The Street Gang Units were established in 1994 to combat the increasing threat of gang related violence and support the anti-gang efforts of county and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Since then, shared responsibilities have been divided amongst the North, Cental, and South Organized Crime Control Bureaus. The primary functions of the three regionally assigned Street Gang Units are to collect, evaluate, and disseminate intelligence on criminal gangs; analyze gang trends; identify problem areas, and target New Jersey’s most violent criminal street gangs for investigation and enforcement action.

Since its inception, the Street Gang North Unit has been mandated to target the most violent criminal street gangs which pose the greatest danger to the citizens of the state in the northern region of the State. To achieve its mission, the Street Gang North Unit utilizes a task force concept to combat gang violence by working in cooperation with other federal, state, county, and local law enforcement agencies in the seven northern counties. The Street Gang North Unit also provides training in street gang recognition, investigative techniques, intelligence collection, analysis, and tactical expertise in enforcement operations.