“It’s important for the community to recognize gangs are here.  But it’s even more important for the community to know they as a collective group are empowered to deal with gangs in their city.  They don’t have to accept the presence of gangs.  They can do something about it.

If a community tolerates broken windows, pretty soon there are more broken windows, more desecration of property, and more crime.  If, on the other hand, a community says that’s not acceptable, and stands up against it, that’s the only way they can affect change.”

(Robyn Krueger, chair of the Niagara County Juvenile Justice Task Force and Executive Director of Community Missions of Niagara Frontier Inc.)

~ Presentation Outline ~

1.	A little personal background related to understanding the gang phenomenon.
2.	Barriers to dealing effectively with a gang problem.
	A. Denial - by individual residents, school officials, local government leaders, the press, and the business and faith communities. Denial empowers gangs. To over come denial you will need to educate the public.
	B. Acknowledging the presence of gangs but responding without accurate information about them. Where do you get good information?
	C. Responding without a plan that involves the entire community, including all of its social institutions (i.e., schools, the faith community, government, the business community, the justice system, health care professionals, etc.). How do you create a plan?
	D. Gangs are A problem but they are not THE problem. Gangs are a symptom of the problems that cause them to form and which need to be addressed (i.e., school failure, poor parenting, all types of abuse including substance abuse, discrimination, etc.). Choose the problem and you have a frame of reference for supplying the proper solution. For example, if school failure is evident, truancy must be reduced, school environments must be made positive, tutoring may be needed, and the curriculum may need to be revised.
	School failure is the most consistent and accurate predictor of chronic delinquency. Even by the third grade!
	E. A lack of willingness to get involved and/or believing that "nothing can be done."
	F. Lack of collaboration among related agencies due to feeling one must protect one's budget, egoism, or lack of skills needed to effectively collaborate.
	G. Poor communication.
	H. Thinking that arresting and incarcerating gang members will solve the problem. In actuality, arrest and incarceration can make matters worse! Cleaning up the spill (removing the criminal offenders) does nothing to turn off the faucet (the factors that are helping to generate the problem in the first place - like abuse, school failure, substance abuse, etc.).
	I. Fear of intimidation by gang members.
3.	A word of caution about "effective" ways to prevent or reduce gang activity. In order to be more effective you should:
	A. Know your own community's gang situation.
	B. Define local "Areas of Concern" upon which to focus your efforts so you can best utilize limited resources.
	C. Assess and measure your gang problem and reassess it - using the same measures - after you have implemented your plan. Effective approaches will attract additional funding and other kinds of support.
	D. As noted by some of the best gang researchers in the United States, most programs designed to reduce gang activity have failed or, if successful, were said to be successful without measuring their impact.
	E. Programs that are effective are those that involve the entire community - not just the justice system. As mentioned above, Individuals, families, former gang members, schools, local businesses, faith communities and neighborhood associations play an important role in this collective effort. Create an inventory of the services available in your community that can be used to address the gang problem. Bring those agency directors together in hopes that they will collaborate to act together on the problem at hand.
	F. Choose a dynamic, dedicated and communicative person or agency to lead your community's effort to address the gang problem. This is CRITICAL. You may find that a community-wide group of dedicated people (agency personnel, concerned citizens, etc.) will be needed to lead in the effort to reduce gang activity and prevent future gang development.
	G. Realize that gangs and gang activity will not go away. To deal effectively with gangs is to recognize that this will be an on-going and long-term effort.
4.	Keep good kids good!  This can not be stressed enough.
5.	At risk youth and multiple risk factors.
6.	A review of useful on-line resources. These are available to you by simply visiting this website and clicking on the document you'd like to explore. They are ALL worth a read.
	On Programs >   Gang Reduction Program The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) supports several initiatives to prevent and reduce gang activity. Their Gang Reduction Program is designed to reduce gang activity in targeted neighborhoods by incorporating a broad spectrum of research-based interventions to address the range of personal, family, and community factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency and gang activity. The program integrates local, State, and Federal resources to incorporate state-of-the-art practices in prevention, intervention, and suppression. In April, 2007, Los Angeles announced the launch of a $168,000,000 anti-gang model based on the Gang Reduction Program.   The High Point West End Initiative This effort, designed and led by Dr. David Kennedy, targets the most active and dangerous gang members and offers them various services in lieu of being arrested and incarcerated. The impact has been positive and lasting.   Operation Ceasefire / The Boston Gun Project A "Best Practices" program. You can also explore "Creating an effective foundation for preventing youth violence."   Project Safe Neighborhoods   Institute of Intergovernmental Research You can explore all the gang-related topics and related publications.   Best Practices To Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model (additional gang-related publications)   Gang Free Schools and Communities Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.   A Collaborative Approach to Eliminating Street Drug Markets Through Focused Deterrence   Information on Gangs >   Grants and Funding Opportunities   Gang Profiles From the National Alliance of Gang Investigator Associations.   Highlights of the 2006 National Youth Gang Survey, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. Also a source of funding.
7.	A review of potentially effective approaches and programs.
	A Five-Pronged Approach to Gang Reduction: The Comprehensive Gang Model (designed by Irving Spergel) You can access the entire Implementation Manual for this model. Primary prevention targets the entire population in high-crime, high-risk communities. The key component is a one-stop resource center that makes services accessible and visible to members of the community. Services include prenatal and infant care, after school activities, truancy and dropout prevention, and job programs. Secondary prevention identifies young children (ages 7–14) at high risk and, drawing on the resources of schools, community-based organizations, and faith-based groups, intervenes with appropriate services before early problem behaviors turn into serious delinquency and gang involvement. Intervention targets active gang members, close associates, and gang members returning from confinement and involves aggressive outreach and recruitment activity. Support services for gang-involved youth and their families help youth make positive choices. Possible interventions for ages 12-25. Suppression focuses on identifying the most dangerous and influential gang members and removing them from the community. (See the High Point West End Initiative above) Reentry targets serious offenders who are returning to the community after confinement and provides appropriate services and monitoring. Of particular interest are “displaced” gang members who may cause conflict by attempting to reassert their former gang roles. Gang Prevention Coordination Assistance Program Provides funding to enhance coordination of local, State, and Federal resources for primary prevention, secondary prevention, intervention and suppression of gangs.
8.	The OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model
	A word of caution: The OJJDP is mission-driven to address youth. "Youth" means juveniles. While many gang members and youth at risk of becoming gang members are youth, so, too, are many adults. Nationally, it is estimated that approximately one-half of all documented gang members are 17 years of age or older. One should keep that in mind while reading the "critical elements" of the OJJDP comprehensive gang model model below. Don't forget the adults! Critical Elements of Core Strategy 1 Community Mobilization: Local citizens, including youth, community groups, and agencies, are involved, and programs and functions of staff with in and across agencies are coordinated. A steering committee is available to initiate the project by involving representatives of key organizations and the community and to guide it over time by responding to barriers to implementation, developing sound policy, lending support to the project where and when appropriate, and taking general ownership of the community-wide response. The steering committee also is charged with creating and maintaining interagency and community relationships that facilitate program development. For example, the committee could create coordinated outreach and law enforcement policies and practices and facilitate the development of community groups such as block watches, neighbors/mothers against gangs, or other community alliances and coalitions. The program is supported and sustained across all levels (top, intermediate, and street/line) of the criminal and juvenile justice systems, schools, community-based and grassroots organizations, and government. Critical Elements of Core Strategy 2 Organizational Change and Development Policies and procedures that result in the most effective use of available and potential resources within and across agencies are developed and implemented. The policies and practices of organizations, particularly of agencies providing intervention team staff, are adapted to conform to the goals and objectives of the project as identified through the strategic planning exercises. Each program, agency, or community representative on the steering committee ensures that its internal units are cooperating with and supporting the work of the intervention team. Various agencies learn not only to understand the complex nature of the gang problems and cooperate closely with each other in the development and implementation of the program, but also learn to assist other organizations, particularly agencies involved with the intervention team, to achieve their respective mission objectives. In the process of collaboration, a team approach means a maximum sharing of information about targeted youth such that activities of team members are modified in a generalist direction (e.g., police take some responsibility for social intervention and outreach workers assist with the suppression of serious crime and violence). A case management system and associated data system are established so that contacts and services by all members of the intervention team can be monitored for purposes of effective targeting, tracking youth entry into and exit from the program, and measuring outcomes at individual and program area levels. Staff development and training for the intervention team are conducted for the different types of team participants separately and collectively, especially regarding data sharing, joint planning, and implementation activities. Special training, close supervision, and administrative arrangements are established, particularly for youth outreach workers and law enforcement, to carry out their collaborative roles in a mutually trustworthy fashion. Organizational policies and practices become inclusive and community oriented with special reference to the interests, needs, and cultural background of local residents, including the targeted youth. Critical Elements of Core Strategy 3 Provision of Opportunities The community, through an appointed steering committee, develops a variety of educational, training, and employment programs or services targeted to gang youth and those at high risk of gang involvement. Special access to social and economic opportunities in the community is provided for gang-involved youth and youth at high risk of gang involvement. Opportunities and services are provided in such a way that they do not encapsulate, segregate, or alienate gang youth or those at high risk for gang involvement from mainstream institutions. Mechanisms for identifying and addressing youth at risk of gang involvement are in place in the elementary, middle, and high schools within the targeted area(s). Education, training, and job opportunity strategies are integrated with those of social services, particularly youth outreach work, along with close supervision and social control, as necessary. Local residents and businesses are supportive and involved in the provision of educational and training opportunities and job contacts for targeted gang youth and those at high risk of gang involvement. Access to social opportunities also is provided to other gang members and associates of targeted youth. Critical Elements of Core Strategy 4 Social Intervention Youth serving agencies, schools, grassroots groups, faith-based and other organizations provide social services to gang youth and youth at high risk of gang involvement as identified through street outreach and driven by the problem assessment findings. Social intervention is directed to the target youth individually and not primarily to the gang as a unit, although understanding and sensitivity to gang structure and culture are essential to influencing individual gang youth and providing effective intervention. All key organizations located in the target area are encouraged to make needed services and facilities available to gang youth and youth at high risk of gang involvement. Targeted youth (and their families) are provided with a variety of services that help them to adopt prosocial values and to access services that will meet their social, educational, and vocational needs. Mental health services are a critical ingredient. Street outreach is established to focus on core gang youth and later on high-risk youth, with special capacity to reach both nonadjudicated (not found delinquent in court) and adjudicated (found delinquent in court) youth. The primary focus of street outreach services is ensuring safety while remaining aware of and linking youth and families to educational preparation, prevocational or vocational training, job development, job referral, parent training, mentoring, family counseling, drug treatment, tattoo removal, and other services in appropriate ways. Outreach activities such as recreation and arts are carefully arranged so as not to become a primary focus but a means to establish interpersonal relationships, develop trust, and provide access to opportunities and other essential resources or services. In-school and after-school prevention and education programs such as Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.), anti-bullying, peer mediation, tutoring, and others are offered within the target area(s), as are community programs to educate parents, businesses, and service providers. Faith institutions can also provide needed prevention programs and services. Critical Elements of Core Strategy 5 Suppression There are formal and informal social control procedures and accountability measures, including close supervision or monitoring of gang youth by agencies of the criminal and juvenile justice systems, and also by community-based agencies, schools, and grassroots groups. Gang suppression or control is structurally related to community- and problem-oriented policing and to gang enforcement and tactical units (like a gang unit or special response team, for example). Police administration and police officers on the intervention team assume key roles in the development and implementation of important aspects of the program, not only through suppression but through gang prevention, social intervention, and community mobilization. Gang crime data collection and analysis (i.e., crime analysis) are established to accurately and reliably assess the gang problem and its changes over time. Definitions of gang-related incidents, gangs, and gang members are maintained. Gang intelligence is routinely collected and analyzed. It is also highly desirable to have gang crime data geo-coded and analyzed, preferably using automated hotspot mapping techniques. Geo-coded data allows for accurate targeting of suppression efforts. Police contact with targeted youth is regularly and appropriately quantified, shared, and discussed with other members of the intervention team for purposes of team planning and collaboration. Contacts should be generally consistent with the philosophy of community and problem-oriented policing. Aggregate-level data bearing on the gang problem are regularly shared with all components of the project, particularly the steering committee. Professional respect and appropriate collaboration between police and outreach workers and other team members are essential. Tactical, patrol, drug/vice, community policing, and youth division units that have contact with targeted youth and gang members provide support to the intervention team through information sharing and mutual collaboration and support. Targeted enforcement operations, when and where necessary, are consistent with program goals and are coordinated with the intervention team to have the maximum impact. A Note of Caution! Missing from the five core strategies above is a way of responding effectively to individuals returning to the community from prison or some other form of incarceration. They need to be identified well before they leave the institution so that they can be involved in the social provisioning that is planned for them upon their release from confinement. The transition of these people from the institution in which they were confined to the community should be aggressively pursued so that, upon release, they do not go back to their prior gang behavior. Sometimes referred to as "Reentry," the process of engaging those on parole or released from prison is critical to the success of any effort to reduce gang activity in a community or neighborhood.
	According to the OJJDP, the following program development process will facilitate implementation of the core strategies above: 1. Acknowledgment of the problem: The presence of a youth gang problem must be recognized before anything meaningful can be done to address it. If denial is present, it must be confronted. 2. Assessment of the problem: Those with responsibility for addressing the problem representatives of police, schools, probation, youth agencies, grassroots organizations, government, and others participate in identifying its nature and causes and recommending appropriate responses. The assessment results in an understanding of who is involved in gang crime and where in the community it is concentrated. This, in conjunction with other data and information, enables targeting of: Gang-involved youth. The most violent gangs. The area(s) where gang crime most often occurs. 3. Setting goals and objectives: Once the problem is described, goals and objectives based on the assessment findings are established. These should emphasize changes the Steering Committee wants to bring about in the target area. 4. Provision of services and activities: Rationales for services, tactics, and policies and procedures that involve each of the key agencies are articulated and then implemented for each of the five core strategies. These activities must be closely coordinated or integrated to ensure that the work of collaborating agencies is complementary. Representatives of those organizations that will have the most direct contact with the target youth police, probation, schools, and youth workers should form an Intervention Team and have regular meetings to share critical information, plan, and act collaboratively on individual youth and gang activity in the target area. Thus, the resources of collaborating agencies are focused on a group of young people who are involved in gangs and are most likely to be involved in gang-related violence. 5. A mix of social control and provision of social services: It is important to remember that while youth gang members must be held accountable for their criminal acts, they also must be provided with services for their academic, economic, and social needs. Gang members must be encouraged to control their behavior and to participate in legitimate, mainstream activities. At the same time, external controls on gang and gang-member behavior must be exercised. For some gang members, secure confinement will be necessary. For others, graduated degrees of community-based supervision, ranging from continuous sight or electronic supervision to incarceration, will be appropriate. It is important that youth understand that they will face consequences if they do not follow rules, laws, conditions, or reasonable expectations of the program. It also may be important to develop a set of incentives for compliance with the program. Thus, a range of services and sanctions is required, often in some interactive way. To be effective in this approach, an understanding of how a youths family, peers, and others are involved is important. 6. Community policing (not just arresting offenders): This approach is very consistent with community policing, which promotes and supports organizational strategies to address and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and community/police partnerships. In this Model, gang unit, community policing, or other officers are involved in the problem-solving process at the street level while senior officers work with the policymakers. 7. Steering committee: The work of the collaborating agencies is overseen by a Steering Committee of policy or decision makers from agencies and organizations that have an interest in or responsibility for addressing the community's gang problem. These representatives should not only set policy and oversee the overall direction of the gang program but should take responsibility for spearheading efforts in their own organizations to remove barriers to services and social and economic opportunities. They must also develop effective criminal justice, school, and social agency procedures and promote policies that will further the goals of the gang strategy. 8. Evaluate the impact of your efforts: Results from the evaluation of the Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project show that the Model is effective in lowering crime rates among youth gang members (University of Chicago, 1999). Preliminary results from an evaluation of five communities chosen as demonstration sites for the Model show that a combination of intervention, suppression, and prevention strategies, along with a coordinated team approach to delivering services, have a positive impact on reducing gang crime. The incorporation of a strong evaluation component as the initiative is taking form and throughout the life of the program is critical to assessing the impact of the program.
9.	Specific programs you can implement. From the chapter on "Solutions" as found in Into the Abyss: A Personal Journey into the World of Street Gangs.
	Solutions  Reducing the Causes of Gang Formation Focusing on the Issue Introduction Part 1: Determining if There is a Gang Present Part 2: Risk and Protective Factors Part 3: Crime Reduction and Prevention Websites Personal and Family Solutions Introduction Part 1: What the Individual Citizen Could Do Part 2: What Families Could Do Part 3: What Reformed Gang Members Could Do Neighborhood or Community Solutions Introduction Part 1: What Neighborhood Residents Could Do Part 2: Building Coalitions: The Need for Coordination and Cooperation Part 3: The Community Forum (Possible Forum Topics) Part 4: Creating a Community Task Force on Gangs Part 5: The Community-Based Youth Agency Part 6: The Adopt an Agency Program "A gang is only as strong as a community allows it to be."  (St. Clair County [IL] Sheriff's Department, page, January, 2004) Social Institution Solutions Introduction Public Sector Part 1: What Schools Could Do Part 2: What Government Could Do Part 3: What the Justice System Could Do Part 4: What Youth-Serving Agencies Could Do Private Sector Part 5: What the Faith Community Could Do Part 6: What Businesses and Business Organizations Could Do Part 7: What the Health Care Community Could Do Part 8: What the Media Could Do Increasing Our Effectiveness Part 9: Radiating Specialization and Community-Wide Involvement Part 10: Selected Gang Program Evaluations: 1936-1997 Web-Based Materials on Reducing Gang Activity
My email address: MichaelCarlie@MissouriState.edu