Gang injunction, What's your function? Investigating the relationship between civil gang injunctions and gang associates' patterns of association

Purpose: The current study examines the influence of civil gang injunctions (CGIs) on the patterns of association among gang associates at the individual- and group-levels in East Los Angeles. Methods: The analysis is divided into two parts examining Field Investigation (FI) stops conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). First, how do CGIs influence an individual gang associate's patterns of association is investigated with individual- and event-level data. Next, a case-study approach employing social network analysis is used to examine if CGIs produce observable and consistent changes to the publicly observed social structure of an enjoined gang. Results: Findings suggest that CGIs are able to influence the associating patterns of gang associates at the individual-level. That is, enjoined gang associates are less likely to loiter in public, hang out in their gang's known set space, associate with fellow members, and are less visible to police. At the group-level an enjoined gang's group structure either becomes disrupted by the presence of a CGI or conversely fosters an increased connectedness among associates. Conclusions: It appears that CGIs inhibit the public loitering of individual gang associates. At the group-level, divergent findings illustrate the complexity of gang associates' patterns of association and the challenges when attempting to alter them through suppression strategies.