Vincent J. Webb

The relative importance of race and ethnicity on citizen attitudes toward the police

Undertakes research in Omaha, Nebraska on factors found to be predictors of attitudes toward the police (ATP). Addresses the question of whether ATP are primarily a function of police‐citizen interaction or if they derive from the transmission of cultural values. If the former, strategies to modify police and citizen behavior are required; if the latter, an impact on socialization may be needed to improve ATP. Summarizes the nature and measurement of ATP. Finds, in common with earlier research, that although age, gender and police contact have significant effects, race variables have the greatest effect. In contrast with other research, finds that social class has some influence on ATP. Compares Hispanic, black and white respondents’ ATP. Suggests that neighborhood is an important influence on ATP. Recommends further studies on the development of ATP in youth.

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.

The Ties That Bind: Desistance From Gangs

The present study conceptualizes gang membership in a life-course framework. The authors focus specifically on an understudied aspect of gang membership—desistance. This study’s goal is to further develop our understanding of the process of desisting from gangs. This is done by examining the social and emotional ties that former gang members maintain with their previous gang network. Using a detention sample of juvenile arrestees, the authors first compare differences between 156 current and 83 former gang members at a bivariate level. This is followed by a multivariate analysis of former gang members that (a) examines factors that predict increases of ties to the former gang network and (b) illustrates the importance of gang ties by exploring their effects on victimization. The findings shed light on the correlates and consequences of persisting gang ties. In particular, it is found that ties have direct positive effects on recent victimizations. More important, it is found that longer lengths of desistance matter to the extent that ties are diminished; that is, length of desistance operates indirectly through gang ties to reduce victimization. The study concludes with a discussion of the conceptual and policy implications surrounding gang desistance and how lingering ties to the former gang network are crucial to understanding the desistance process.

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.

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.

Multiple Measures of Juvenile Drug Court Effectiveness: Results of a Quasi-Experimental Design

Prior studies of juvenile drug courts have been constrained by small samples, inadequate comparison groups, or limited outcome measures. The authors report on a 3-year evaluation that examines the impact of juvenile drug court participation on recidivism and drug use. A quasi-experimental design is used to compare juveniles assigned to drug court with those assigned to standard probation in Maricopa County, Arizona. Findings indicate drug court participants were less likely to recidivate than youths in the comparison group. Analyses of drug use show no significant difference between groups in marijuana use but reveal that drug court participants were more likely than juveniles in the comparison group to test positive for cocaine. Family stability, school attendance, and legal indicators were important predictors of drug court effectiveness. Last, findings indicate the majority of juveniles in drug court were unsuccessful in meeting program requirements and subsequently released to state-operated facilities or standard probation.

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.