NCJ Number
115591
Date Published
1988
Length
49 pages
Annotation
Contrary to expectations, analyses of data from law enforcement sources revealed that a dramatic increase in the sale of rock cocaine or crack in Los Angeles between 1983 and 1985 was not accompanied by accelerated involvement of street gangs.
Abstract
The primary sources of data were cocaine sales incidents recorded by law enforcement in South Central Los Angeles and gang membership identifications on all logged arrestees involved in these cases. Cocaine sales arrests rose 375 percent between 1983 and 1985, but this explosion was not dominated by gang involvement. Gang identification had no significant impact on the nature of the cocaine sale incident, and no gang-correlated escalations in violence were found. Finally, the perceived connection between gangs and cocaine did not produce increased cooperation among special police units nor spur technological innovations. The study concludes that the purported connection between crack sales and gangs in Los Angeles was considerably overstated and that the world of rock cocaine belongs to normal drug dealers, not street gangs. Consequently, the results do not support a need for gang expertise in law enforcement narcotics operations. Tables and three references.