A new book on crime reveals a scary statistic: Chicago has more gang members than any other city in the United States.
The information comes from the Chicago Crime Commission's gang book, released Thursday, which provides the most intensive look at gangs in Chicago in more than five years.
The 320-page report says the Windy City now has more than 70 gangs with more than 150,000 members. Commission president Jody Weiss said members and leaders are younger now and they're recruiting aggressively in elementary schools.
Weis said social media has become a big component of recruitment and intimidation.
"We’ve got actually, like, screen prints of conversations between gang members, so it’s kind of neat that people will see how these young men are actually using this to communicate with each other, and I think that will be a good takeaway," Weis said, according to CBS Chicago. "And you know what? At the end of the day, if we can learn something new, it will make us better at combating this problem."
The book is intended to be a training tool for law enforcement, parents and community leaders. An electronic version is in the works for next year.
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