DPS’ Gang and Gang
Member Data Repository
What is TxGang?
A statewide repository of records related to
criminal gangs and criminal street gang
members.
TxGang was mandated by the Texas Legislature in
1999, to encourage and expedite the exchange of
criminal intelligence information between and
among law enforcement agencies.
Art. 61.03.
(c) If a local law enforcement agency compiles
and maintains information under this
chapter relating to a criminal street gang, the
agency shall send the information to the
department.
(d) The department shall establish an
intelligence database and shall maintain
information received from an agency under
Subsection (c) in the database in accordance
with the policies established under 28 C.F.R.
Section 23.1 et seq. and the submission
criteria under Article 61.02(c).
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TxGANG—Database created by the Texas Department of Public Safety
containing offender information for gang members, both juveniles and
adults, who are IN THE FREE WORLD (may or may not have been
incarcerated in TDCJ). This information is maintained by the
individual law enforcement agencies.
TAGIT– TEXAS ANTI-GANG INFORMATION TRACKING SYSTEM
is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) database which
contains information on offenders incarcerated or previously
incarcerated at a TDCJ facility that have been suspected or confirmed
of being affiliated with a Security Threat Group. Records may also
contain a photo of the offender and a visitor’s list, which can help
identify family and associates.
Gang Resource System (GRS) - Database maintained by the Attorney
General’s Office that provides general information such as gang name,
gang identifiers (e.g., colors used, tattoos, clothing preferences), criminal
activities, migration trends, recruitment activities, and a local law
enforcement contact specific to the various cities throughout Texas.
Gang Database Requirements from 81st Legislative session
Gang Intelligence Database
• Requires
counties with a population of 100,000 or more
and cities with a population of 50,000 or more to
compile and maintain a local/regional gang database.
This requires virtually every geographical area in Texas
to monitor and record gangs and gang members as well
as report that information to TxDPS.
• Requires CFR training for all who input or retrieve info
every 2 years.
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“Criminal Justice Agency” representatives of:
A federal or state agency that is engaged in
the administration of criminal justice; or
A municipal or county agency, or school
district law enforcement agency, that is
engaged in the administration of criminal
justice; or
A non-gov’t railroad or campus police
department with an originating agency
identifier (ORI) issued by the FBI.
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For access to TxGang, send an email
to TxGang@dps.texas.gov and one of
the site administrators will help your
agency get set up.
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An Agency Agreement must be completed, signed by
your agency administrator, and on file at TxDPS
Crime Records ~one per agency.
An application for access to TxGang must be
completed by each individual requesting access.
Each person requesting access to TxGang
automatically receives the application via email.
TxGang
Governed by 28 CFR Part 23, a Federal regulation which sets guidelines to
protect the privacy rights of individuals by requiring “reasonable suspicion”
of criminal activity AND submission criteria.
* http://www.iir.com/28cfr/laymensguide.htm
A TxGang record must be supported by documentation, a report that
contains:
a) Information relevant to an identification of an organization that is
reasonably suspected of involvement in criminal activity AND
b) Consists of entry criteria defined in the Texas Criminal Code of
Procedure, Chapter 61.
*No record may be submitted if the information was obtained illegally.
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Under TX CCP 61.02(c)(2), potential gang members
must meet a standard of observed criteria before they are
entered into TxGang.
Each of the separate criteria is given a different weight
based on type and circumstance, and while some are
sufficient to enter a gang member into TxGang on their
own, most must be used in conjunction with either one or
two other criteria to meet the requirements laid out in the
law.
The easiest way to think about this is to assign each
criterion a point value.
A total of 3 points is required to enter a potential gang
member into the database, at which point they are
“confirmed” as a gang member.
3 Points
Each
JUDICIAL FINDING || JUDICIAL SELF ADMISSION
1.5
Points
Each
SELF ADMISSION OUTSIDE OF A JUDICIAL PROCEEDING (INCLUDING
VIA ELECTRONIC MEDIUM) || CORROBORRATED IDENTIFICATION
AS A GANG MEMBER BY A RELIABLE INFORMANT ||
CORROBORATED IDENTIFICATION AS A GANG MEMBER BY AN
INDIVIDUAL OF UNKNOWN RELIABILITY || GANG DRESS, TATOOS,
HAND SIGNALS || ARRESTED OR DETAINED WITH CONFIRMED GANG
MEMBERS || USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO RECRUIT NEW GANG
MEMBERS
1 Point
Each
FREQUENTING A DOCUMENTED GANG AREA AND ASSOCIATING
WITH KNOWN GANG MEMBERS || VISITATION OF A CONFIRMED
GANG MEMBER WHO IS INCARCERATED (UP TO THIRD DEGREE
CONSANGUINITY)
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TxGang tracks the criteria combination
requirements for the user, so the points only
need to be kept up with in order to know if
a gang member is ready to be entered into
the database.
The system will not let a user enter a gang
member who doesn’t meet the requirements
laid out in 61 CCP.
Status of TxGang
• TxGang is in it’s third incarnation since 1999.
• Each revision has been an attempt to make the database more relevant
and user friendly.
• TxGang has always been free for any criminal justice agency to use.
• Features of the current system:
Over 3,200 defined gangs;
34,000+ confirmed gang members;
definitive search options;
mapping links using GoogleMaps;
automatic gang member linking to the TxDPS computerized
criminal history records (rap sheet); and
ability to customize agency accounts to internal needs.
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Expirations in TxGang are handled by the database,
and are based on 61.06 and 61.07 of the Texas Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Adults expire after 5 years. The clock stops if they are
incarcerated during that time and begins again after
they are released.
Juveniles expire after 2 years.
The TxGang database handles this automatically, and
will notify users via email that one of their gang
members is about to expire.
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Under 28 CFR and 61 CCP, records entered in
TxGang are owned and maintained by the entering
agency.
Any agency may view any record entered in
TxGang.
No agency may edit another agency’s record in
TxGang.
Any agency that picks up a gang member previously
entered in TxGang by another agency will need to
create a NEW TxGang record for that gang member.
This will allow them to “own” and edit their own
record for that gang member.
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Due to this rule, it is not uncommon for gang
members who move around to be documented by
multiple agencies.
This results in duplicate records in TxGang.
Benefits to this include knowledge of some of the
gang members movement, awareness of interaction
that the gang member may have had with other
agencies, and methods of contacting the officers at
the other agencies.
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TxGang records can be very full of information,
like the test record created for the Fusion Center.
Records rich in detail like this are referred to as
“packed” and typically take some time to create.
To quickly create a simple record that can be seen
by any other TxGang user, however, you only
need to enter the gang member’s name, gang
name, DOB, the date they were confirmed as a
gang member, and the criteria they were
confirmed with.
A simple basic record like this can be created
within 60 seconds.
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If an agency wishes to create a gang member but
they do not have the gang he belongs to listed
within their agency’s ORI, they will need to
create the gang before they create the gang
member record.
Creating a basic gang record takes even less time
than a simple gang member record.
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Searches in TxGang may be done one of two ways:
the quick search, which is on the menu bar of every
screen and searches gangs or gang members based on
name, nickname, or identifying numeric values, or
the advanced search, which may be reached through
the menu bar drop down and allows users to combine
every conceivable search criteria for unique search
parameters.
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TxGang has automated links to Google mapping
features that allow gangs, gang members, or gang
activity to be displayed on a map for reference.
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Notifications are a big part of TxGang.
All notifications are automatically generated and sent
via email.
One of the key concepts of the database is knowledge
awareness.
TxGang users are automatically notified when a gang
member is about to expire from the database, and they
can choose to be notified from a list of other options.
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TxGang users can choose to be notified when a gang
member is entered into the database in an area near
them.
They can be notified when a particular anyone from a
particular gang or when a certain gang member they
are watching is viewed by someone else on TxGang, is
updated by another user in TxGang, or is arrested
anywhere in the state.
Notifications can be duplicated to other TxGang users
at the same agency for any length of time.
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The entire point of TxGang is free, increased awareness
of gangs, gang members, and gang activity within
Texas among law enforcement agencies in the state.
The system provides immediate, real time updates
when a gang member is updated in TxGang or their
arrest record, and TxGang users from any agency can
see at any time what gangs or gang members other
agencies may be dealing with.
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TxGang is in the midst of working with the
FBI to submit partial gang member records
to NCIC.
When an officer makes a query on an
individual, NCIC will return a “Caution,
Gang Member” warning code.
This will result in increased officer
awareness and safety when interacting with
confirmed gang members who have been
entered into the database.
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TxGang is customizable in its ability to
create unique fields for an agency that may
track something that other agencies do not.
DPS is able to take information from
existing gang databases that an agency may
already have in use and put that
information into TxGang.
If an agency is not currently participating in
TxGang but does track gangs and gang
members, contact us at the following
information:
Website: https://txgang.txdps.state.tx.us
Email: txgang@txdps.state.tx.us
Telephone: (512) 424-5542
Fax: (512) 424-7164