Tri-Agency Resource Gang Enforcement Team

The Tri-Agency Resource Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET) program in Orange County, Calif., is a gang crime intervention program intended to provide a strong criminal justice response to offenses committed by gang members. TARGET uses a multijurisdictional model that integrates law enforcement, probation, and prosecution efforts. It represents a multi-agency approach to targeting current gang members with suppression measures while also targeting entire gangs with police suppression. Each team in the TARGET program consists of gang investigators, a probation officer, a deputy district attorney, and a district attorney investigator. This program uses a three-pronged strategy: 1) selective incarceration of the most violent and repeat older gang offenders in the most violent gangs, 2) enforcement of probation controls (graduated sanctions and intensive supervision) on younger, less violent gang offenders, and 3) arrests of gang leaders in "hot spots" of gang activity.

The goal of the TARGET program is to reduce gang crime by selectively incarcerating the most violent and repeat (recidivist) gang offenders (based on their criminal records).

The evaluation results reveal that following program implementation the gang crime trend is relatively consistent with the proposed theory of the program. First, the placement of repeat offenders in custody appears to have had an effect on reducing gang crime. Gang crime decreased by 11 percent during 1992, the 1st year of the program. The cumulative reduction in gang crime was 64 percent through 1993, 59 percent through 1994, and 47 percent through 1997.

In addition, the evaluation ruled out several plausible alternative explanations (i.e., the reduction in gang crime was attributable to a general decrease in crime in the area or the reduction in gang crime was attributable to a general decrease in gang crime in the region). First, the data reveals a greater decrease in gang crime than in nongang crime during the 1st year of implementation. While this initial program effect disappears in subsequent years, the initial decline in gang crime cannot be attributed to an overall reduction of crime in the community. Second, the program community experienced a greater decline in total violent crime than that found in comparison communities with a comparable gang crime problem. This decline in the program community cannot be attributed to a general reduction in violent crime.