In addition to reporting the number of gang homicides, survey recipients were asked to indicate the degree to which gang members were involved in the following offenses in their respective jurisdictions: aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny/theft. These crimes were selected because they are commonly associated with gang activity and cover most serious and violent crime offense categories.

involvement in robbery was generally small for all area types, especially in small cities (4 percent). In rural counties, the percentage of respondents reporting a high degree of gang member involvement in burglary (41 percent) was substantially larger than the overall average (26 percent). At least one-quarter of respondents in each type of jurisdiction indicated that gang members were involved in a high degree of larceny/theft. The differences in the degree of gang member involvement by area type are statistically significant for all crimes except larceny/theft.

The estimated degree of involvement in criminal activity by youth gang members was less in 1997 than in 1996 for all crimes included in the survey (see table 17). The decreases in the percentage of respondents who reported a high degree of gang member involvement in criminal activity from 1996 to 1997 were as follows: larceny/theft, 10 percent; aggravated assault, 5 percent; burglary, 4 percent; motor vehicle theft, 3 percent; and robbery, 2 percent. These reported decreases are consistent with the national downturn in juvenile violent crime arrests from 1994 to 1997, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1998; Snyder, 1998).

Criminal activity varied considerably by region (see table 18). Jurisdictions in the West reported the largest percentage of a high degree of gang member involvement in aggravated assault, robbery, and motor vehicle theft. The proportion of agencies reporting a high degree of gang member involvement in burglary was largest in the South (35 percent) and smallest in the Northeast (7 percent). Youth gang members were involved in larceny/theft to a high degree in all regions, with estimates ranging from 23 percent in the Northeast to 30 percent in the South. The differences in the degree of gang member involvement by region are statistically significant for all crimes except larceny/theft. In addition, regional trends in 1997 were fairly consistent with those evident in 1996.