Charles M. Katz

Understanding the Black Box of Gang Organization Implications for Involvement in Violent Crime, Drug Sales, and Violent Victimization

This article examines the influence of gang organization on several behavioral measures. Using interview data from juvenile detention facilities in three Arizona sites, this article examines the relationship between gang organizational structure and involvement in violent crime, drug sales, victimization, and arrest. The gang literature suggests that gangs are not very well organized. However, the findings from the current research suggest that even low levels of gang organization are important for their influence on behavior. Indeed, even incremental increases in gang organization are related to increased involvement in offending and victimization.

An assessment of the impact of quality-of-life policing on crime and disorder

In this paper we examine the impact of quality-of-life policing on crime and disorder. Specifically, we examine a quality-of-life initiative conducted by the Chandler, Arizona Police Department, which was grounded in an operational strategy of policing social and physical disorder. Using data on calls for service, we employ an interrupted time-series analysis to examine the effect of the intervention on 10 offense categories within the overall target area and within four zones that constitute the target area. The findings suggest that the quality-of-life initiative exerted the strongest effect on two categories of crime and disorder: public morals and physical disorder. Diffusion of benefit and displacement effects were also observed in nearby areas. We discuss the implications of the findings for policy makers and researchers.

Assessing the Validity of Self-Reports by Gang Members: Results From the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program

Scholars who study criminal and delinquent behavior rely on the self-report method for measuring crime and delinquency. Gang researchers also rely on the self-report method for determining gang involvement and measuring criminal and delinquent behavior of gang members. This study examines disclosure rates of recent drug use by gang members in comparison with their urinalysis outcomes. A substantial body of research indicates that members of the criminally involved population, at least those who get arrested, are less than accurate when reporting recent drug use; however, it does not appear that gang members are different in their reporting than members of the group as a whole. Disclosure rates of gang members did not differ significantly from those of non-gang members. This adds to the cumulative body of evidence that although not perfect, self-reports of illegal behavior are a valid measurement technique in gang research.

A Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Foreclosure on Neighborhood Crime

Objectives: To examine possible effects of housing foreclosure on neighborhood levels of crime and to assess temporal lags in the impact of foreclosure on neighborhood levels of crime. Methods: Longitudinal data from Glendale, Arizona, a city at the epicenter of the nation’s foreclosure problem. The authors rely on four data sources: (1) foreclosure data, (2) computer-aided dispatch (CAD)/police records management system (RMS) data, (3) U.S. census and census estimate data, and (4) land use data. Results: Foreclosure has a short-term impact, typically no more than 3 months, on total crime, property crime, and violent crime, and no more than 4 months for drug crime. Conclusions: Foreclosures do not have a long-term effect on crime in general, and have different, though modest effects on different types of crime. The relationship between foreclosure and crime is not linear in nature but rather is characterized by a temporal, short-term flux in crime.

The creation of specialized police gang units: A macro‐level analysis of contingency, social threat and resource dependency explanations

Specialized police gang units are a rapidly emerging form of concentrated social control. Prior research, however, into the creation of specialized gang units suffers from a number of theoretical and methodological shortcomings. These shortcomings make it difficult to understand which of several potential explanations can best account for the establishment of specialized police gang units. Three perspectives are examined that have been hypothesized by policymakers and academics to explain the creation of gang units: contingency theory, social threat theory, and resource dependency theory. Using data obtained from police departments and communities around the country, the explanatory power of measures derived from these three theories is explored, while controlling for several environmental and organizational influences.

Less than meets the eye: police department bias crime units

In the USA, rising concern about ethnic conflict has led to the creation of special bias crime units (BCUs) in a number of police departments. The vast majority of states have some form of hate crime legislation against crimes motivated by race, religion, gender, etc. Criticisms have been leveled against this legislation, among them the claim that it could be a tool for discrimination against minorities or that the laws are largely a symbolic response to ethnic conflict. Records an exploratory study of BCUs in 16 small to medium police departments in central USA. Notes that an officer who is prejudiced against a group may fail to apply the law. Details the variety among the departments surveyed, of which only 25 per cent had established a BCU. Concludes that departments’ commitment to BCUs is weak in general. Also finds that Law Enforcement Management Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) data, although widely used, is often inaccurate, due to the inherent limitations of mail surveys.

Fear of gangs: A test of alternative theoretical models

On the basis of data on 800 randomly selected residents in a large south-western metropolitan city, we assess the influence of four theoretical models on fear of crime and fear of gangs. In doing so, we compare general fear of crime to specific fear of gangs to delineate whether the same factors influence each or whether different fears are the product of different factors. The results indicate that while many of the factors that influence fear of crime and fear of gangs are similar, there are significant differences in the magnitude in which these factors influence our measures of fear.

The Validity of Police Gang Intelligence Lists: Examining Differences in Delinquency Between Documented Gang Members and Nondocumented Delinquent Youth

Over the past 15 years, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in the number of specialized gang units established by police departments across the country. The majority of these units were established for the purpose of gathering intelligence on gangs, gang members, and gang-related activity. The present study seeks to advance the understanding of the usefulness of gang intelligence systems. In particular, the authors focus on how successful the police are at identifying and documenting youth whom they believe pose a substantial threat to the community. Using data obtained from the Mesa, Arizona, police departments gang unit and the Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department, the authors found that gang lists may be more helpful to the police than first believed. Policy implications are presented along with recommendations for future research.

Using the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program to further understand the relationship between drug use and gang membership

In this paper, we examine the relationship between drug use and gang membership using data from the Arizona Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, which collects both self‐report and hard measures (i.e., urinalysis) of drug use. Our analyses revealed that self‐reported recent drug use (i.e., drug use in the past three days) and urinalysis outcomes were similarly associated with the gang‐membership variables. These findings suggest that self‐reported data obtained from gang members is a particularly robust method for gathering information on their recent behavior. Additionally, our results were supportive of the social facilitation model, showing that current gang members were significantly more likely to use marijuana and cocaine compared with former gang members. The implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Citizen ratings of the importance of community policing activities

Presents findings from a community survey of citizens who rated the importance of a variety of police practices commonly associated with community policing. Findings show that citizens give lower ratings to preventive community policing activities that are usually thought of as having an indirect effect on crime, and they give the highest ratings to proactive enforcement activities. Estimates several different regression models in order to detect systematic differences in patterns of ratings: gender has the most consistent effect across the different models. Discusses the need for studies that include cross‐community comparisons.