1. 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.

2. 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).

3. What is the difference between TxGang, TAGIT and the Gang Resource System?  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.

4. SB 418 Ch 61 Code of Criminal Procedure 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. Gang Database Updates from 81st Legislative session

5. Who can access TXGANG?  “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.

6. To request access to TxGang, visit https://txgang.txdps.state.tx.us

8. Approval for access to TxGang  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.

9. Agency Agreement (MOU) Front Page

10. Agency Agreement (MOU) Back Page

11. Individual Application

12. 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. TxGang * http://www.iir.com/28cfr/laymensguide.htm 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. A TxGang record must be supported by documentation, a report that contains:

13. Gang Member Criteria Updates from 81st Legislative session Gang Database Criteria (additions to Art. 61.02 Code of Criminal Procedure) Broadened non-judicial self admission, including the use of the internet or electronic format to post photographs or other documentation identifying the individual as a gang member. Added new criteria:  Evidence the individual has visited a known gang member, other than a family member (third degree consanguinity), while gang member is confined;  Evidence of individual's use of technology to recruit new gang members.

14. Image source: Texas Office of the Attorney General

15. 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:  Nearly 3,000+ defined gangs;  24,000 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.

17. Login screen

24. EXPIRATIONS  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.

46. Ownership of Records in TxGang  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.

47. Ownership of Records in TxGang - Continued  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.

61. CREATING A RECORD  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.

62. CREATING A RECORD - CONTINUED  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.

63. CREATING A SIMPLE GANG RECORD

67. CREATING A SIMPLE GANG MEMBER RECORD

72. SEARCH  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.

79. MAPPING FEATURES  TxGang has automated links to Google mapping features that allow gangs, gang members, or gang activity to be displayed on a map for reference.

85. NOTIFICATIONS  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.

86. NOTIFICATION OPTIONS  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.

95. AWARENESS  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.

96.  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:

97. TxGang Information Website: https://txgang.txdps.state.tx.us Email: txgang@txdps.state.tx.us Telephone: (512) 424-5542; (512) 424-2898 Fax: (512) 424-7164