Abstract
Youth in gangs is a significant social problem in the community. Law enforcement officers are among the individuals with close engagement with the gangs due to the criminal activities that they facilitate. Many training programs are available to law enforcement regarding gang activity. The training is purposed to enhance their skills and apply best-practices in dealing with youth in gangs’ cases. Training is particularly of great importance to gang units with the mandate to suppress gang activity and indulgence of various members of the community. This paper analyzes the currently available training programs and provides a rationale for components that can be added to have more comprehensive programs.
Keywords: gang, youth, law enforcement, social bond, community organization
Training on Youth in Gangs
Youths gangs have emerged as an enormous problem facing communities across the United States. The rapid growth of the issue has prompted non-ending discussions and strategies within the society on how best to curb the problem. The involvement in gangs by the youth is a risk factor to various societal issues, including criminal activity, illicit substance abuse, teen parenthood, dropping out of school, and unemployment (SAU, 2019). Illegal activity facilitated by gangs put the youth at high risk of being convicted and incarceration. The increased crime rates steered by youth in gangs is a concern that attracts the attention of various state and federal agencies and departments with the focus set on coming up with preventive measures towards gang activity. Law enforcement and corrections officers constitute the group with the most significant interaction with the youth in gangs (SAU, 2019). Their unique position makes them better placed to propel the initiatives that address the widespread problem of youth gangs. Various training programs are available to law enforcement officers designed to inform them more about youth in gangs.
Law enforcement officers have vast access to numerous gang-related training and resources. The National Gang Center (NGC) is a project that offers training for law enforcement and is focused on reducing gang involvement (NGC, 2020). The current NGC is a result of the incorporation of the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) that was established by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) into the original NGC that was initially launched by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The merging was undertaking on the basis that street gang activities go beyond the aspect of age. Also, the move recognized the need for a balanced and comprehensive approach in reducing gang involvement. Hence, the training programs and resources offered by NGC to law enforcement and other criminal and juvenile justice professionals take into account the youth.
Street Gang Investigator Training is an anti-gang program that is offered to law enforcement (NGC, 2020). The training comprises of a three-day class that provides the primary elements revolving around gangs. Also, it covers advanced gang training with evidence-based information. Law enforcement officers pursuing the training are provided with instructions on various strategies of recognizing and identifying gang members and signs or symbols that denote their affiliation with a gang. Further, the training program seeks to enhance knowledge on the manner of developing information sources regarding the ventures of a gang. Participants are also able to learn about how to investigate social media platforms to recognize gang patterns, especially among the youth who are the greatest users (NGC, 2020).
Informants play a crucial role in suppressing the involvement of youths in gangs. Therefore, the training prioritizes on providing education on approaches to the management of confidential gang informants and witnesses (NGC, 2020). Furthermore, the course addresses the relevant control and policy issues as it is crucial to understand all the fundamental aspects that constitute law enforcement and justice on the subject. Also, vital strategies and multijurisdictional pathways to gang investigations are presented to the trainees in a bid to enhance their efficiency, specifically across the field of juvenile justice. The curricula have been tried and tested by experts throughout communities in America (NGC, 2020).
Gang Unit Supervision is another training initiative facilitated by NGC. The program is purposed to enhance the ability of law enforcement to utilize essential principles of adequate gang unit supervision (NGC, 2020). The exploration of best-practice approaches from the class equips participants with the ability to create proper organizational and management strategies for their units dealing with the youth in gangs. Further, the training focuses on topics that seek to ensure the effectiveness of the gang units. Vital issues in gang unit leadership, such as organization, policies, and procedures, are explicitly addressed. Personnel issues, performance measurement, and logistics and security are other topics covered as they are thought to have an influence on the effectiveness of law enforcement officers in tackling youth involvement in gangs. (NGC, 2020) Also, gang intelligence and technology, suppression tactics, and common aspects in the implementation of multijurisdictional approaches are topics that make up the training.
De-Escalating Juvenile Aggression Training Program is an initiative that teaches law enforcement officers about risk aspects that could promote aggressive behavior among the youth (DSG, 2018). The training program addresses the proper approaches to take in handling aggressive juveniles and de-escalating aggressive youth. The curriculum has focus on understanding the developmental processes that affect the emotions of the youth as well as the psychological and social aspects that influence aggressive behavior. Gangs are often characterized by violence. Therefore, the aggression displayed by youth could indicate social influences from gang affiliations (Ang, Huan, Chua, & Lim, 2011). Hence, the program provides a viable opportunity for law enforcement to enhance their skills on how to approach a seemingly gang involvement by the youth.
Youth-Police Initiative (YPI) is another significant training initiative with excellent links to youths in gangs. The program is facilitated in a neighborhood-based environment with the participation of both juveniles and law enforcement officers. The initiative seeks to demonstrate to the police the best-practices in interaction and formulation of relationships with youths (DSG, 2018). In the training initiative, the participants are accorded the opportunity to interact with each other in a simple setup. This approach has the potential to make law enforcement officers have a greater understanding of the social constructs that define the paths that the youth take.
The training of law enforcement constitutes a substantial response to youth involvement in gangs. However, there is still certain aspects that can be incorporated in training to provide a better response. One aspect that can be implemented in training is community organization. The social disorganization theory demonstrates that delinquency is prevalent in a conditioned environment with crime (Wickes & Sydes, 2017). Therefore, law enforcement should be trained on how to identify the risk areas and recognize crimes that are gang-facilitated. The suppression of criminal activity in these regions would provide an excellent basis to deter youth from engaging in the illegal activity of groups. Moreover,
Training in community organization is integral as a topic in law enforcement training regarding the youth and gangs. Ideally, the social disorganization theory assumes that the youth are more likely to take part in delinquent action if they live in neighborhoods that have high delinquency rate levels (Wickes & Sydes, 2017). Therefore, youths from disadvantaged segments of society are more susceptible to seek gang affiliations. Hence, the outlook that is presented by the theory enables law enforcement to know high-risk areas so that gang units can work to instigate mitigation measures against the influx of gang involvement among the youth.
The second training that can be used to enforce the skills of law enforcement the concept of social bond. The social bond theory in juvenile justice focuses on the lack of vital relationships to the youth in society. Hence, providing psychological training to law enforcement regarding how to create a bond with offenders and the youth in gangs is of critical importance. The creation of psychological constructs among the youth to induce the aspect of conscience has the potential to deter the youth from engaging in criminal activity (Pyrooz & Ferrer, 2014). Law enforcement is better positioned to suppress gang membership if they get enhanced skills on how to reinforce social controls.
The control or social bond theory asserts that youths in gangs are primarily a consequence of their weak connection with the conventional society (Pyrooz & Ferrer, 2014). The understanding of deviant conduct among the youth presents a significant basis for contextualizing the best strategies of the approach of law enforcement towards gang activity. It is crucial for law enforcement officers to have the awareness that youth involvement in gangs could be as a result of the absence if critical relationships. Therefore, in their approach, it would be integral that they apply some aspects of social bonding with the youth.
In Saint Leo University, the core value of respect encompasses the showcasing of value for the diverse talents of individuals. Also, it steers the aspect of unity, harmony, and the free exchange of ideas (SLU, 2020). This core value of respect applies in the concept of gang involvement and membership. Gang members take part in numerous criminal offences. Often, it is the youth who are charged with the role of facilitating the crimes by older members. In gang activity, pursuing the instructions to commit serious offenses is seen as a means of earning respect and trust within the criminal organization.
In essence, law enforcement must be well equipped in dealing with youths in gangs. Complimentary training that seeks to provide more knowledge of gang activity is provided through various programs. The National Gang Center is a vital project that takes a significant interest in the problem of gang activity and youth involvement. Initiative and courses presented by the project purposes to teach how to recognize trends, conduct social media investigations, and identify effective suppression strategies, among others. However, the currently available training can be enhanced further through the incorporation of the concept of social organization and social bond.