Virginia police task force drops use of controversial gang database Justin Jouvenal, The Washington Post Jan. 28, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Northern Virginia Gang Task Force officers partner with ICE officers arrest an alleged MS-13 gang member in a Manassas, Virginia neighborhood in August 2017.Washington Post photo by Melina Mara. A Virginia gang task force has dropped use of a database that catalogues thousands of alleged gang members across the Washington region after activists raised concerns that minorities are disproportionately represented in it and its use is shrouded in secrecy. The Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force is the first local law enforcement entity in the D.C. area to discontinue use of GangNet, according to the program which oversees use of the database in the region. The database has stirred controversy in a handful of jurisdictions across the country in recent years.