Evaluating Federal Gang Bills (original) (raw)

Evaluation of Gang Injunctions

Journal of Criminal Justice Research

"Gang injunctions (civil law suits against gangs) are a proactive attempt to reduce gang crime. For more than 25 years in California, gang injunctions have increased although their efficacy remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether gang injunctions reduce crime, when compared to baseline and matched control areas. Twenty-Five (25) gang injunctions from four California counties were evaluated by extracting crime data from court records and police agencies. The control areas (communities with a similar gang problem, but no gang injunctions) were matched for similar gang ethnicity, gang size, proximity, and gang activity. Criminological deterrence, association, environmental, and economic theories served as theoretical foundations for the study. Calls for service were evaluated for one year, pre-injunction, and one year, post-injunction, using paired t-tests which revealed that gang injunctions reduce crime. Calls for service were significantly reduced compared to baseline and compared to matched controls. It was found that Part 1 (violent crime) calls decreased 11.6% compared to baseline, while controls averaged an increase of 0.8%, a net benefit of 12.4%. Part 2 (less serious) calls decreased 15.9% compared to baseline, while controls averaged a mild increase of 1.6%, a net benefit of 17.5%. Total calls for service decreased 14.1% compared to baseline, while controls averaged an increase of 2.3%, a net benefit of 16.4%."

Taking Stock of Gang Violence: An Overview of the Literature

Handbook of Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan, 2019

Over the last 25 years, the overall levels of violent crime rate dramatically declined in the United States, yet, in major urban centers, gang-related violence continues to be a serious concern. In order to understand gang violence, it is necessary to consider the complicated relationship violence has with gang identity, victimization, participation, gender, spatial proximity, and social distance. Gang violence plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of the group’s collective identity. Additionally, gang violence is not limited to only symbolic purposes (e.g., reputation) but can also serve instrumental (e.g., profit generation) purposes for a group. At the individual level, the risk/protective factors (e.g., gender, age, education) attributed to participation in gang violence and being a victim of gang violence are important to consider. At the group level, gang violence is defined by two unique features: social and spatial dependence. That is, both a gang’s geographic territory and the social distance to a rival contribute to gang violence. Due to the group-based nature of gang violence, a variety of interventions exist. Gang activity prevention focuses on disrupting the antisocial behaviors of gangs to reduce their overall harm to the community (e.g., civil gang injunctions, crime prevention through environmental design). Gang activity suppression programs are often deterrence-based and follow the “pulling levers strategy” emphasizing arrest and imprisonment through targeted police and prosecution provisions (e.g., Operation Ceasefire). These programs attempt to minimize future levels of gang violence and victimization by reducing gang member participation with the group.