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Date: March 29, 2024 Fri

Time: 2:08 am

Results for intimidation

2 results found

Author: Bania, Melanie L.

Title: Don't Snitch: Responses to Neigbourhood Intimidation

Summary: Community-wide intimidation refers to a general atmosphere of fear, silence, and non-cooperation with the police and criminal justice system within a particular neighbourhood or community affected by crime and violence. This is distinguished in the literature from individual-level intimidation: scare tactics and threats specifically targeted at one person or one small group of people following a specific incident. While the literature on individual-level intimidation is vast, much less is known about community-wide intimidation. Despite many anecdotal reports of community-wide intimidation, there is currently very limited reliable information on the prevalence and severity of community-wide intimidation in Canadian communities and elsewhere. In an attempt to explain the dynamics surrounding the causes of community-wide intimidation, existing studies point to a lack of informal social control in disenfranchised communities, strong messaging from the current 'snitch culture' surrounding gang activity, and gang stereotypes that portrait every possible gang-involved person as disproportionality violent. Regardless of potential causes, when deciding whether or not to report an incident to police, victims and bystanders generally consider whether the expected gains of reporting (the 'pros') will outweigh the costs of reporting, including the potential for retaliation (the 'cons'). When it comes to responses to community-wide intimidation, the literature refers to a variety of general suggestions, including: community outreach and education for residents; creating avenues for safe communication between community members and police; community policing; community-based prosecution strategies; civil injunctions targeting the activities of gang-involved persons; and inter-agency cooperation at the neighbourhood level. Only a few concrete examples of these approaches are provided in the literature, primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom. Most have not been well documented or evaluated for their impacts on communities. The most documented model is the Making WAVES program from the United Kingdom, which supports victims and witnesses in a variety of ways. An evaluation of the program showed promising results and emphasized the importance of interagency cooperation with community members. In Canada and Ottawa more specifically, efforts have focused on education and awareness campaigns for residents, and efforts to facilitate safe communication between residents and police. These initiatives have generally not been well documented, researched or evaluated for their effects and impacts on communities. Overall, there is a large gap in knowledge regarding community-wide intimidation of residents in vulnerable and marginalized neighbourhoods, and effective ways of addressing this concern. Further research is needed in order to understand the dynamics, prevalence, severity, and impacts of communitywide intimidation in neighbourhoods affected by crime and violence. Future attempts to address community-wide intimidation should be based on an indepth understanding of the complexity of the issue at the local neighbourhood level, and should be evaluated for their intended and unintended effects and impacts on the community. Finally, much of the literature on community-wide intimidation focuses solely on the challenges it creates for the functioning of the criminal justice system, particularly residents' willingness to report to and cooperate with the police. Very little attention is paid to the effects of intimidation and fear on the quality of life of residents in disenfranchised neighbourhoods. Yet for service providers, community workers, and residents themselves, quality of life issues are of primary importance. Various stakeholders touched by this issue, then, may have different definitions of what "success" looks like in attempts to address community-wide intimidation. Future research and initiatives related to addressing community-wide intimidation in neighbourhoods should therefore reflect carefully on the intended impact of the approach - what do we hope to see change? Should the focus be solely or mainly on reporting to police as a solution? Or are there other, more sustainable ways to meet resident needs and ultimately improve the quality of life of vulnerable and marginalized groups affected by community-wide intimidation?

Details: Ottawa: Crime Prevention Ottawa, 2016. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 6, 2017 at: http://www.crimepreventionottawa.ca/Media/Content/files/Publications/Neighbourhoods/Don%20t%20snitch%20responses%20to%20Neighbourhoods%20Intimidation-EN-Final-Jan%202016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Canada

URL: http://www.crimepreventionottawa.ca/Media/Content/files/Publications/Neighbourhoods/Don%20t%20snitch%20responses%20to%20Neighbourhoods%20Intimidation-EN-Final-Jan%202016.pdf

Shelf Number: 145944

Keywords:
Communities and Crime
Intimidation
Neighborhoods and Crime
Retaliation
Snitching

Author: Connolly, Johnny.

Title: Demanding Money with Menace: Drug-related intimidation and community violence

Summary: This report presents the findings of research on drug-related intimidation and community violence in a number of Local and Regional Drugs Task Force areas throughout Ireland. The research was a joint collaboration between Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign and the Health Research Board (HRB). Drug-related intimidation was identified as a key issue by local communities and Drugs Task Forces and identifying effective responses is one of Citywide's key policy objectives. The research consisted of an audit of 140 incidents of intimidation reported to projects in thirteen Drugs Task Forces areas, (eleven Local and two Regional). The audit took place between April 2014 and December 2015. Focus groups were also conducted with eight Local Drugs Task Forces and five Regional Task Forces (approximately 150 people from various local projects attended these meetings). Further focus groups were conducted with Travellers, former prisoners, Youth Workers and Family Support Workers and a Community Safety Forum in Dublin. The objectives of the research were: - To access the hidden experience of intimidation in a way that was sensitive and confidential; - To highlight the situation to policy makers and the wider public - To assist communities in developing locally-based, effective and sustainable responses.

Details: Dublin: Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign, 2016. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 14, 2017 at: http://www.drugs.ie/resourcesfiles/ResearchDocs/Ireland/2016/citywide_demanding_money_with_menace_drug_related_intimidation.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Ireland

URL: http://www.drugs.ie/resourcesfiles/ResearchDocs/Ireland/2016/citywide_demanding_money_with_menace_drug_related_intimidation.pdf

Shelf Number: 146175

Keywords:
Drug-Related Violence
Drugs and Crime
Intimidation