Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership, Chapter 4. What Is the Role of Police in Preventing Gang Membership? (From Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership, P 51-62, 2013, Thomas R. Simon, Nancy M. Ritter, and Reshma R. Mahendra, eds. - See NCJ-239234)

• NCJ Number: 243468
• Author(s): Scott Decker
• Date Published: 2013
• Length: 13 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview; Instructional Material

Annotation

In discussing the role of law enforcement agencies in working with the public-health sector to prevent youth from joining gangs, this chapter focuses on the SARA Model of policing, which is an acronym for scanning, analysis, response, and assessment.

Abstract

Implementing the SARA Model involves "scanning" the environment in order to identify a problem, "analyzing" the problem with the use of multiple sources of information, developing a "response" consistent with the information collected, and "assessing" the effectiveness of the response. In the case of gang violence, public-health agencies also have an interest in the gang problem, since being in a gang increases gang members' and the public's risk for death and injuries. Public-health and public-safety not only have a common interest in preventing youth from joining gangs, but both the SARA and public-health models for addressing community problems are similar. Both sectors use data collection to better understand the scope, characteristics, and consequences of the problem at issue; identify risk and protective factors that can aggravate or mitigate the problem; design and evaluate prevention strategies; and disseminate for implementation the most effective strategies. By pooling resources in collaboration, both sectors are more likely to achieve the common goal of designing, implementing, and regularly assessing their efforts to prevent youth from joining gangs. 1 figure and 13 chapter notes