Fact Sheet: the National Gang Intelligence Center and the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement and Coordination Center

The Department of Justice is leading the effort to combat the threat to the public order posed by national and international street gangs. The Department’s strategy is to achieve maximum impact at the national level against the most violent gangs in this country. A newly opened facility in Northern Virginia will serve as a central location for interagency cooperation and collaboration, and house approximately 80 agents, analysts, support staff and prosecutors.

The facility housing the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) and the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement and Coordination Center (GangTECC) will bring together intelligence analysts and law enforcement agents and prosecutors to attack the problems caused by gangs and gang-related violence at all ends. The facility is designed to facilitate gang-related information sharing between federal, state, local and tribal governments and law enforcement agencies.

NGIC, established by Congress in 2005, is a multi-agency effort that integrates the gang intelligence assets of federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement entities to serve as a centralized intelligence resource for gang information and analytical support. The mission of the NGIC is to support law enforcement agencies through timely and accurate information sharing and strategic/tactical analysis of law enforcement focusing on the growth, migration, criminal activity and association of gangs that pose a significant threat to communities throughout the United States.

Initially, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) provided analysts to the NGIC. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement later joined to bring the number of participating agencies to seven. NGIC was housed at FBI Headquarters until the facility in Northern Virginia was opened.

GangTECC is a multi-agency center created by the Attorney General in the summer of 2006 to serve as a critical catalyst in a unified effort to help disrupt and dismantle the most significant and violent gangs in the United States. The Director is from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and the Deputy Director is currently from the ATF. The investigators are from the FBI, ATF, DEA, the USMS, BOP and ICE, and work in close collaboration with the Gang Squad prosecutors of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and with the analysts and others at the NGIC.

GangTECC is intended as “one stop shopping” via phone and e-mail for local, state, tribal and federal investigators and prosecutors engaged in significant anti-gang efforts. To that end, GangTECC: assists the initiation of gang-related investigations; aids in the coordination, deconfliction, and effectiveness of gang-related initiatives, investigations, and prosecutions; and develops and enhanced understanding of the national gang problem and proposes strategies to neutralize the most violent and significant threats.