NCJ Number
240170
Date Published
March 2012
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This report from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation describes the Department's proposed implementation of the Security Threat Group Identification System and Step Down Program for Gang Interdiction and Management.
Abstract
Based on a recent assessment of current gang identification and management strategies used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the Department has compiled this proposal for implementation of a new gang interdiction and management strategy. The changes put forth in this proposal are based on recommendations made by subject matter experts within the CDCR as well as best practices currently used by agencies in other States. Sources for the proposed strategy include a 2007 study from the California State University, Sacramento, and security threat group information collected by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the following States: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Connecticut, and New York. The report has nine sections: 1) Background, 2). Definitions, 3) Purpose and Scope, 4) Roles and Responsibility, 5) Certification Process, 6) Validation Process, 7) Security Threat Group Management, 8) Debriefing, and 9) Implementation Process. The primary purpose and scope of the strategy are to minimize criminal gang behavior and manage high security housing populations through uniform certification of criminal gangs and identification of those that pose the greatest threat to the safety and security of the prisons and public safety; identification and validation of criminal gang affiliates; provide offenders placed in a special housing unit for gang behaviors with the ability to return to a general population setting; utilization of the step down process to afford program and privilege incentives to promote positive behavior; use of a step down process to increase privileges for offenders who discontinue to engage in gang activities; and the use of debriefing for offenders who choose to disassociate themselves from criminal gangs and criminal gang behavior. Tables and attachments