Transcript Youth-Based Programs

Youth and Gang Programs
David L. Carter
Michigan State University
Program Sites
Victoria’s Gang Prevention Program
 Mission’s School-Based Youth Program
 Kingsville’s Gang Identification &
Suppression Program
 El Paso’s Drive-by Shooting Response
Team
 Corpus Christi’s Juvenile Enforcement
Team (JET)

Youth and Gang Programs
Basic Principles

PREDOMINANT POLICING PROBLEMS
 Gang membership and associated offenses (e.g.,
graffiti, assault, etc.)
 Theft
 Vandalism and nuisance offenses
 Drug, alcohol,and tobacco abuse

CHARACTER OF THE PROBLEMS
 Gang problems appear to grow geometrically
 Problems represent underlying social decay
 Costly to repair/replace damages
 Lowers community’s quality of life
Youth and Gang Programs
Basic Principles
 INTENT
OF CRIME-SPECIFIC
POLICE RESPONSES
 Identify and arrest offenders
 Suppress growth of endemic problems (notably gangs)
 Prevent future youth and gang problems to the extent
possible
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
 Programs must be continuous
 Programs must be proactive, frequently non-traditional
Youth and Gang Programs
Basic Principles
 KEY FACTORS
 Problem youth appear to have idle time which
needs to be filled
 Peer pressure appears to be have more influence on
many youth than parents and/or educators
 Many problem youth appear to lack a sense of
belonging to a family or to a constructive social
group
Victoria’s Gang Prevention
Program

SITE DESCRIPTION

63,000 Documented
Resident Population
 35 Square Miles
 103 Sworn Officers
 39 Non-sworn

YOUTH OFFICERS

Investigator Assigned
to Public Housing
 5 Officers Assigned
to Schools
+ Sergeant at Alternative
High School
+ 2 Officers at High School
+ 2 Officers at Junior High
Victoria’s Gang Prevention
Program
 PURPOSE
Proactively use a variety of integrated approaches to
suppress existing gang activity and prevent future
gang involvement
 The program has eight integrated elements…
 Graffiti Education and Eradication
 Gang Education (community and schools)
 Adopt-A-Gang
 Retaliation Reaction
 Gang Grand Jury
 Personal Protection Classes
 Schools-Malls-Community Anti-Gang Programs
 Promotion of “Legitimate Large Gangs”
Victoria’s Gang Prevention
Program
 CRITICAL FACTORS
 The most effective tools are…
+ Building a bond of trust with gang members
+ Communicating with gang members (and families)
+ “Showing respect” to the gang member
 PROGRAM EFFECTS
 Gang violence has decreased
 Gangs still exist, but they are less visible
 Gangs have taken on a “more social” character and are
less involved in criminal enterprises
Mission’s School-Based Youth
Programs

SITE DESCRIPTION

42,000 Documented
Resident Population
 30 Square Miles
 74 Sworn Officers
 20 Non-sworn

YOUTH OFFICERS
 Youth
Services
Division--3 School
Districts
 15 Officers (21.6%)
Assigned to Schools
+ 8 ERO’s (High School)
+ 2 GREAT (Jr. High)
+ 5 DARE (Elementary)
Mission’s School-Based Youth
Programs
 PURPOSE
Deciding that “heavy handed” policing was not
effective, the MPD began an aggressive partnership
with the school districts to provide a program-based
police presence in the schools.
 Officers roles include...
 Teaching (D.A.R.E. and G.R.E.A.T.)
 Guest lectures in classes
 Answer calls in the schools they are assigned to
 Provide counseling to students
 Serve as an information/intelligence resource for
youth-related crime
Mission’s School-Based Youth
Programs
 POLICIES AND PRACTICES
 School districts pay the officers’ salaries during the
academic year (177 days)
 During the summers…
+ School officers receive mandated training
+ Attend special assignment-based training (e.g.,
D.A.R.E. in-service)
+ Assigned to patrol
 A review board from the schools selects officers
 Supervision…
+ Principal supervises for curriculum-related matters
+ Sergeant supervises all other facets
Mission’s School-Based Youth
Programs
 CRITICAL FACTORS
 Officers must be self-initiated and communicative
 Officers must be given administrative flexibility
 Schools must make an officer feel like “one of the
family”
 Honesty, sincerity with students is essential
 It must be clear that the officer will enforce the law
when necessary
+ He/she is not a “soft touch”
+ No undue influence from schools on crime
control decisions
Mission’s School-Based Youth
Programs
 PROGRAM EFFECTS
 Notably fewer gang problems in both the schools
and throughout the city (largely displaced)
 Fewer reported crime problems in schools or on
school property
 Enhanced communication and liaison with schools
to help solve crimes and symptomatic problems
 Significant increase in communication between
police and community (students and parents alike)
 General increase in the quality of relationship with
the community
Kingsville’s Gang Identification
& Suppression

SITE DESCRIPTION
 25,300 Documented
Resident Population
 16 Square Miles
 46 Sworn Officers
 17 Non-sworn

ASSIGNMENTS
 Two primary officers
assigned to youth
programs
 Other officers used as
needed
 Chief takes an active
role
Kingsville’s Gang Identification
& Suppression
 PURPOSE
Because of the emergence of gangs, a program
focusing on the schools, parents and at-risk youth was
developed to suppress current gang activity and
prevent gang growth.

The program was not instituted as a result of a specific
plan, rather elements were included to meet needs or
issues as they became apparent to the police
Kingsville’s Gang Identification
& Suppression

The program has several elements…
 Day and evening curfews
 School Liaison Officer received gang training
 Patrol officer on each shift was designated as a
gang officer to monitor and report gang activity
 A “Parents on Patrol” was developed;
predominantly work in the schools as hall monitors
 A “bike clinic” was established for the summers
 Graffiti eradication program
 Police respond to gang fights in schools
 Police work with the school to ban “gang colors”
 Tobacco ordinance passed as a tool for investigation
Kingsville’s Gang Identification
& Suppression
 CRITICAL FACTORS
 Recognition that complete eradication of gangs is
not a realistic goal; control is realistic
 Recognize that crime problems will change, so new
program elements must be constantly developed to
meet the evolving problems
 Be flexible, creative, and open to ideas
 PROGRAM EFFECTS
 Most serious problems have been eliminated
 “Wannabe” gang participation down
 significantly fewer problems in the schools
 Better communication with parents
El Paso’s Drive-By Shooting
Response Team

SITE DESCRIPTION
 614,000 Documented
Resident Population
 257 Square Miles
 1,182 Sworn Officers
 230 Non-sworn
 DSRT Structure
 Work all gang related
investigations
 5 officers
 24 hour on-call basis
 Work “straight
through” investigation
 Physically located next
to Juvenile Probation
and Juvenile Service
El Paso’s Drive-By Shooting
Response Team

PURPOSE

Following growth in gang activity and increasing
numbers of drive-by shootings, the DSRT was formed
as an element of the department’s gang response. The
intent of the DSRT is to quickly and effectively
identify and arrest suspects in gang-related crime.
DSRT works closely with…
 Gang Intelligence Unit which keeps track of gang
members and trends in gang activities
 Community Response Against Street Hoodlums
(CRASH) units working as proactive enforcement
out of the patrol commands
El Paso’s Drive-By Shooting
Response Team
 CRITICAL FACTORS
 An immediate “frozen” crime scene and control of
witnesses by first responding officers
 Fast response by DSRT regardless of time
 Ability to work “straight through” a case
 Reliable, on-going intelligence
 Investigators getting to know the gang members, their
families, and “showing respect” to gang members
 On-going, reliable confidential informants
 Strong relationship with District Attorney
 Support from administrators to operate creatively
 Dedicated personnel making the “extra effort”
El Paso’s Drive-By Shooting
Response Team
 PROGRAM EFFECTS
 The DSRT’s current clearance rate is 93%
 Roughly 90% of the DSRT’s arrests occurred
within 24 hours of the call out
 The DSRT seized 61 weapons from gang members
in a 28 month period
 While gangs still exist, their presence has become
less visible
Corpus Christi’s Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET)

SITE DESCRIPTION

ORGANIZATION
 276,880 Documented
 JET has 10 to 15
Resident Population
 140 Square Miles
 395 Sworn Officers
 207 Non-sworn
officers
 Organized in the
Special Services
Division of the Field
Services Bureau
 Originally part of the
patrol division
Corpus Christi’s Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET)
 PURPOSE
 The Corpus Christi Police Department systematically
enforces both a night-time and a daytime juvenile
curfew
 A curfew center located in a sub-station is the site
where nighttime curfew violators can be taken, while
the YMCA operates a truancy center as a repository
for daytime curfew violators
 The police department also fields a Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET) that emphasizes curfew
enforcement
Corpus Christi’s Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET)
 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
 By June 1996 increased public concern about gangs
and drive-by shootings led the police department to
examine its youth-focused tactics and programs
 JET was intended to be a concentrated effort on
juvenile curfew enforcement
 Assumption was that gang activity and gang-related
crime could be reduced if...
+ Curfews were aggressively enforced
+ Parents had greater information and accountability
Corpus Christi’s Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET)
 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
 Aggressive enforcement followed a 2 week public
information campaign for students and parents
 “Zero Tolerance” policy
 Some complaints from parents, but generally strong
public support
 Use of curfew center and YMCA cut down on time
required to enforce curfews
Corpus Christi’s Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET)
 CRITICAL FACTORS
 Availability of curfew centers
 “Zero Tolerance” policy
 Having a team of officers (JET) specifically
responsible for curfew enforcement
 Inter-related mission of JET to also deal with gangs
Corpus Christi’s Juvenile
Enforcement Team (JET)
 PROGRAM EFFECTS
 At the outset, increase in number of curfew citations
 Decreased victimization of juveniles
 Decreased offenses committed by juveniles
 Increased arrests of juveniles for offenses other than
curfew violations
Youth and Gang Programs
Implications



As simple as it sounds, the first stage is to identify...
 The existence of youth problems
 The character/dynamics of those problems
The goals of youth programs are to:
 Resolve immediate serious problems
 Suppress growth of dysfunctional behavior
 Displace crime phenomena
 Develop preventive programs
Accomplishing these goals requires integration of
 Community policing
 Tactical policing
 Problem solving
Youth and Gang Programs
DISCUSSION
David L. Carter
Michigan State University