Prosecutor: Technical Assistance Manual

• NCJ Number: 142669
• Author(s): Candice M. Kane
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 56 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Youth Gang Series
• Grant Number(s): 90-JD-CX-K001
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Training (Handbook/Manual)

Annotation

This manual is designed to assist prosecutors and their staffs in crafting and instituting a communitywide response to youth gangs.

Abstract

The proposed model calls for a problem-based response driven by the critical characteristics of the youth gang, its membership, and its criminal activity in the target area. The manual calls for a discussion of what should be done and how it should be done, based on five key strategies: community mobilization, opportunities provision, social intervention, suppression, and organizational change and development. The manual describes how to assess the nature and extent of the target community's youth gang problem. It then proposes a process the prosecutor can follow to develop an appropriate response by the prosecutor's office and the community at large. Critical program elements to be considered are existing laws, case selection and tracking, the police/prosecutor team, case strategy decisions such as bail, detention, waiver, use of experts and gang members as witnesses, victim/witness support, and disposition recommendations. The manual advises prosecutors to assign specially selected and trained assistants to gang cases. It also encourages prosecutors to include an evaluation component as part of any initiative, so the program's impact can be measured and program operations documented. Appended glossary and discussion of terms and schema for developing and implementing a youth gang suppression and intervention strategy