Gang Cop: The Words and Ways of Officer Paco Domingo / Edition 1

by Malcolm W. Klein

Overview

Paco Domingo is a street cop, a gang cop, a composite figure derived from criminologist Malcolm Klein's real observations, actual incidents, and verbatim court testimony in over 40 years of police and gang research. Klein, well-known criminologist and police consultant, tells the story of Domingo, who is deeply engaged in battling his street gang opponents. The author points to the dangers in police elite units when a 'tough cop' begins to rationalize the use of police violence and corruption. For all of those concerned with dealing in practical ways with street gangs, the greatest impediment has been ignorance about their nature. Klein highlights the importance of the training of gang cops, often the first point of contact with gang members in the community. He points out the discrepancies between some of their views and assumptions of fact in law enforcement on the one hand, and what criminological research has discovered on the other. The author assesses the knowledge and skills of the gang cop, and current gaps in our knowledge of street gangs. This book will be valuable to law enforcement personnel, lawyers, criminologists, and community and governmental agencies concerned with the proliferation of gangs in America's towns.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759105478
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	01/28/2004
Series:	Violence Prevention and Policy Series , #1
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	1,389,099
Product dimensions:	6.08(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Malcolm W. Klein is professor emeritus of the University of Southern California and an independent consultant on street gang issues to many local, state, national, and international private and public agencies and commissions. His research appears in many journals and he has authored and edited fourteen books, including The American Street Gang (Oxford University Press).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 1: The Relationship Develops: Gang Cop, Gang Researcher Chapter 3 2: Paco: Character and Values Chapter 4 3: Paco Considers the European Cop Chapter 5 4: Street Gangs and Community Policing Chapter 6 5: Defining Street Gangs Chapter 7 6: Street Gang Structures Chapter 8 7: Changes in Street Gang Culture Chapter 9 8: Changes in Paco's Career Chapter 10 9: Street Gang Neighborhoods Chapter 11 10: Gang Member Characteristics Chapter 12 11: Street Gang Crime Patterns Chapter 13 12: Street Gangs are Groups Chapter 14 13: Street Gang Victims Chapter 15 14: Gang Control: Paco's Way and Other Ways Chapter 16 15: Paco Goes to Court Chapter 17 16: Elite Units, Gang Units, and Paco Chapter 18 17: Rampart: The Smoking Gun Chapter 19 Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

Malcolm Klein is the preeminent gang researcher of our time. His new book Gang Cop is a revealing and compelling look inside the world of the police gang unit officer. Klein not only offers readers a colorful and unforgettable depiction of gang cops and the world in which they work and live, but he also provides readers with a scholarly examination of gangs and gang crime.

Charles Katz

A powerful new book. . . . Malcolm Klein draws on forty years of research on gangs, law enforcement, and intervention policy. He demonstrates the ways in which the police are organized, trained, and isolated to respond to gangs, and where it can and has gone wrong.

Scott H. Decker