Eric J. Fritsch

Gang Suppression Through Saturation Patrol, Aggressive Curfew, and Truancy Enforcement: A Quasi-Experimental Test of the Dallas Anti-Gang Initiative

In 1996, the Dallas Police Department began an anti-gang initiative that was designed to reduce gang violence. Five defined target areas that were home to seven of the citys most violent gangs received overtime-funded officers to implement several different enforcement strategies. The strategies included saturation patrol and aggressive curfew and truancy enforcement. Control areas were selected, and preintervention and postintervention measures of gang violence and offenses that were reported to the police were analyzed. The findings indicated that aggressive curfew and truancy enforcement led to significant reductions in gang violence, whereas simple saturation patrol did not. In addition, there were no significant reductions in offenses reported to the police. The significance of these findings and policy implications is discussed.

A Large-Scale Multidimensional Test of the Effect of Prison Education Programs on Offenders' Behavior

This study examined the prison behavior and postrelease recidivism of more than 14,000 inmates released from Texas prisons in 1991 and 1992. Comparisons were made between participants and nonparticipants in prison education programs on a variety of behavioral outcomes. The findings suggest that these programs may be most effective when intensive efforts are focused on the most educationally disadvantaged prisoners. Implications for correctional education policy and correctional program research are discussed.

Spare the Needle but Not the Punishment: The Incarceration of Waived Youth in Texas Prisons

The primary purpose of judicial waiver is to impose more severe sanctions on offenders than are available in juvenile court. This article explores two dimensions of sanction severity, sentence length and actual time served, to determine if juveniles waived to adult court do receive more severe sanctions. Data were collected on all youth waived to adult court from 1981-1993 and sentenced to prison (n = 946). Juveniles in this population consistently received longer sentences than are available in juvenile court. When actual time served was taken into consideration, however, these youth rarely served more lengthy sentences than are available in juvenile court, serving an average of only 27% of their original sentence.

School and law enforcement efforts to combat cyberbullying

Although most youth have positive experiences while using technology, bullying by electronic means, or cyberbullying, is becoming an increasing problem. Not only does it have the potential to significantly disrupt the educational environment, but it also can result in severe psychological and physical consequences for victims. In this article, the authors present an overview of the problem, reviewing the most relevant empirical studies and providing a clearer picture of the characteristics associated with cyberbullying. Moreover, they discuss the extant case law and legislation that allow school administrators and law enforcement to intervene in cyberbullying incidents. Last, they examine the many shortcomings of local law enforcement in their efforts toward fighting cybercrime.

Exploring the limits of collaboration in community policing: A direct comparison of police and citizen views

– The purpose of this paper is to provide direct comparisons between the views of citizens and officers within a jurisdiction that has been largely influenced by the community‐oriented policing movement. Comparisons between police and citizen views are specifically made in terms of: the relative importance of crime problems in the jurisdiction; the value of community policing programs; overall satisfaction with the performance of the department; and strategies designed to improve the performance of the department., – The methodology of the study is officer and citizen surveys., – Officers and citizens significantly differed in their assessment of the importance of specific crime problems in the jurisdiction, the value of community policing programs, the degree to which they were satisfied with the performance of the department, and their assessment of improvement strategies. These differences are discussed within the context of previous literature that has focused on the implementation and continued acceptance of community policing., – Findings are derived from surveys conducted in one jurisdiction. Findings are limited to the degree that citizen/officer views within this jurisdiction differ from those found elsewhere., – The study utilizes seldom‐used concurrent surveys of officers and citizens within a single jurisdiction. The method allows for the direct comparison of police and citizen views. Thus, this paper provides evidence regarding the feasibility of collaboration between police and citizens, and the continued viability of community‐oriented strategies.

Police Referrals of Crime Victims to Compensation Sources: An Empirical Analysis of Attitudinal and Structural Impediments

Victim compensation funds are designed to aid people in recovering financially from criminal victimization. Somewhat surprisingly, the victim compensation fund in Texas currently has a large cash surplus and is underutilized. Police officers in Texas are responsible for providing victims information about compensation. A survey was distributed to police officers in Texas to determine their knowledge about the fund as well as factors that inhibit or predict referrals of victims to the crime victim fund. Results show that knowledge of the compensation fund, source of that knowledge, department size, college education, and perceptions of time constraints, victims, support for advising, and capability of victim liaison are all predictive of referrals. Implications of these findings and suggestions for increasing the referral rate are discussed.

Racial Profiling and the Political Demand for Data A Pilot Study Designed to Improve Methodologies in Texas

We are currently witnessing a large-scale, national movement toward the mandated collection of traffic stop data by police. The intended goal of mandated data collection is the identification and elimination of racial profiling by police. However, problems related to this trend are beginning to emerge, especially in states that have initiated required data collection in the absence of rigorous and standardized methodologies. The present study describes the results of a pilot project that was designed to develop and implement improved strategies for the collection and analysis of racial profiling data in Texas and elsewhere. The article includes an overview of the national trend toward racial profiling data collection as well as a discussion of the primary problems related to the study of racial profiling during traffic stops.

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WHITE-COLLAR CRIME AND POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY: A SUGGESTION AND RESOURCE FOR TEACHING *

A recurring problem in teaching certain classes on social inequality involves the lack of readily available data. For instance, although data on street crime are widely available, little information is collected nationally on white-collar crime. Instructors therefore must often collect their own data. In this paper the AA. provide some information on corporate crime by relying on commonly available sources. In addition, they suggest ways in which professors can involve their students in finding additional documentation. In the process, instructors can teach elementary research skills.

Politics and white collar crime: Explaining government intervention in the Savings and Loan Scandal

The Savings and Loan Scandal of the 1980s was the biggest crime ever perpetrated in the United States. While several studies have examined the causes of the crime (e.g., deregulation, increase of insurance coverage to

Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism

100,000, fluctuations in the economic markets, greed), few scholars to date have studied state intervention in the industry after the crime had been committed. We explore the questions of when and how state managers intervene in the actions of the powerful by supplementing state theory with the literature on the social construction of social problems.