NCJ Number
246919
Journal
THE POLICE CHIEF Volume: 79 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2012 Pages: 24-38
Date Published
October 2012
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article from Police Chief Magazine examines the use of police-probation/parole partnerships for responding to local street gang problems.
Abstract
This article in the August 2014 issue of The Police Chief magazine examines the use of police-probation/parole partnerships for responding to problems caused by local street gangs. The article begins with a brief overview of the problem of street gang recidivism and follows with a discussion on the potential for police-probation/parole partnerships to reduce recidivism levels among gang members recently released from custody. As noted in the article, research has found that within the first year of release from custody, 60 percent of gang members were rearrested compared to 49 percent of non-gang members, and that within the first 2 years of release from custody, 75 percent of gang members were rearrested for a new offense compared to 63 percent for non-gang members. In order to reduce the recidivism rates among gang members, law enforcement agencies across the country have developed police-probation/parole partnerships that use increased supervision to address gang-related violence and recidivism. The article discusses the partnership developed in Boston, Operation Night Light, and highlights the successes and impact that the partnership has had on the community. The article also discusses issues that have arisen from these partnerships including mission distortion, problems with jurisdictional boundaries, organizational lag, the "stalking horse", and an overreliance on suppression and deterrence. The final section of the article discusses the CARE (collaboration, analysis, reentry, and evaluation) model developed by the APPA (American Probation and Parole Association). This model follows the Bureau of Justice Assistance's anti-gang initiative Project Safe Neighborhood by encouraging agencies to approach community crime problems through the four components of the model: collaboration, analysis, reentry, and evaluation. Notes