Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force FY 08 - 09

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program (Byrne Discretionary Program) helps local communities improve the capacity of local justice systems and provides for national support efforts. This project is authorized and funded through a line item in the FY 08 Congressional Budget. Funds should be used for purposes recommended by Congress.

The City of Manassas Park will serve as the Fiscal Agent for the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional task force formed in July of 2003, in response to the rise in gang crime in Northern Virginia. The Task Force will continue its active and proactive enforcement efforts across the region, coordinate and support the gang intelligence system across the region, and work in partnership with other agencies to combat and prosecute organized gang and drug-related activities. The Task Force will target both active and proactive gang enforcement strategies; document gang arrests by: charge, jurisdiction, adult or juvenile offender, and determine increases or decreases in specific crime categories as compared to previous statistics; train criminal justice personnel, community groups, and local citizens in gang recognition and appropriate prevention methods; partner with the Northern Virginia HIDTA Gang Task Force to combat regional gang activity associated with violence, crime, and narcotics. The Task Force considers the purchase of information from confidential informants and documented sources of information a necessary and productive method of enhancing gang related investigations, thus, confidential funds will be used by the Task Force during the course of their investigations. The use of confidential funds is included in the Task Force's approved budget and a special condition has been the award to address the use of confidential funds.

NCA/CF