ADDRESSING COMMUNITY GANG PROBLEMS: a Practical Guide U.S
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T O EN F J TM U R ST I U.S. Department of Justice A C P E E D B O J C S F A V Office of Justice Programs F M O I N A C I J S R E BJ G O OJJ DP O F PR Bureau of Justice Assistance JUSTICE Monograph ADDRESSING COMMUNITY GANG PROBLEMS: A Practical Guide U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General Raymond C. Fisher Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General Noël Brennan Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nancy E. Gist Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance Office of Justice Programs World Wide Web Home Page http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov Bureau of Justice Assistance World Wide Web Home Page http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA For grant and funding information contact U.S. Department of Justice Response Center 1–800–421–6770 This document was prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum, supported by coop- erative agreement number 91–DD–CX–K058, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclu- sions or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Bureau of Justice Assistance Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide May 1998 Reprinted August 1999 Monograph NCJ 164273 Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide Foreword Urban street-gang involvement in drug trafficking and violent crime is be- coming increasingly widespread—not just in large cities, but in suburban areas and small towns as well. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) recognizes that programs aimed at combating gang-related activity must incorporate both crime prevention and crime control initiatives to be effective over long periods of time. Ac- cordingly, in October 1991, BJA initiated the development of a prototype model of the Comprehensive Gang Initiative. BJA is pleased to present this monograph, Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide, as a product of that initiative. It is a useful tool that provides guidelines for agencies and community groups to develop individualized responses to local gang problems. This practical manual provides a foundation for understanding the diverse nature of gangs, the problems they pose and the harm they cause, and the two analytical mod- els for addressing gang-related problems. Two companion monographs complement this one. Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Model for Problem Solving provides a prototype to assist communities in identifying, analyzing, and responding to gang-related problems as well as assessing the effectiveness of their responses. Urban Street Gang Enforcement focuses exclusively on enforcement and prosecu- tion strategies to protect against urban street gangs and presents strategies to enhance the prosecution of gang-related crimes. Nancy E. Gist Director iii Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide Acknowledgments The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) wishes to thank the Police Execu- tive Research Forum (PERF) and, in particular, John Stedman and Deborah Lamm Weisel, for their help and guidance in compiling this document. BJA also thanks the following individuals for their contributions: Deborah Lamm Weisel, Chapter 1. Robert P. McNamara, Chapters 2 and 3. Hugh Nugent, Chapters 4 and 7. William Spelman, Chapter 5. Marilyn B. Ayres, Chapter 6. George E. Capowich, Chapter 8. v Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................... xiii I. Understanding Gangs and Gang Problems Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................. 3 Analytical Models.................................................................... 4 Organization of the Monograph ........................................... 6 Chapter 2 Defining the Community’s Gang(s) .................................. 9 Which Definition To Use? ...................................................... 9 Gang Diversity ....................................................................... 11 Community Concerns: What To Do? ................................. 14 Chapter 3 Gang Involvement in Drugs and Violence .................... 17 The Media’s Social Distortion of Gangs ............................. 18 Historical Overview of Gangs ............................................. 19 Types of Gangs ...................................................................... 21 Gangs and Drugs ................................................................... 21 Drug Use ......................................................................... 21 Drug Selling .................................................................... 22 Drugs and Violence ....................................................... 22 Gangs and Violence............................................................... 23 The Relationships Among Gangs, Drugs, and Violence ... 26 Community Responses to the Problem .............................. 27 Chapter 4 Gang Graffiti ......................................................................... 29 What Are Graffiti? ................................................................. 29 Are Graffiti a Problem?......................................................... 30 Graffiti as Street Art ...................................................... 31 Gang Graffiti................................................................... 34 Reading Graffiti ..................................................................... 37 Alphabets ........................................................................ 37 Signs and Symbols......................................................... 41 Ethnic Graffiti ................................................................. 43 Attacking a Graffiti Problem ............................................... 49 Controllers ...................................................................... 49 Guardians........................................................................ 50 vii Bureau of Justice Assistance Contents (continued) Manager .......................................................................... 50 Offenders......................................................................... 51 Tools ................................................................................. 53 Problem Places ............................................................... 55 Responses................................................................................ 59 Establishing a Graffiti Policy........................................ 59 Reducing Availability of Graffiti Tools ...................... 59 Graffiti Removal Campaigns ....................................... 60 Target Hardening........................................................... 60 Discouraging Graffiti..................................................... 61 Providing Alternatives to Taggers .............................. 61 Encouraging Public Responsibility ............................. 62 Assessment ............................................................................. 64 II. Learning About Local Gangs Chapter 5 Needs Assessments for Gang Problems.......................... 67 What Is a Needs Assessment? ............................................. 67 Aren't Communities Already Doing This? ................ 69 What Is the Needs Assessment Looking For? ........... 70 Step 1: Laying the Groundwork .......................................... 72 First Steps ........................................................................ 73 Scope and Focus ............................................................. 75 Getting the Advisory Board To Buy In....................... 77 Dealing With Conflict.................................................... 77 Step 2: Identifying Current Activities ................................ 79 Defining What Information To Collect....................... 80 Identifying Service Providers ...................................... 83 Collecting Information .................................................. 83 Displaying Results ......................................................... 84 Reaping the Benefits of Surveying .............................. 87 Step 3: Identifying and Setting Priorities Among Needs .... 87 Surveying Clients and Their Advocates .................... 87 Tracking and Comparing Social Indicators .............. 96 Step 4: Developing a Consensus ....................................... 103 Presenting Results to the Advisory Board .............. 104 Going Public ................................................................. 105 Developing Solutions .................................................. 106 Conclusion ............................................................................ 107 viii Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide Contents (continued) Chapter 6 Addressing Gang Problems Through Strategic Planning .............................................................. 109 Using the Definition of Gang To Frame Community Responses ....................................................... 109 Factors in Gang Formation and