Facts for fighting gangs

STATE law enforcement officials are standing careful guard over a database that includes detailed information on street gang activities across the Commonwealth. Protecting much of the information, however, is not only unnecessary but contrary to the interest of public safety.

MassGangs, a product of the state Criminal History Systems Board, will allow urban and suburban police departments to store, update, and share information on violent street gangs, including members, criminal histories, and unique identifiers such as gang tattoos and insignia. The database, supported by a $1.2 million federal grant, is designed for police eyes only. That blackout makes sense for information pertaining to specific investigations. But much of the general information is of as much or greater use to parents, teachers, and business leaders concerned about identifying and preventing gang violence. .

Police are never shy about asking for the public's cooperation in solving a crime. Yet faced with a chance to share key information, law enforcement goes undercover.

Police in metropolitan Chicago take a different and better approach. They provide detailed information to the nonprofit Chicago Crime Commission, which in turn publishes a remarkable reference book - "The Gang Book" - aimed at educating citizens, demanding police accountability, and advancing smart policies on guns. The "Gang Book" provides mug shots of gang leaders, detailed maps of the neighborhoods traversed by many of the roughly 100,000 gang members in metropolitan Chicago, and a directory of gang hand signs, tattoos, and gang colors. A slang glossary and statistics on gang-related violence are included. Readers learn not only how to identify gang members but their links to the illegal trade in drugs, false identity cards, green cards, passports, and driver's licenses.

"Our strategy has always been to make private investigative tools available to the public," says J.R, Davis, chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission. He acknowledges that some gangs consider it a badge of honor to be included in the reference book. But the educational value of the book for teachers and parents who need to understand the allure of gangs, or businesses that need to identify gangs in their area, easily outweighs such concerns, says Davis. Letters from Chicago's school and police leaders included in the "Gang Book" attest to the publication's educational value.

Leaders in Boston neighborhoods plagued by gang violence are exploring the creation of a crime commission capable of publishing a similar book on gangs. But it can only succeed if state law enforcement officials put aside their own turf concerns.