In 1989, the Rapid City Police Department and Pennington County Sheriff's Office formed the Rapid City Area Gang Task Force (GTF). The GTF was created to address issues surrounding the emerging gang problem within the greater Rapid City area. During the time period encompassing the mid to late 1980's, it became apparent that the gang problem experienced by other communities nationwide would eventually affect the Rapid City area, so action was taken to address the problem before it became unmanageable.

The RCAGTF is comprised of sworn officers from both the police department and sheriff's office. It is an ancillary assignment, and not a full-time task force. GTF members are assigned from both the patrol and investigation divisions of both departments, and each School Liaison Officer is a member of the Gang Task Force, due to their potential for contact with gang involved individuals within their assigned schools.

The RCAGTF takes a three-prong approach to dealing with gang issues in the community. This approach involves Intelligence Gathering to identify Active and At-Risk gang members, their associates and their rivals. This approach also involves Enforcement Activity, accomplished through directed patrol efforts and the utilization of the Targeted Apprehension Project (TAP). Periodically, GTF officers are assigned to work in a special uniform, in unmarked cars, their task being to interdict gang activity, collect intelligence information and respond to specific gang-based incidents. The third approach involves Education and Intervention, accomplished through providing the community with information regarding the gang subculture, allowing parents, teachers and other community members the opportunity to better understand the gang mentality and the manifestations of this behavior.

Over the years, the GTF has identified several hundred Rapid City area citizens who are involved in street gang activity to one degree or another. The majority of the people are involved are young, with the predominant age range being 12-19 years of age. Still, there are those who become involved in the gang subculture at a younger age, and those who stay involved well into their adult years.

In order to more effectively track gang involvement in the Rapid City area, a classification system was developed that involves assigning a point value to specific areas of gang-based behavior, such as self admission to gang involvement, association with known gang members, possession of gang based documents, photographs or other items, and other identifier criteria. This system is largely based upon South Dakota Codified Law 22-10-14, which outlines the criteria that defines a "street gang member." The RCAGTF maintains a computerized database that includes the names and gang affiliation of all individuals who are known to have gang connections within the community. This information is shared with other law enforcement jurisdictions on a "right to know, need to know" basis. The Intelligence database is highly protected, and is not used for any purpose other than criminal investigations and prosecution purposes.

A number of programs have been developed to assist in dealing with gang-based issues in the Rapid City community. Among these are the Graffiti Eradication Project, which involves utilizing community volunteers to eradicate graffiti, using donated paint and supplies. This has been a very successful program, and hundreds of graffiti-damages sites have been restored to their original condition since the Graffiti Eradication Project began in 1995. Senior Officers Jim Hansen and Chris DeGroote are the primary leaders in this project.

The Tattoo Removal Unified Support Team (T.R.U.S.T.), a collaborative effort between the RCAGTF and S.A.V.E. Rapid City (Stand Against a Violent Environment), is a program initiated in 1998. It involves utilizing medical professionals who donate their time, talent and equipment to remove gang tattoos, burns and brands from young people who have demonstrated a sincere desire to turn away from gang activity. Detective Cathy Bock is the police department representative on this committee, which meets periodically.

Since 1989 the Rapid City Area Gang Task Force has served to deal effectively with gang issues within the Rapid City area. Since 1998 we have seen the number of graffiti-based destruction of property incidents reduced, and the number of individuals newly becoming involved in this behavior has been reduced as well. Most gang crimes within the community tend to involve property-based crimes, but we have experienced a significant number of violent crimes, including homicide, either directly related to gang behavior, or involving people who have connections to the gang subculture. Through the efforts of the GTF, and every member of the Rapid City Police Department and Pennington County Sheriff's Office, the number of violent crimes committed by gang-involved individuals has been reduced as well.

Information regarding the Rapid City Area Gang Task Force may be received by contacting the commander of the GTF, Lieutenant Dan Rud, at (605) 394-6033.