NCJ Number
201784
Date Published
2003
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides an overview of the themes of the book, which examines how some police agencies are attempting to use community and problem-oriented policing to address youth gang problems.
Abstract
Case studies from several American cities are used to demonstrate the pitfalls and the successes of police efforts to deal with gangs. The themes that emerge from the chapters in the book can be grouped under five headings, each with a particular focus on problem solving, youth problems, or both. One of the themes is the police effort to balance prevention and suppression of gang activity. The chapters examine a continuum of activities and policies that range from police and prosecutors' efforts to suppress gang behavior to community and public/private efforts intended to prevent gang behavior, as well as the blending of endeavors to counter persistent and violent gang behavior. A second theme focuses on efforts to prevent youth gang/crime problems by identifying and mitigating the root causes of gangs and gang criminal behavior. With few exceptions, the chapters of the book suggest that police policies for attacking the youth gang problem have little to do with prevention based on a grasp of what underlies the gang problem. A third theme that emerges from the chapters is the need to clearly specify and measure police and community policies and actions intended to remedy youth gang problems. The chapters note that many police gang programs do not clearly delineate the nature, extent, or anticipated outcome of gang-related interventions. A fourth theme of the book is the mobilization of community organizations to address what is essentially a problem rooted in community conditions that spawn gangs. The fifth theme of the book pertains to organizational issues involved in problem solving related to youth gangs. Such organizational issues can pose obstacles to the effective implementation of well-founded problem solving policies. 13 references