The role of community policing in communities with serious gang problems: Insights from Trinidad and Tobago

Ericka B. Adams, Casandra Harry and Edward R. Maguire

Journal of Criminal Justice, 2025, vol. 97, issue C

Abstract: Globally, the presence of gangs is associated with elevated rates of violence in the communities they occupy. Gang membership is associated with higher rates of criminal offending, drug use, school dropout, teenage parenthood, and joblessness. While various strategies have been developed to address gang violence, police tactics have primarily focused on suppression. However, it is well known that suppression tactics can lead to overzealous policing with potentially detrimental effects on communities. Limited research exists on the impact of police officers' engagement in prevention and intervention activities to address gang violence. Based on in-depth interviews with police officers in a specialized community policing unit in Trinidad and Tobago, this paper explores police efforts to intervene in gang-related issues in communities facing high levels of gang violence. The officers we interviewed believe their efforts to engage respectfully with community members, including known gang members, resulted in a favorable community response to police work and residents' buy-in towards police initiatives. This study contributes to understanding the perspectives of specialized community policing officers seeking to improve the quality of life for residents in communities beset by gang violence and highlights the challenges and potential benefits of respectful community engagement strategies.

Keywords: Gangs; Community police; Trinidad and Tobago; Police legitimacy; Respect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225000315
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:97:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225000315

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102382

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Criminal Justice is currently edited by Matthew DeLisi

More articles in Journal of Criminal Justice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().