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Pulling Levers on Gang Violence in London and St. Paul

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Gang Transitions and Transformations in an International Context

Abstract

This chapter compares and contrasts two focused deterrence pulling levers strategies in two cities, 4000 miles apart: London, England, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Based on qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in both cities and analysis of secondary data, the chapter examines program efficacy, issues of fidelity in Group Violence Intervention, innovation in transforming theory into practice, and context-specific challenges to directing gang-violence cessation. The community-police nexus in gang intervention and possible “spillover effects” of focused deterrence strategies on vicariously treated gangs are discussed. The chapter explores how and why “pulling levers” failed in London but succeeded in St. Paul, with implications for research, policy, and practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A phrase reserved for “reds” on the gangs matrix, the official police list that names individual gang members and classifies them from most to least violent, “from red to amber to green” (LON 1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN, USA

    James A. Densley

  2. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    David Squier Jones

Authors
  1. James A. Densley
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  2. David Squier Jones
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Correspondence to James A. Densley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology, Law, and Soc., University of California, Irvine, California, USA

    Cheryl L. Maxson

  2. Department of Criminology and Crim Jus, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Finn-Aage Esbensen

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Densley, J.A., Jones, D.S. (2016). Pulling Levers on Gang Violence in London and St. Paul. In: Maxson, C., Esbensen, FA. (eds) Gang Transitions and Transformations in an International Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29602-9_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29602-9_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29600-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29602-9

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