Gang Intelligence Methods in Law Enforcement Essay -- essays research

GANG INTELLIGENCE METHODS IN LAW ENFORCEMENTThe American headlines of any blown-up city will site killings on street corners, robberies, assaults, intimidation, and drug interaction. While not all-criminal activity is associated with hoops, the 780,000 strong members do account for a large absolute majority of the problems that are plaguing America. There is no one-way to stop gang activity in one single swipe, but through a combination of cooperation, education, and preparedness techniques law enforcement can minimize the gangs movements and even stop a crime before it is committed.A gang is defined as a group of individuals with the same objective that are bound together by a bond of trust. The majority of gangs are young people, but not each gang member is in his prime. The people that make up a gang are unremarkably trying to achieve something, either money, respect, freedom from the oppression of another gang or law enforcement agency, the need to belong to something grea ter than themselves, or a combination of any of these. The individual that joins a gang is usually after the same goal that the gang is seeking to obtain.Different gangs have different characteristics, but all gangs possess at least one A hierarchy. Whether the gang is a small local crew that never moves out of the neighborhood or a larger well organized team that controls an undefiled district, there will always be a leader. The leader of the group is the focus of gang-related law enforcement intelligence investigations. Often times the leader of a gang may already be incarcerated, and is still communicating and giving orders from within the walls. The leader is the individual that is usually the strongest member of the group with the most charisma, not inescapably the smartest member of the group or the member that has been in the group the longest. Membership in a gang does not necessarily mean that the person is uneducated. nigh gang members may have positions within the law enforcement communities (Sulc, 65) and some gang members earn college degrees in business, law enforcement, finance, etc. This type of education whether formal or on-the-job will make the gang even stronger. If an individual cannot afford to go to college, this type of scholarship program could be an incentive to stay or join up with ... ...mericans understand that catching criminals and bringing down a gang ring is not an easy task. As long as there is an active show of interaction between law enforcement and the public, than the likelihood of information sharing is always greater. The gang related activity of America cannot be get rid of overnight, but understanding that the fight against such crime is not an easy task will help win the American peoples support. The ordinary citizen is enraged as well as discouraged by the acts of criminal gang forces, and the majority of Americans stand behind law enforcement already. The only way to designate a dent in the criminal gang for ces of America is through a combination of cooperation, education, and training techniques. WORKS CITEDLowenthall, M.M. INTELLIGENCE FROM SECRETS TO POLICY.Washington, DC CQ Press, 2000. Peterson, M.B. APPLICATIONS IN fell ANALYSIS. Westport,CT Praeger Publishers, 1998. Peterson, M.B. INTELLIGENCE 2000 REVISING THE BASICELEMENTS. Sacramento, CA LEIU, 2000. Sulc, L.B. LAW ENFORCEMENT COUNTER INTELLIGENCE. ShawneeMission, KS Varro Press, 1996.