NCJ Number
196457
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: Summer 2002 Pages: 45-56
Editor(s)
George W. Fox Ph.D.
Date Published
2002
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The article discusses the importance of the low percentage of valid driver's license holders found among gang members and proposes enforcement regimes based on invalid drivers licenses.
Abstract
The article discusses gang activity prevention strategies and proposes the use of enforcement of driver’s license suspension laws as a valuable gang activity suppression strategy. The authors place gang activity prevention strategies into five categories including: 1) community organization; 2) social intervention; 3) opportunity provision; 4) suppression; and 5) organizational change and development. Prior research has suggested that suppression is the least effective of all of these strategies. A review of the prior research and suppression efficacy statistics are provided. The authors then discuss the basis for their suggestion concerning drivers licenses and provide information regarding the role of automobiles and driving in gang activity as well as information concerning the rate of invalid drivers licenses among identified gang participants. Based upon the sample of 383 gang participants studied, 77 percent of the subjects had invalid drivers licenses. The authors specifically suggest the use of rolling drivers license checks to control gang mobility and therefore gang activity.