NCJ Number
149911
Date Published
1994
Length
107 pages
Annotation
This report describes the 1993 activities of the Tri- Agency Resource Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET) program administered by the Westminster (California) police department.
Abstract
The primary objectives of the TARGET program are to increase the flow of intelligence information between cooperating agencies and to ensure a well-coordinated law enforcement effort aimed at eliminating gangs. The three agencies involved -- the Westminster Police Department, Orange County Probation Department, and Orange County District Attorney's Office -- address enforcement, case preparation, witness support, prosecution, and sentencing disposition. The interventions used include intensive investigation, vertical prosecution, and probation supervision efforts by experts in gangs crime. Since its implementation in 1992, the program has identified and documented 2,158 gang members who had contact with the police department in the previous 5 years, identified 95 gangs and interviewed members of 59 gangs at least twice, targeted 77 verified gang members for intensive investigation and prosecution, and documented a 62 percent decrease in serious gang-related crime. During the same time period, 69 percent of the 77 gang members targeted for prosecution were placed in custody. TARGET prosecuted 145 cases involving 168 gang members and achieved a 99 percent conviction rate. 8 figures, 35 tables, 10 appendixes, and 4 references