in the same manner as other gang-related crimes. The Bureau maintains the responsibility in determining whether a murder is to be considered gang-related, based upon their expertise.
In order to accurately report gang crimes, stat code 860 must be utilized and documented in LARCIS. All Bureau investigative team sergeants are responsible for ensuring the 860 stat code is added if the first report did not accurately classify the incident as gang-related.