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Gangs. Role of the police. Definition. No one definition Common elements Persistence over time Appearing in a group publicly Self-Identification as a gang Symbols Claims over turf and criminal activity. Gangs.
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Gangs Role of the police
Definition • No one definition • Common elements • Persistence over time • Appearing in a group publicly • Self-Identification as a gang • Symbols • Claims over turf and criminal activity
Gangs • Over 26000 gangs, 780,000 gang members (broad estimates, usually based on police data) • Traditionally common in urban slum areas • Migration to smaller communities? Occurring, does not appear to be planned • Provides sense of belonging, status, success, self-esteem and cohesion, protection
Studies • Thrasher (1920s) • Cloward and Ohlin (1960s) • Do gangs cause delinquency? • Recruitment of already delinquent youth • Or, do gangs make it easier to become delinquent? • Increase in violence in gang, esp. lethal
Studies • Considerable drug use • Sale of drugs for profit varies from gang to gang • Increase in autonomous female gangs • Traditional: “auxiliary” groups • Increase in females as members of predominantly male gangs
Interventions • Suppression (CJS) • Intervention: detached workers, outreach workers, social work orientation • Organizational change: units that deal with gangs that are specialized, trained (often police) • Community organization: community mobilization, outgrowth of social disorganization theory
Interventions • Opportunity: providing alternative opportunities to gang members • Suppression: Harsher penalties, making gang activities a crime, not particularly effective • Detached workers: rather mixed results • Gang units: an evaluation indicated that police actually receive little training
Interventions: GREAT • Gang Resistance education and training • Sme positive results: better attitudes toward police, more negative views of gangs, less victimization, less risky behaviors • However, gang participation was not reduced
Gang units • Most focus on intelligence gathering and description and investigations of crimes committed by gangs. Not particularly effective • Boston Gun project: targeted firearms among gang members—if a gang member commits a crime with a gun, all members are given increased attention (stop and question,
Gang units • Loitering ordinances, check on probationers and paroles, (legal harrassment)