This document provides instructions for an assignment due on February 17th. It asks students to imagine they are part of an organized crime group looking to establish operations in a new suburb to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. Students are then instructed to recommend preventative strategies that could be used to protect communities against gangs and criminal organizations. The document provides learning objectives and required readings on preventative approaches. It outlines a discussion for students to write a letter to the editor of their local newspaper addressing what law enforcement should do to prevent new criminal groups, recommending an effective prevention strategy, and outlining how to prevent groups from taking root if their community has not been exposed to them.

1. ONE ASSIGNMENT THIS WEEKTHIS IS DUE BY
WEDNESDAY 02/17/21THIS IS ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS
AND READING MATERIAL. Week 6: Preventative Responses
to Criminal Organizations
Imagine that you are a member of an organized crime group in a
major U.S. city. You are facing resistance from law enforcement
in the city, so you decide to establish a new operation in a
surrounding suburb. You figure you may not experience the
same level of scrutiny there. What might prevent you from
infiltrating that community, beginning to recruit members, and
“setting up shop”?
Combating criminal organizations is not just
a reactive endeavor; it is also a proactive one. In other words,
the goal is not only to fight existing crime groups but to deter
new ones from taking hold. Criminal justice professionals must
work together with community members and other individuals
such as social workers to address root causes—racial and
socioeconomic disparities, issues in adolescent psychological
and social development, and more.
This week, you turn your attention to preventative strategies
that can be employed to protect communities against gangs and
criminal organizations.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
· Recommend preventative strategies to combat criminal
organizations
· Apply learning to personal experiences with gangs and
organized crime groups
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s library resources, please click on
the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course
Materials section of your Syllabus.Required Readings
Howell, J. C., & Griffiths, E. (2018). Gangs in America’s
communities (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

2. · Chapter 9, “What Works: Prevention” (pp. 253–280)
Community Tool Box. (n.d.). Section 2. Writing letters to the
editor. Retrieved May 4, 2019, from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-
of-contents/advocacy/direct-action/letters-to-editor/main
Dong, B., & Krohn, M. D. (2016). Escape from violence: What
reduces the enduring consequences of adolescent gang
affiliation? Journal of Criminal Justice, 47, 41–50.
doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.07.002
Jennings-Bey, T., Lane, S. D., Rubinstein, R. A., Bergen-Cico,
D., Haygood-El, A., Hudson, H., . . . Fowler, F. L. (2015). The
trauma response team: A community intervention for gang
violence. Journal of Urban Health, 92(5), 947–954.
doi:10.1007/s11524-015-9978-8
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (2014,
April). Gang prevention. Retrieved from
https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Gang_Prevention.pdf
U.S. Department of Justice. (2013). Changing course:
Preventing gang membership. Retrieved from
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/239234.pdf
THIS IS DUE BY WEDNESDAY 02/17/21Discussion:
Preventing the Development and Growth of Criminal
Organizations
Criminal organizations destroy lives and wreak havoc on
communities. They are also increasingly difficult to combat,
particularly when they extend beyond neighborhoods to
regional, national, international, and transnational territories.
Therefore, strong efforts to prevent the development and growth

3. of these organizations is crucial. The most effective
preventative strategies address psychological and/or
sociological root causes of criminal organizations and include
the cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies, social
service agencies, neighborhoods, and even businesses. Some
community-based strategies are designed to quell the
development of gangs and organized crime groups from the
inside out by preventing adolescents from joining these criminal
groups. Others seek to open lines of communication between
community members and law enforcement so that community
members feel comfortable providing information to the police.
In this Discussion, you consider strategies to prevent the
creation, development, and growth of criminal organizations in
your community. By Day 3
Post a letter to the editor of your local newspaper that addresses
the following:
MY LOCAL NEWSPAPER IS THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT AND
MY COMMUNITY IS NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.
· Explain what law enforcement is or should be doing to prevent
new criminal organizations from entering your community.
· Recommend an effective strategy to prevent the development
and growth of criminal organizations in your community.
· If your community has not been exposed to criminal
organizations, explain what you would do to prevent them from
taking root.
I WILL HAVE MORE WORK FOR YOU STARTING THE
25TH