NCJ Number
176854
Date Published
1998
Length
30 pages
Annotation
The first three years of the Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project of the Chicago Police Department was evaluated with respect to its development, operations, outcome, and impact during the first 3 years from its establishment in 1992.
Abstract
The project aimed to reduce serious gang violence at the level of the individual youth gang member and the community area. The model's underlying assumption was that the gang problem, particularly in serious and chronic form, was a response in large part to community social disorganization. The project focused on the integration of strategies of social intervention and suppression within a supportive framework or organizational change and development. It also involved community mobilization at the grassroots level and the provision of increased social and economic opportunities for youth ages 17-24 years. The project was implemented in the 10th District of the Chicago Police Department in the South Lawndale community area, which had some of the most chronically violent gang areas in the city. Five strategies were implemented: (1) organizational change and development, (2) community mobilization, (3) social intervention, (4) provision of social opportunities, and (5) suppression. The project had a marked success, and the cohesive team approach was probably central to the project's success in reducing gang crime, especially serious gang violence. A further report will focus on why the project concept was not further developed after termination of its fifth year. Nevertheless, replication and adaptation of this approach to the gang problem should be attempted and should include the 10 elements necessary for the approach. Table and 6 references