Addressing gang violence
In a paper 3 – 4 pages in length
Gangs have become increasingly more violent over time and have increased their activity in drugs and other illegal activities to support the gang and help recruit new gang members, often from U.S. middle and high schools. In this scenario, you have been asked to begin a gang initiative with a community that has suffered an increase in gang activity over time.
Your police department closely follows the community policing paradigm, meaning that it has realized the importance of working with the community as a whole to resolve long-term problems that have often stymied efforts led only by the police in the past. Recently, one of these community groups came to you, as police chief, and asked that you respond to what it feels is an increasingly dangerous gang problem in the community. There have been several serious incidents of violence and drive-by shootings, along with the increase in drug traffic and attempts to gain new gang members in your local middle and high schools.
You recognize that increasing patrols and arrests in the area will only solve the problem short term or perhaps just displace the problem, so you want to seek a more long-term solution.
For this assignment, your police department has picked you to write an action plan that addresses this problem in the community. Your action plan should include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Several initiatives that will assist in rectifying the problems, including the following:
- Educational initiatives
- Local initiatives
- How can the negative effects of violence on children be lessened?
- Do you believe that there should be a limitation on the violent video games children are permitted to play?
- What type of assistance will you ask from the community as a whole?
- What role will the department itself take?
- How will you measure the effectiveness of your plan?
In a paper 3 – 4 pages in length
answer preview
Educational initiatives
Fighting gangs head-on is essential in solving gang violence in the short-term. However, in the long-term gang violence can best be prevented by understanding how and why they happen in the first place; and fixing it before it starts. The youth are a great ingredient in the making of gangs. Some of the reasons youths become gangs or join gangs include unchecked delinquency among adolescents, weak institutions like families, schools and communities; as well as idleness and lack of jobs. As such, therefore, to prevent youths from forming or joining gangs it is important that schools and families are strengthened, community supervision and modeling increased; teachers and parents trained on how to suppress and guide delinquent adolescents, and children are taught interpersonal skills (Howell, 2011). …………………….words 1047