CPE Publishes White Paper on the Harms of Gang Databases and Immigration Enforcement

West Hollywood, CA — The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) has released a white paper, Gang Databases and Immigration Enforcement, on the harmful use of gang databases. The report found that these record systems, created using vague criteria and often containing inaccurate information, pose significant safety risks for marginalized communities, a risk that is made more urgent by the increase in federal immigration enforcement actions.

In addition to using overly broad inclusion criteria, such as clothing, social associations, neighborhood presence, or points systems, gang databases undermine public safety through data sharing or cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Once a person’s record of being “gang affiliated” is shared widely with ICE and other agencies, the consequences are severe, including deportation to countries with which that person has no ties. These life-altering consequences can also extend to a person’s family, now potentially implicated by association. 

“Public safety is not improved through secret lists. When gang databases are created on vague criteria and then circulated throughout systems and agencies, mistakes aren’t just possible, they’re inevitable,” said Rashad James, Policy Associate at CPE. “In the context of immigration, these mistakes can mean irreparable harm. Detention, deportation, and family separation can begin with a label that cannot be easily seen or challenged. This white paper demonstrates that what is needed is oversight, transparency, limits on information sharing, and strategies to ensure public safety without mass, secret labeling.”

Gang databases have not been shown to reduce crime. Instead, their use diverts limited public safety resources away from combating violent crime in communities while disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. As a result, there is a growing trend in cities restricting or eliminating the use of gang databases for alternative approaches to addressing gang violence. 

CPE’s white paper and accompanying one pager provide recommendations for alternatives to gang databases, including: 

1. States, counties or cities enacting legislation to make gang databases and gang classifications more limited and mandating clearer standards.
2. Individual law enforcement agencies  restricting the use of gang classifications.
3. Limiting the use and sharing of gang affiliation information, especially with immigration enforcement.
4. Making data retention, audits and purges mandatory so that old or weak gang allegations do not become permanent labels.
5. Prioritizing comprehensive approaches to addressing gang-related violence.

Communities have an opportunity to replace harmful tools, like gang databases, with truly effective alternative approaches to addressing gang-related violent crime. Doing so will strengthen our public safety systems by reallocating valuable resources to where they are most needed and mitigating the harms caused by federal immigration enforcement.

Additional resources include a blog post.