Tri-Agency Resource Gang Enforcement Team (T.A.R.G.E.T.) John Anderson Assistant District Attorney Orange County District Attorney’s Office

PILOT PROGRAM - WESTMINSTER  January TARGET Team pilot program formed in City of Westminster  Concept demonstrably effective in Westminster  June 1994 County-wide TARGET program implemented  Currently 12 teams are in place working several geographical locations & types of gangs

Basic Concepts of T.A.R.G.E.T.  TEAM (Multi-Agency Cooperation)  The unit includes police detectives, probation officer, and district attorney.  SELECTIVE INTERVENTION  The unit targets specific repeat offenders and hardcore gang members.

Team Composition  Police:  Two police investigators or detectives  Sergeant who oversees the day to day law enforcement activities of the team  Probation:  Deputy Probation Officer  Prosecution:  Deputy District Attorney  District Attorney Investigator

Team Missions  1. Removing selected hardcore gang Member targets  2. Gathering intelligence on all gangs & gang members in city  3. Developing innovative techniques  4. Developing personnel expertise in detecting, analyzing & prosecuting gang crimes  5. Documenting effectiveness

Selective Intervention  Research studies provided the rationale for targeting serious repeat offenders in order to impact crime.  Marvin E. Wolfgang (1972, 1983) found that 18% of juveniles in a birth cohort were responsible for 52% of crime committed by that cohort.  Kurtz and Moore (1994) from the Orange County Probation Department found that 8% of first-time juvenile offenders were responsible for 55% of the group’s subsequent crime.

2007 TARGET Teams  North Orange County – joint jurisdiction team serving Fullerton, La Habra & Buena Park  Gangs are mostly Hispanic with some Black and skinhead gangs  Anaheim – two teams  Gangs predominantly Hispanic  Garden Grove  Nearly all Asian with some Hispanic gangs

2007 TARGET Teams cont.  Costa Mesa  Mostly Hispanic gangs  Some skinhead racist gangs  Orange half-time team  Hispanic gangs  Tustin half-time team  Hispanic gangs

2007 TARGET Teams cont.  Santa Ana – three teams  Nearly exclusively Hispanic  South County – county territories and south OC cities serviced by OC Sheriff’s Department  Hispanic and white (though not necessarily skinhead/racist) gangs  Westminster  75% Asian – 25% Hispanic

Success of T.A.R.G.E.T.

Frequency of Gang Crime,

Frequency of Violent Gang Crime,

Implication to Gang Crime

Trends in Gang Crime and Non-Gang Crime

T.A.R.G.E.T. & Prevention – Intervention Programs  To ensure success in gang control, T.A.R.G.E.T. should be complemented with prevention and intervention programs.  Selective intervention of repeat offenders and hardcore gang members reduces the cohesiveness of their respective gangs.  Prevention programs will educate and discourage juveniles from joining gangs.  Intervention programs peal off the lesser attached members as the gang leadership is disrupted