CRASH and burn: abatement of a specialised gang unit

Published date13 June 2016
Date13 June 2016
Pages95-106
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-06-2015-0024
AuthorMatthew Valasik,Shannon E. Reid,Matthew D. Phillips
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology
CRASH and burn: abatement of
a specialised gang unit
Matthew Valasik, Shannon E. Reid and Matthew D. Phillips
Matthew Valasik is based at the
Department of Sociology,
Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
Shannon E. Reid and Matthew
D. Phillips are both based at the
Department of Criminal Justice
and Criminology, University of
North Carolina at Charlotte,
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the temporary disbandment of a gang unit
on collecting gang intelligence and arresting gang members in one of the Los Angeles Police Departments
Community Policing Areas.
Design/methodology/approach An interrupted time series methodology (ARIMA) is utilised to examine
1,429 field interview cards and 1,174 arrests of gang members that occurred from 1 January 2010 to
31 December 2011 within one police division.
Findings Results indicated that the dismantling of the gang unit negatively impacted the collection of
intelligence on gang members by officers, regardless of whether the officers were officially serving in the gang
unit. Suppression efforts by gang unit officers also resulted in a sustained decline.
Originality/value Given that many urban centres have specialised gang units, this study demonstrates
how organisational turnover or disbandment of a gang unit negatively impacts a departments ability to deal
with local gang issues. Furthermore, these finding suggest that police organisations should consider such
ramifications on intelligence-based policing activities.
Keywords Crime prevention and reduction, Gang intelligence, Gang unit, Gang arrest, Community safety,
Training/professionalization
Paper type Research paper
In many cities, the creation and utilisation of specialised gang units improves a police
departments overall understanding of and response to localised gang problems. These units
assist in a range of gang-related police activities including, but not limited to, intelligence
gathering, strategizing solutions to gang problems, supporting criminal investigations, and
working with the prosecutors office. Specialised gang units were designed for these tasks under
the belief that targeted training and information warehousing would provide more effective and
efficient gathering and dissemination of gang intelligence (Huff and McBride, 1993).
While specialised gang units became normalised in many police jurisdictions as a response to
gang problems, there remains a lack of quantitative research on the impact of these units,
particularly on performance outcomes such as intelligence gathering or arrests. The majority of
research focuses qualitatively on the form and function of different gang units across jurisdictions
(Katz, 2003; Katz and Webb, 2006; Rostami et al., 2015; Weisel and Shelley, 2004) or on how
gang intelligence is disseminated (Katz, 2003; Katz et al., 2000). Further research is needed
quantifying the inputs and outputs of gang unit officersdaily activities to understand how gang
unitsactivities influence departmental responses to gang problems.
On 1 January 2011 the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) temporarily dismantled gang
units in six of its 21 Com munity Policing Areas[1]. This d isbandment was a direct result o fg ang
unit officersfail ing to comply with a fina ncial disclosur e agreement requir ed by a consent
decree the city of Los Angeles entered into following the Rampart Scandal[2]. Officers
Received 29 June 2015
Revised 16 October 2015
7 December 2015
Accepted 13 January 2016
DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-06-2015-0024 VOL. 2 NO. 2 2016, pp.95-106, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-3841
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE
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