Dear surgeonpepper-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. Approaches to gang activity and gang violence vary from one
community to another. Often one of the foremost efforts towards
combating the problem is acquiring assistance from knowledgeable
sources to help analyze the situation and organize a reactive or
proactive opposition to it. There are several well-funded community
policing programs in different communities around the United States
that can be called upon to help communities devise a strategy that is
tailored to their specific issues. Some communities initial organize a
steering committee or a research committee comprise of two or three
dedicated members who can contact these organizations and seek the
help they need. These sources most frequently come in the form of
government sources such as the local police department, sheriff
department or state and federal offices like Homeland Security,
Department of Justice or state Criminal Justice Institutes and
colleges.
The first step that many communities take is to seek out professionals
who can analyze their situation. Communities are careful not to make
hasty judgments about their problem and be open to a professional?s
point of view. Not all ?gang? problems are truly gang related. Some of
these problems turn out to be senseless random vandalism or an
increased presence of young hoodlums who are not actually gang members
in the criminal sense of the word. Most people don?t realize it ? and
some communities only learn this upon seeking help from a
knowledgeable analyst ? but these types of problems are quite
different than ?gang activity?. Often an increased police or proactive
citizen presence can dissuade these types of problems where these
approaches have sometimes proven ineffective against gang activity. So
as you can see, it is important to look for a ?cure? that is
appropriate for the social symptoms, and to do that a community must
enlists the aid of someone who can professionally and objectively
diagnose the local problem.
This type of assessment can be done on a small scale in any local
neighborhood, but to give you an idea what it entails, it is done
annually on a national scale in conjunction with the FBI, by The
National Alliance of Gang Investigators Association (NAGIA).
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF GANG INVESTIGATORS ASSOCIATION (NAGIA)
2005 GANG THREAT ASSESSMENT
http://www.nagia.org/2005_national_gang_threat_assessment.pdf
You can find NAGIA associations in every region of the United States.
Many communities contact one of the regional associations nearest to
them to get information about locating a professional to analyze their
problem and put them on the path to developing an approach. Outside of
the obvious need to treat a specific problem with a specific approach,
an credible assessment of gang activity goes a long way toward
garnering police and community support and involvement when that time
comes. Participants in the effort to combat gang activity WILL demand
to know exactly the extent of the problem and they will ultimately
want to know if the problems have been assessed. A smart community
will have done the work in advance of any organizing and has an
official assessment in hand before approaching their community about
participating in the solution.
NAGIA MEMBER AGENCIES
http://www.nagia.org/member_agencies.htm
Following an assessment, the most important initial effort communities
are doing is EDUCATING THEIR CITIZENS. The 2005 NAGIA GANG THREAT
ASSEMENT indicated that an astounding 31% of the survey respondents
denied there was even a problem or simply didn?t want to get involved!
Gang activity is so prevalent in some areas and engrained in some
societies that many people wouldn?t know it if it appeared on their
front lawn. Successful communities are overcoming this attitude by
educating their citizens and teaching them how to recognize gang
activity when they see it. By arming themselves with proof through
professional assessment a lot of communities gain enormous support for
a problem that many people failed, or even refused, to acknowledge.
?In GANGS: A COMMUNITY RESPONSE, the Crime and Violence Prevention
Center of the California Attorney General?s Office recommends that
"effective anti-gang efforts begin with partnerships."
?The booklet cites several ways that communities can prevent and
reduce gang activity in their neighborhoods. Some prevention methods
are the following:
-- Conduct an assessment of the level of gang problems in schools and
in the community. By compiling and sharing information, communities
can customize a gang prevention and reduction plan that meets the
communities? needs, thereby resulting in a greater chance for success.
-- Provide safe, secure, and adequate recreational and after-school
programs, especially between the hours of 2 PM and 8 PM.
-- Work with law enforcement to provide supervised late-night
activities such as basketball games and other constructive events.
-- Encourage youth mentoring programs.
-- Provide gang education and prevention training to parents, youth,
and other stakeholders.?
COPS OFFICE
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=1593
One cannot stress how education PRIOR TO INVOLVEMENT is instrumental
in the successful community?s efforts. Here are some resources that
many communities use:
GUIDES AND TRAINING REPORTS
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=1594
TRAINING AND TECHNINCAL ASSISTANCE
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=1596
OTHER RESOURCES
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=1595
Here is the article from the California Attorney General?s Office that
I mentioned earlier:
GANGS: A COMMUNITY RESPONSE
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/outside.asp?http://www.safestate.org/SHOP/FILES/GANGS_COMM.RESP.PDF
Here you will find a GANG REFERENCE CARD FOR PARENTS from the
Department of Justice that some communities distribute as part of
their efforts:
A PARENT?S QUICK REFERENCE CARD: RECOGNIZING AND PREVENTING GANG INVOLVEMENT.
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1614
Here you will find a number of links to organizations, programs and
funding that assist communities in gang prevention and intervention
that many communities have already discovered and utilized
successfully in their efforts to stop gang activity and violence:
NAGIA LINKS
http://www.nagia.org/Links.htm
Especially important in my opinion (speaking as a 20 plus year law
enforcement professional myself) are community support and
implementation of these programs in particular:
Boys and Girls Clubs of America
http://www.bgca.org/
Connect for Kids
http://www.connectforkids.org/
Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)
http://www.atf.treas.gov/great/index.htm
This is similar to D.A.R.E but it is a program sponsored by the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Mothers Against Gangs (MAG)
http://home.inreach.com/gangbang/magw.htm
This is similar to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.)
What specific steps have some communities done to combat gang activity?
Babylon New York held public seminars
AMITYVILLE RECORD
http://www.amityvillerecord.com/news/2004/1202/Front_page/032.html
. . . . . . .
Little Rock Arkansas (and other communities) have employed a Gang
Expert to assess their situations and help organize their efforts:
GANGWAR
http://www.gangwar.com/
. . . . . . .
Fairfax County Virginia relied heavily on community education and
police involvement:
FAIRFAX COUNTY
http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/police/police31.htm
. . . . . . .
Hutchinson, Minnesota implemented police initiatives and called
publicly for several community-based strategies to assist in their
efforts:
http://www.ci.hutchinson.mn.us/currentevents.htm
And the list of course goes on . . .
For many more you can type, ?gang? in the search bar of this site.
You?ll find many articles about what other communities have done and
continue to do to prevent gang activity in their neighborhoods.
NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL
http://www.ncpc.org/
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request PRIOR to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES
US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES (COPS)
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1597
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF GANG INVESTIGATORS ASSOCIATIONS
http://www.nagia.org/
NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFERENCE SERVICE
http://www.ncjrs.gov/spotlight/gangs/summary.html
COMMUNITY POLICING CONSORTIUM
http://www.communitypolicing.org/
NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL
http://www.ncpc.org/
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