The article discusses the characteristics of gangs and their impact in schools. It advocates a community-oriented policing approach to preventing gang violence, in which the community and the police have specific roles and responsibilities. Coordinated efforts against gang violence should include: (1) community mobilization (citizens, youth, community groups, and agencies); (2) social and economic opportunities, including special school, training, and job programs (critical for older gang members who are not in school but may be ready to leave the gang or decrease participation in criminal gang activity); (3) social intervention (especially youth outreach and work with street gangs directed at mainstreaming youth); (4) gang suppression (social control procedures of the justice systems and community agencies and groups); (5) community-based agencies and local groups collaborating with juvenile and criminal justice agencies in surveillance and sharing information; (6) organizational change and development to integrate strategies and potential reallocation of resources; and (7) any approach that safeguards the community against youth gang activities and contributes to the prosocial development of present and potential gang members. References