Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Central American police perception of street gang characteristics

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 26; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10439463.2014.942849

1477-2728

Jerry H. Ratcliffe,

Policing Practices and Perceptions

This article examines the characteristics of Central American street gangs perceived as successful from the perspective of police officers working in high concentration gang areas. About 126 officers from seven Central American countries prioritised a list of characteristics adopted from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Sleipnir matrix. Results suggest some regional commonalities but also significant local variation in numerous characteristics. Gangs were perceived to share many success traits, including a propensity to use violence, foster strong group cohesion, and engage in intelligence gathering. Equally, however, gangs are a product of their local socioeconomic and political structures and significant variance was found between countries, specifically with regard to group cohesion, discipline and gang exploitation of corruption to further group aims. These (statistically significant) local differences have implications for the creation of national anti-gang policies and the research is the first to explore police officer perception of gang characteristics in this way.