We were interested in how the individuals who policed gangs had influenced their agencies' responses to the gang problem. We approached this by focusing first on gang unit officers' personal characteristics and on their prior assignments and experiences within their police departments. Next, we examined how they became gang unit officers – the selection process and how that process affected the types of officers who were assigned to gang units. Third, we looked at the training that officers received, both training that was specific to their assignments and any other gang-related training or education they might have attended. Related, we examined the problems that the gang unit officer faced after they initially became a gang unit officer. Finally, we focused on the status of being a gang unit officer and explicate the perceived roles that gang unit officers play in their department and community.

OFFICER CHARACTERISTICS

The ethnic or racial characteristics of the officers in the police gang units that we studied varied across units, but reflected the composition of their parent departments and not necessarily their community.