Written Assignment #5 CRJ 571

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Saint Leo University *

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571

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Sociology

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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8

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Youth Gangs and Law Enforcement 1 Youth Gangs and Law Enforcement Kellye Diaz Saint Leo University CRJ-571: Cause and Control Juvenile Delinquency Professor Butch Newkirk
Youth Gangs and Law Enforcement 2 Abstract Youth gang involvement is a prevalent issue in the United States. Research has shown that youth that join gangs are primarily male, black, latino, come from single-parent households, and families that lived below the poverty line however, females, whites, and children from two- parent and middle- and high-income households also become gang affiliated. At some point in a law enforcement officers career it is likely they will come across a juvenile gang member so it is important to have the proper training on how to identify them and the best methods of how to work with them. This paper is going to address some training methods for law enforcement to work with youth that are gang affiliated or at risk of joining a gang. Keywords: juvenile delinquency, law enforcement, juvenile justice system, youth gangs
Youth Gangs and Law Enforcement 3 Introduction Youth gang activity occurs across all 50 states in the United States. It is more prevalent in big cities and urban areas but it can occur in small towns too. There was an increase in gangs from the 1970s to the mid 1990s then experienced a decline from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s. Then once again in the early 2000s gang activity started to increase (Agnew & Brezina, 2022, p. 317-318). In 2016, research showed that there was slightly over one million juvenile gang members in the United States which equates to roughly 2% of the juvenile population. This indicates that youth joining gangs is a rare occurrence however it does occur. Finding from this research also showed that most youth who do join gangs only spend 1-2 years involved in the gang before leaving. Youth that join gangs are primarily male, black, latino, come from single- parent households, and families that lived below the poverty line however, females, whites, and children from two-parent and middle- and high-income households also become gang affiliated. This study also indicated that law enforcement under recognizes youth gang activity and is not completely accurate when it comes to gender, race, and ethnicity of those involved in gangs (Py- rooz, 2016). Gang members commit a variety of different offenses ranging from minor offenses to more serious ones. Though a majority of crimes committed by gang members are minor offenses, there is also a disproportionate amount of serious and violent crimes including murder being committed by gang members. This is in part due to the higher likelihood that a juvenile gang member will have access to and carry a firearm then a juvenile non-gang member would be. Some of the other crimes committed by juvenile gang members include property crimes, drug use, and underage drinking. Most of the time, gang members spend their time just hanging out and waiting (Agnew & Brezina, 2022, p. 318). In order to accurately recognize youth gang ac-
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