“We can’t arrest our way out of this” police responses to gang violence in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Geography, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Osterberg, Erin C
issued: 2020-07-17T20:28:11Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Gang violence in the Lower Mainland is the focus of much media, political, policy, and police attention, but a lack of Canadian studies on police and policy responses hinders an evidence-based approach to prevention and control. In light of the gaps in the Canadian knowledge base, this research is an effort to contribute to the understanding of gangs in British Columbia (BC). The empirical data is derived from semi-structured qualitative interviews with 42 police officers and two civilian employees across three jurisdictions: Surrey, Abbotsford, and Delta. These interviews sought to assemble police perceptions and understanding of Lower Mainland gangs with respect to their organization, structure, and the nature of their activities. This examination includes an overview of dial-a-doping as an important characteristic of gangs in BC, perceptions of the implications of ethnicity, and the ways in which what have been termed non-traditional risk factors for gangs present themselves in the BC context. From the interviews, this research describes the policy instruments deployed by police across the three jurisdictions in gang prevention, intervention, and suppression efforts. Given the lack of available empirical data on the efficacy of these efforts, the findings will analyze the efficacy of these responses to suggest ‘what has worked’ as perceived by the police officers tasked with program implementation, and consider police perceptions of the structural, capacity, and resource challenges that may limit the success of police-based policies, strategies, and programs aimed at preventing and controlling gang violence. Finally, a way forward is suggested noting that the response to gang violence in BC requires engagement beyond the police, acknowledging the need to reduce the demand for supply of illicit narcotics, and the need to limit the capacity for predatory wealth accumulation that the police interviewed in this research suggested is the primary motivator for gang par…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/75201
note: “WE CAN’T ARREST OUR WAY OUT OF THIS” POLICE RESPONSES TO GANG VIOLENCE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA’S LOWER MAINLAND by Erin C. Osterberg B.A. Simon Fraser University, 2003 M.A. University of the Fraser Valley, 2011 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Geography) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2020 ©Erin C. Osterberg 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: “We can’t arrest our way out of this” police responses to gang violence in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland Examining Committee: Daniel Hiebert, Geography, University of British Columbia Supervisor David Ley, Geography, University of British Columbia Supervisory Committee Member Sara K. Thompson, Criminology, Ryerson University Supervisory Committee Member Merje Kuus, Geography, University of British Columbia University Examiner Marvin Westwood, Education, University of British Columbia University Examiner submitted by Erin C. Osterberg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography iii Abstract Gang violence in the Lower Mainland is the focus of much media, political, policy, and police attention, but a lack of Canadian studies on police and policy responses hinders an evidence-based approach to prevention and control. In light of the gaps in the Canadian knowledge base, this research is an effort to contribute to the understanding of gangs in British Columbia (BC). The empirical data is derived from semi-structured qualitative interviews with 42 police officers and two civilian employees across three jurisdictions: Surrey, Abbotsford, and Delta. These interviews sought to assemble police perceptions and understanding of Lower Mainland gangs with respect to their organization, structure, and the nature of the…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2020-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0392449
language: eng
degree discipline: Geography
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/75201