States vary in their laws pertaining to gangs and their definitions of gangs. In addition, no uniform national policy exists to assist communities that are just beginning to face this problem or have become overwhelmed by it. However, recent years have brought a growing effort to involve police officials in a nationwide campaign to exchange information and find ways to deal with gang problems in local communities. A Department of Justice publication of May 1998 concludes that the complexity of today’s gangs suggests the need for a comprehensive, multifaceted effort that targets the reasons youth join gangs. Such an effort may involve three programmatic approaches: (1) developing strategies to discourage gang membership, (2) providing paths for youths to leave gangs, and (3) empowering communities to solve gang problems through collaborative approach. Another report concludes that gang problems now affect more jurisdictions than before, including rural and suburban areas and that developing a national picture of gang problems is difficult despite improved information. One program to address gangs is the pilot program established by the Nassau County (N.Y.) Police Department; the program has three components: intelligence, operations, and school-community interactions. Communities need to recognize that gangs can take over a neighborhood or be controlled through acceptance of the problem and research and determination to control it. Photographs