Exploring the Gang Problem in Redlands, CA: 
An Evaluation of a Problem Solving Partnership


by


Charles M. Katz
Arizona State University West

David R. Schaefer
Arizona State University West

Craig D. Uchida
21st Century Solutions, Inc.



Prepared for the Redlands Police Department and the 
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
October 2002

This report and project were supported by Grant No. 1999-CK-WX-K005 awarded by the 
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice to 21st 
Century Solutions, Inc.  Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do 
not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of 
Justice or the law enforcement agency involved in the study.

Copyright  by Craig D. Uchida and 21st Century Solutions, Inc.  The U.S. Department 
of Justice reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, 
publish or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use, this document for Federal 
Government purposes. No part of this document may be reproduced in any forms, by any 
means (including electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior 
written permission of the U.S. Department of Justice and the authors.

Published by:
21st Century Solutions, Inc.
P.O. Box 12279
Silver Spring, MD 20908
(301) 438-3132
www.e-21stCenturySolutions.com
CDUchida@aol.com


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the work of those who contributed to this project.  First, 
we would like to thank Chief Jim Bueermann who graciously welcomed us to Redlands 
and to the police department.  Chief Bueermann was always enthusiastic and interested in 
seeking new ways of improving the performance of the police department.  Similarly, 
Captain Thomas Fitzmaurice was equally as enthusiastic about the project and was 
always generous with his help.  We are also grateful to Tony Arias and Sergeant Carlos 
Pimentel.  Both were always willing to drop what ever they were doing to accommodate 
our site visits and provide us with all of the information we needed.  The evaluation 
would not have been possible without the assistance of Shelia Harbert.  She provided us 
with data in a timely fashion and helped us understand the complexities involved with the 
data that we used as part of this evaluation.    

Redlands Unified School District officials also provided much assistance to the project.  
George Anderson, principal of Redlands High School, opened the schools doors to the 
police department and was more than willing to provide any assistance he could with the 
evaluation.  We would like to thank Mike Snellings, who paved the way for data 
collection efforts within the school district.  While there can be many difficulties with 
such endeavors, he was always thinking of creative ways to accomplish various goals.  
Marvin Creech also provided valuable assistance with regard to the facilitation of data 
collection at the schools.



Table of Contents

Introduction 1
The Settingn 3
Police Department Background 4
School District Background 7
The Redlands California School-Based Partnership Project 10
Research Design 11
Sources of Process Data 14
Sources of Impact Data 16
Findings-Implementation 22
Scanning Phase 22
Analysis Phase 24
Response Phase 33
Assessment Phase 44
Findings-Impact 47
Gang Conflict 47
Student Fears and Concerns 47
Student Behavior 55
Calls for Service 59
Summary and Conclusions 63
Recommendations 67
References 70
Appendix A-Redlands Project Contact Card 71
Appendix B-Redlands School Survey 72


PART ONE:
INTRODUCTION

In the late 1990s, violence, drugs, and gangs within schools became a major subject of 
interest among residents, public officials, and law enforcement officers.  This was largely 
a consequence of the school shootings in Jonesboro, Arkansas, West Paducah, Kentucky, 
and Littleton, Colorado.  However, concern about school safety was also fueled by 
increased recognition that school crime is not a rare event.  For example, among 12-18 
year old students in 1998 roughly 1.2 million students were the victims of a violent crime 
and 2.8 million students were the victims of a theft while at school.  School crime was 
not limited to students.  In 1998, about 133,700 violent crimes and 217,400 thefts were 
committed against teachers.  Several consequences have resulted from the increased 
criminal activities taking place within the nations schools.  For example, roughly 7 
percent of students nation-wide take a weapon to school at least once a month, many for 
protection, putting themselves and others at-risk.  Similarly, these behavior problems 
have led to increased classroom disruptions (Small and Tetrick, 2001), increased school 
absences (Toby, 1995), and increased fear of crime while in school (Kenney and Watson, 
1999).  As a result, several policymakers have called for swift action to address school 
related crime and disorder.

One increasingly popular response has been the implementation of school-based problem 
solving.  In 1998, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) funded 
the School-Based Partnerships (SBP) program, which encouraged local police agencies to 
work with their local schools to engage in proactive problem-oriented policing to keep 
school aged youth safe from violence, crime, and disorder.  In 1998 and 1999 over 355 
local police agencies received about $32 million under this program (Uchida, 1999: 1).  
Agencies involved in the program were required to use problem solving strategies to 
identify and understand the causes of problems, apply data-driven responses, and 
evaluate the impact of their efforts.  To ensure that projects were manageable agencies 
were asked to concentrate their efforts on one school in their jurisdiction and focus their 
response to one problem type (i.e., bullying, drugs, assault, theft etc.) (Varano and 
Bezdikian, 2001).

Through a cooperative agreement with the COPS Office, 21st Century Solutions, Inc. 
conducted the national assessment of the School-Based Partnership (SBP) program.  As 
part of this evaluation five police agencies were selected for intensive case study.  This 
research report focuses on one of these sites  Redlands, California.  In this report we 
describe the problem solving processes used by the Redlands Police Department to 
identify and respond to school-based problems, and evaluate the effectiveness of the 
strategy.


PART TWO: 
THE SETTING

Redlands, California is located in the Southwestern part of the state in San Bernardino 
County.  It is located approximately 60 miles northeast of Los Angles and 45 miles west 
of Palm Springs.  The City of Redlands has grown substantially over the past 20 years.  
In 2000, the citys population was 63,591, compared to 43,619 in 1980, about a 46% 
increase.  Geographically, Redlands is moderately sized, with a land area of 35.5 square 
miles (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001).  The citys economic activity centers around 
agriculture, manufacturing, retail sales, and service industries.  Approximately 62 percent 
of the population is White, 17 percent is Hispanic, five percent is Asian, four percent is 
African American, two percent is Native American, and 10 percent is classified as other.  
The unemployment rate in Redlands is low (3%), and a relatively large number of its 
residents rent their residences versus owning them (59.3% rent, 40.7% own).

The crime rate in Redlands (34.4 per 1,000 residents) is lower than both the national 
average (43.4 per 1,000 residents) and the state average (38.5 per 1,000 residents).  While 
gangs exist in Redlands, the magnitude of the problem is relatively small when compared 
to other cities across the country.  Currently, 318 gang members have been documented 
by the police department.  Gang members in the city belong to one of four gangs: Barrio 
Redlands (n=115), Colonial 13 (n=65), Red Zone (n=44), and North Side Redlands 
(n=94).  The police department recorded 13 drive-by shootings and 13 gang-related 
crimes in 2000, 1 drive-by shooting and 13 gang-related crimes in 2001, and 2 drive-by 
shootings and 2 gang-related crimes from January through June 2002.

POLICE DEPARTMENT BACKGROUND
The Redlands Police Department employs 152 people, of which 80 are sworn officers.  
The police administration includes a Chief of Police, Deputy Chief, a Field Services 
Captain, four Lieutenants, nine Sergeants, and 17 Corporals.  The agency is comprised of 
two divisions: the Field Services Division and the Community Services Division.  The 
Field Services Division includes functions more traditionally associated with a police 
agency such as patrol, investigations, and community policing.  The Community Services 
Division includes functions that are typically found within other divisions of city 
government.  In particular, the Division is responsible for public housing, recreation, 
animal control, training, and records.  Of the 80 sworn officers employed by the Redlands 
Police Department 89 percent are male and 11 percent are female.  In terms of 
race/ethnicity, 76 percent are white, 19 percent are Hispanic, four percent are African 
American, and one percent is classified as other.

In 1993, the police department began to experiment with community policing.  At this 
time, community policing was largely restricted to a single community policing unit.  
This strategy, the police department believed, was unsuccessful because the community 
policing officers assigned to the unit were isolated from others in the department, which 
made it difficult for the unit to engage in more sophisticated forms of community 
interaction and problem solving.  As a result, in 1997, under Chief Jim Bueermann, the 
police department began to implement risk focused policing.  Risk focused policing, 
according to the department, is a data and results-driven, community-oriented policing 
and problem solving strategy which focuses on those factors in a community which 
places its youth and their families most at risk for criminal and other problem behaviors 
(http://www.ci.redlands.ca.us/207.html).  

As part of the departments risk focused policing strategy, it has increased its analytical 
capability to identify crime and risk factors in the community.  First, it strengthened its 
analytical infrastructure to assist in the identification of crime and risk factors.  Second, 
the department established a community analysis center where residents are provided 
with maps and other information related to crime and risk factors in their neighborhood.  
Third, it conducted a number of student surveys in the local school district to analyze and 
map the location of risk factors associated with youth in the community.  The analysis 
conducted as part of the departments risk focused policing efforts has been used to 
mobilize department and community resources to address community domain risks in 
targeted areas.  

For example, over the past several years the agency has converted over 300 properties 
from renter to owner occupied dwellings or rehabilitated housing to reduce residential 
mobility and physical disorder in the community.  The department has also assigned 
police officers to a local drug court.  This resulted in a 70 percent increase in referrals, a 
3.6 percent drop in recidivism, and a 7 percent increase in program retention.  
Additionally, the police department also increased its level of youth supervision in high-
risk areas.  In particular, the police department increased its mobile recreation efforts, 
serving over 5,000 youth a year, and its after-school program, which serves over 1,000 
children a year.

As part of Redlands commitment to risk focused policing the department has also 
enacted a number of organizational changes.  First, to further its capacity to prevent 
crime, the city merged its recreation, housing, and senior services with the police 
department.  It was believed that greater interaction with the public through positive 
prevention-oriented contacts would help reduce risk factors and increase protective 
factors that might not otherwise be available to individuals.  Second, the department 
opened three community policing sub-stations.  Each sub-station was staffed with a 
sergeant, corporal, and civilian who are responsible for assisting residents in completing 
crime reports, providing them with requested information, and hosting community 
meetings.  Corporals assigned to substations are also responsible for coordinating 
community policing activities, and are responsible for providing long term solutions to 
quality of life problems within their beat.  In the past these officers have engaged in such 
activities as neighborhood cleanups, liaison with landlord/tenant groups, and solving 
neighborhood problems relating to crime, traffic, disorder.  

The third major organizational change was the creation of the civilian Community 
Service Officer (CSO) position.  Currently, the department employs six civilian CSOs.  
Most of the CSOs are assigned to the Patrol Services Bureau.  Their primary function is 
to respond to non-emergency calls for service and to write reports.  For example, they 
often take reports involving burglaries, vandalism, auto thefts, runaway children, and 
other incidents where the suspect is not present.  In addition, CSOs are responsible for 
processing crime scenes and collecting evidence.  In 1997, CSOs handled 2,783 calls for 
service and took 11 percent of all reports (1,281 out of 11,667). 

The agency is also engaged in several partnerships with the community.  For example, 
the police department is part of the neighborhood improvement team, which contains 
representatives from police, fire, code enforcement, building safety, and public works 
departments.  The neighborhood improvement team meets monthly to identify quality of 
life problems within the city and coordinate responses to these problems.  Additionally, 
in an effort to increase the connectedness with the community the police department 
established a civilian volunteer program.  The 120 volunteers perform vacation house 
checks, after-hours commercial patrols, random preventative patrol in marked vehicles, 
and a variety of clerical duties.  The police department also created the Value-Based 
Initiative, which established a formal relationship between the police department and the 
faith community.  This initiative focuses on bringing resources forward from both 
organizations to provide intervention programs aimed at troubled youth.

SCHOOL DISTRICT BACKGROUND
Redlands Unified School District encompasses 147 square miles and serves the 
communities of Redlands, Loma Linda, Mentone, Forest Falls, and portions of San 
Bernardino and Highland.  The District is comprised of 14 elementary schools, three 
junior high schools, two high schools, and two alternative schools.  These schools on 
average spend about $4,887 per student.  The District is staffed with 739 teachers, 18 
school counselors, three librarians, and nine psychologists.  While about 39 percent of the 
teachers have a Masters degree, six percent are teaching with temporary certificates.  
Redlands Unified School District serves about 20,000 students.  About 46 percent of 
these students are White, 33 percent are Hispanic, eight percent are African American 
and 13 percent are classified as other.  About 40 percent of the students in the district 
receive free or reduced-price meals and 17.5 percent of District residents receive public 
assistance.  In terms of academic performance, standardized test scores show that the 
district is about average (45th percentile) when compared to other school districts with 
similar demographics.  However, the school district surpasses the national average in 
terms of the proportion of students enrolled in advanced placement courses, and the drop 
out rate for the district is half that of the national average (8.9% versus 18%).  About 18 
percent of students in the school district have limited English proficiency and 11 percent 
of students are retained in kindergarten.  

In the 1998-1999 school year, state collected school crime data indicated that Redlands 
Unified School District had a less serious crime problem when compared to other Unified 
School Districts across the state.  For example, Redlands Unified School District had half 
the rate of assaults with a deadly weapon, robbery/extortions, and sex offenses, and had 
about two-thirds the rate of property crimes when compared to other school districts.  
Redlands Unified School District, however, did report almost twice as many 
drug/alcohol, batteries, and possession of weapon offenses as did other Unified School 
Districts across the state during this period.  

Student self-report data collected in 1999 by the state similarly indicated that the school 
district was relatively safe compared to other school districts in California.  For example, 
about 90 percent of students in the Redlands Unified School District reported feeling safe 
while at school, compared to 70 percent in school districts across the state.  Similarly, 
students in Redlands were 33 percent less likely to report being involved in a physical 
fight, were half as likely to report carrying a weapon, and were about 25 percent as likely 
to report belonging to a gang when compared to those students outside Redlands 
(California Department of Education, 1999).  

The school district and the police department have a strong relationship with one another.  
There are several formal partnerships between the school district and the police 
department.  One example is the Police/School Liaison program, which includes police 
officials and members from the Redlands Unified School District and the San Bernardino 
County Juvenile Probation Department.  Police/School Liaison program participants meet 
once a month to identify and respond to crime problems within the local schools.  The 
school district has also formally involved the police department in its Cops and Jocks 
program.  This program involves volunteers from the police department who partner with 
local school athletes, and their coaches, in an effort to strengthen the relationship between 
youth, their schools, and the police department.  Additionally, the police department has 
assigned four police officers to serve as school resource officers in all three of the 
districts middle schools, one of the districts high schools, and one of its alternative 
schools.  These officers are responsible for responding to criminal activity within the 
school and also serve as the schools D.A.R.E. officer.

The Redlands Unified School District and the Redlands Police Department work 
together, informally, on several projects, committees, and city-wide initiatives.  For 
example, as part of the police departments risk focused policing initiative the school 
district provided the police department with official school data and self-report survey 
data collected from a random sample of students in the school district.  School officials 
have also worked with the police on community policing initiatives, problem solving 
projects, and truancy-related problems.  In sum, school administrators and police officials 
claim that the working relationship between the two agencies is close and believe that it 
has been beneficial and productive.


PART THREE: 
THE REDLANDS CALIFORNIA SCHOOL-BASED PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

In August 1999, the Redlands Police Department was awarded funding from the 
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) SchoolBased Partnership grant 
program.  This program was established to encourage police agencies to collaborate with 
local schools to address crime and disorder problems in and around schools.  The school-
based partnership program is based on the problem solving model SARA (Scanning, 
Analysis, Response, and Assessment), which is widely used in community-oriented 
policing.  

The Redlands project was funded to address disputes between two gangs in one of its 
high schools (Redlands Senior High).  Although the disputes had become a serious 
problem, and there had been many attempts to use traditional policing strategies to 
address the problem, there had been no systematic attempt to analyze the nature and 
scope of the problem until 1999, when the police department received funding to perform 
an in depth analysis of the problem from the COPS office.  As part of the problem 
solving project, the Redlands Police Department developed three responses to the 
disputes focused on mentoring gang members, providing a cultural awareness course to 
students at Redlands High School, and establishing a parental skills class for parents of 
Redlands High School students.

In this report we examine the effectiveness of the school-based partnership project using 
both process and impact measures.  Process measures were used to document 
programmatic processes and describe and assess the content and dosage of program 
interventions.  Impact measures were used to examine the effect of the problem-solving 
project on the perceptions and behavior of students at Redlands High School and on inter-
gang conflict between Barrio Redlands and Colonial 13, the two gangs at the center of the 
dispute in the school.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The present study used a nonequivalent comparison group, pretest-posttest research 
design.  Redlands Senior High served as the school targeted for intervention and 
Redlands East Valley served as the comparison school.  It should be noted that the 
selection of a comparison school was necessarily constrained by the research site.  
Namely, the only other four-year traditional high school in Redlands Unified School 
District was Redlands East Valley (REV) High School.  As such, Redlands East Valley 
was selected as the comparison site for the purposes of this evaluation.  

As seen in Exhibit 1, both schools are roughly the same size.  Redlands Senior High has 
approximately 2,800 students and Redlands East Valley has about 3,000 students.  In 
terms of racial/ethnic composition Redlands Senior High is 48 percent white, 24.6 
percent Hispanic, and 27.4 percent other.  Redlands East Valley is fairly similar with 55 
percent of the students being white, 29 percent being Hispanic, and 16 percent being 
other.  The most substantial differences between the two schools related to the proportion 
of English learners and the number of students receiving free and reduced meals.  In 
particular, Redlands Senior High has about twice the number of English learners as 
Redlands East Valley and 33 percent more students receiving free and reduced meals.


Exhibit 1. Redlands High School and Redlands East Valley High School 
Demographic Comparisons 2000-2001
Total Students
Redlands Senior High 2,826
Redlands East Valley 2,990

Race/Ethnicity

Caucasian
Redlands Senior High 48.0%
Redlands East Valley 55.0%

Hispanic
Redlands Senior High 24.6%
Redlands East Valley 29.0%

Other
Redlands Senior High 27.4%
Redlands East Valley 16.0%

English Learners
Redlands Senior High 11.7%
Redlands East Valley 6.1%

Free & Reduced Meals
Redlands Senior High 30.5%
Redlands East Valley 20.3%




Academic comparisons show the two schools to be fairly comparable.  However, 
Redlands Senior High School students performed slightly better on the statewide 
Academic Performance Index and the SAT-9.  Additionally, a greater proportion of 
Redlands Senior High students passed the California High School Exit Exam compared 
to Redlands East Valley students.  There were also few differences between the two 
schools in terms of disciplinary performance.  Both schools certified attendance rate was 
high, and both had dropout rates below five percent.  While both schools had similar rates 
of expulsion, Redlands East Valley reported nearly twice the number of suspensions as 
Redlands Senior High.

Exhibit 2. Redlands High School and Redlands East Valley High School Academic 
and Disciplinary Comparisons 2000-2001
Academic Performance

Academic Performance Index
Redlands Senior High 711
Redlands East Valley 702


11th Grade SAT-9 Results

Reading
Redlands Senior High 52
Redlands East Valley 51

Math 
Redlands Senior High 65
Redlands East Valley 60

Language
Redlands Senior High 60
Redlands East Valley 56

Percent of Students Passing California High 
School Exit Exam
Redlands Senior High 82
Redlands East Valley 77


Disciplinary Performance

Certified Attendance Rate
Redlands Senior High 94.09%
Redlands East Valley 97.0%

Four-year Dropout Rate
Redlands Senior High 4.5%
Redlands East Valley 3.3%

Suspensions per 100 students
Redlands Senior High 7.54
Redlands East Valley 16.55

Expulsions per 100 students
Redlands Senior High .50
Redlands East Valley .47


Both schools are also very similar in terms of staffing.  Redlands Senior High and 
Redlands East Valley each have 5 administrators and about 110 full-time equivalent 
teachers.  Redlands Senior High, however, is staffed with 25 percent more classified staff 
(65 staff versus 50 staff).  The pupil to teacher ratio is about 25 to 1 at Redlands Senior 
High and about 28 to 1 at Redlands East Valley.  The educational attainment of teachers 
at both schools is about the same, with about 83 percent of teachers having earned a 
masters degree or higher.  Additionally, teachers at both schools have about the same 
amount of teaching experience.  Both schools are also staffed with a number of security 
officers.  Redlands Senior High is staffed with eight security officers and Redlands East 
Valley is staffed with seven security officers.

Exhibit 3. Redlands High School and Redlands East Valley High School Teachers 
and Staff 2000-2001

Administrators (FTE)
Redlands Senior High 5
Redlands East Valley 5

Teachers (FTE)
Redlands Senior High 112.6
Redlands East Valley 107.6

Classified Staff
Redlands Senior High 65
Redlands East Valley 50

Pupil Teacher ratio
Redlands Senior High 25.1
Redlands East Valley 27.8

Degrees Earned by Teaching Staff

Bachelors Degree
Redlands Senior High 17.2
Redlands East Valley 17.6

Masters Degree or Higher
Redlands Senior High 82.8
Redlands East Valley 82.4

Avg. Years of Educational Service
Redlands Senior High 17.1
Redlands East Valley 16.0

Size of Security Staff
Redlands Senior High 8
Redlands East Valley 7


SOURCES OF PROCESS DATA
One of the major goals of this project was to learn more about how agencies implement 
problem-solving strategies to address school-related crime problems.  If the project is to 
be replicated in other communities, it is essential that a rich description of the 
implementation process be documented.  This allows other communities to understand 
how project plans are conceived and developed.  Further, it allows others to understand 
how project plans and objectives are translated into an operational strategy.  

Another major goal of the project was to measure the content and dosage of the program 
intervention to know that the intervention had been fully carried out.  Without activities 
being carried out it cannot be stated for sure that the success or failure of the program can 
be attributed to the intervention (Mohr, 1995).  Another reason for describing and 
measuring the intervention is that treatments can be administered in an uncontrolled and 
unstandardized manner.  This in turn can result in the project having varying impacts on 
different populations.  Thus, it is important to measure the dosage of an intervention to 
fully understand its impact.  Lastly, program failure is often the consequence of the 
wrong treatment being administered.  Describing the qualities (and quantity) of an 
intervention can help the researchers understand the impact of the intervention (Rossi et 
al., 1979).  

As part of the process evaluation for this project, staff administering the intervention 
documented all contact with participants and documented the nature and scope of the 
intervention.  In total four sources of process data were collected for the present study: 1) 
interviews with key personnel, 2) mentor contact data, 3) cultural awareness exposure 
data, and 4) parental skills course exposure data.

Interviews were conducted with police and school officials who participated in the 
project.  These interviews focused on the relationship between the school and the police 
department, their impressions of the scanning, analysis, and response phases, and their 
perceptions of obstacles that arose in the field.  Evaluators particularly focused on the 
police and school officials perceptions of the response and their perceptions of the 
effectiveness of the response.  In addition to the interviews, several on-site observations 
were conducted during the scanning and assessment phase, and during the planning of the 
response.  Additional site visits were made during the response and assessment phases to 
examine the nature of the response and to cross validate the findings of this report.

A mentor contact sheet was developed to collect data on the extent and nature of contacts 
between the mentors and mentees.  Specifically, data were collected on the number of 
contacts between the mentor and mentee, the length of time of the contact, the location of 
the contact, and the issues addressed during the contact.  In addition, the mentors were 
asked to record any special event that may have occurred in the youths life or special 
effort that was made by the mentor.  These data were recorded by the mentor after each 
contact and were forwarded to the project coordinator (See Appendix A).

The school resource officer (SRO) at Redlands Senior High provided data on the students 
who were present for the cultural awareness course.  He also collected data pertaining to 
the students gender and grade level.  This data was captured from the schools computer 
system.  Copies of the lecture notes were collected to analyze the content of the course.  

The officer responsible for teaching the parenting skills class collected process data for 
the project.  The officer collected data pertaining to the name of the parent enrolled in the 
course, whether the parent completed the course, and whether the parent had a child 
enrolled at Redlands Senior High.  Data pertaining to course content, lecture notes used 
by the officer teaching the course, and work assignments used for the class were 
collected.

SOURCES OF IMPACT DATA
Another major goal of the evaluation was to identify short and long-term program effects.  
Impact evaluations are used to identify changes that have occurred in an effort to 
understand whether the change is a consequence of the program.  Here, we were not only 
interested in direct program effects, but we were also interested in indirect program 
effects.  In other words, we were not only interested in determining whether the 
intervention had an impact on the dispute between Barrio Redlands and Colonial 13, and 
between other Hispanic students at the school, but we were also interested in identifying 
any unanticipated consequences as a result of the intervention (e.g., crime type 
displacement, reduction in fear of crime, etc.).  As such, official police data, official 
school data, and student survey data were collected for the present study in order to 
examine the impact of the program.

Official Police Data
To examine the impact of the problem solving project on student behavior, we used calls 
for service (CFS) data obtained from the RPD crime analysis unit.  These data are 
routinely collected by the police department to monitor the amount and type of activity 
that citizens request of the police.  CFS data were collected from three locations.  First, 
all CFS to Redlands Senior High were gathered.  Second, since many school-related 
problems occur just off campus, CFS from within the  mile perimeter of the school 
were utilized.  Third, students are known to spend time in two different parks near 
Redlands Senior High.  Thus, CFS for Sylvan Park including its  mile perimeter and the 
Community Ballpark with its  mile perimeter were collected.  Since the perimeters of 
the school and Sylvan Park overlap considerably they were combined for analytical 
purposes.  The CFS data were collected from September 5, 2000 through June 14, 2002 
for a total of 647 days.  This includes data for a period of 403 days preceding the 
intervention and 90 days following the intervention.  

In addition to CFS data, official police gang data were also obtained from the crime 
analysis unit.  At the time of the study there were approximately 318 documented gang 
members.  The crime analysis unit provided us with field interview, citation, event, and 
arrest data for those individuals who had been identified as gang members between 
August 1, 2000 and June 15, 2002.  These data included individual information pertaining 
to their gang affiliation, ethnicity, gender, and age.  Of the 165 gang members who came 
into contact with the Redlands Police Department, seven were affiliated with the Colonial 
13 and 47 were affiliated with Barrio Redlands.

Official School Data
Three types of official school data were obtained to examine the impact of the project on 
student behavior.  The Redlands Unified School Districts research office provided data 
for both Redlands Senior High and Redlands East Valley.  First, background data on the 
students ethnicity, age, grade, and gender were collected.  Second, student behavior data 
such as attendance, detentions, suspensions, and expulsions were collected.  The official 
school data were collected from the beginning of the 2000-01 school year through the end 
of the 2001-02 school year.  Though the intervention took place during the 2001-02 
school year, data from the previous year can support the analysis by providing an 
additional baseline measure.    

Student Survey Data
To examine the impact of the project on student perceptions and behavior, student survey 
data were used. A pre-intervention survey was administered in early October 2001 to 
determine the perceptions and behavior of the students prior to the intervention and a 
post-intervention survey was administered in early June 2002 to examine changes in 
perceptions and behavior of the students after the intervention.  The survey included 18 
questions pertaining to demographics, victimizations, fear of crime, culture conflict, and 
perceptions and observations of gang activity (See Appendix B).  

In terms of survey methodology, the pre-intervention survey was administered at the 
same time that the school district was administering the California Healthy Kids Survey, 
a survey that is conducted yearly by the California Department of Education.  The school 
district suggested this strategy because it would save teachers classroom time.  As such, 
we used the same sampling strategy as required by the state for their survey  namely, 
that the survey was randomly administered to 9th and 11th graders at both Redlands Senior 
High and Redlands East Valley.  The sampling strategy used for the post-intervention 
survey was somewhat different than the pre-intervention survey in that instead of being 
randomly administered to all 9th and 11th graders the survey was administered to all 9th 
and 11th grade students enrolled in English classes.   School staff administered both 
surveys and all students were told that participation in the study was voluntary and 
responses would be kept confidential.  

As seen in Exhibit 4, the pre-intervention survey was completed by 24 percent of eligible 
students at Redlands Senior High (345 out of 1,449 eligible students) and 45 percent of 
eligible students at Redlands East Valley (728 out of 1,607 eligible students).  The post-
intervention survey was completed by 29 percent of eligible students at Redlands Senior 
High and 38 percent of eligible students at Redlands East Valley.  Data from the pre-
intervention survey show that samples from both schools are very similar in terms of age, 
gender, ethnicity, and grade.  The only significant difference between the schools is that a 
slightly higher proportion of Asians completed the survey at Redlands Senior High.  

Examination of the post-intervention data, however, showed that there were differences 
between the pre and post-test samples.  As in the pre-intervention survey, a higher 
proportion of Asians completed the survey at Redlands Senior High.  In addition, we 
found significant differences for our measures of age and grade at the two points in time.  
While the difference in age can be explained by the natural maturation of the sample, the 
difference in grade is a consequence of the non-random sampling strategy that was used 
in administering the post-intervention survey.  Since it is likely that student perceptions 
and behavior are related to grade in school the data were weighted to reflect the overall 
distribution of students by grade observed in the data (53.6% 9th graders and 46.4% 11th 
graders).  After weighting the data the distribution across grades was identical across both 
surveys and both schools.



Exhibit 4. Demographic Statistics by School and Survey (All Students, unweighted)
 
Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
 
Pre
(n=345)
Post
(n=425)
Pre
(n=728)
Post
(n=603)






%
%
%
%
Age T,C




13 or younger
5.8

4.3
.5
14
49.3
13.0
47.5
16.6
15
10.7
22.2
12.0
31.6
16
28.4
24.1
30.9
18.9
17
5.5
39.2
5.4
30.7
18 or older
.3
1.7

1.7





Gender




Female
60.9
54.2
55.7
53.3
Male
39.1
45.8
44.3
46.7





Race/Ethnicity




American Indian
.3
1.4
1.3
1.9
Native Hawaiian/Pacific 
Islander
1.3
1.4
.9
.5
Asian/Asian-American
17.2
16.8
7.5
7.1
Black/African-American
5.0
7.0
7.1
10.5
Hispanic
20.2
21.2
25.1
22.6
White
49.0
45.7
50.5
51.3
Other
7.0
6.5
7.7
6.0





Grade T,C




9th
63.8
37.6
60.6
50.6
11th
36.2
62.4
39.4
49.4
NOTE: Chi-square tests for significance, a=.05, T represents Target school, C represents 
Comparison school


Interview Data
Formal and informal interviews were used to supplement the police, school, and student 
data.  On the initial site visit ten individuals were formally interviewed.  Individuals 
interviewed included police administrators, school officials, project managers and 
supervisors, student representatives, school resources officers, and security personnel.  
These individuals were interviewed on matters concerning the city and police department, 
the primary issues facing the school, the local political environment, data issues, 
community policing, and community partnerships.  

Approximately five follow up site visits were conducted between January 2001 and July 
2002.  During these site visits several informal interviews took place with the project 
staff, school resource officers, school officials, and gang unit officers.  These interviews 
typically involved discussions concerning the progress of the project, the nature of the 
gang problem, and various issues facing the school.  

The final site visit took place on August 7, 2002.  At this time a focus group session was 
held with 11 individuals who participated in the project  two school resource officers, 
two gang unit officers, two instructors of the parenting course, the field commander, and 
five mentors  all of whom were sworn officers in the police department.  School 
officials and the local evaluator were unable to attend.  Participants attending the focus 
group were asked questions pertaining to: 1) the perceived impact of the project; 2) the 
perceived effects of the project on the police and school; 3) the perceived effects of the 
project on crime and school behavior, and 4) problems the officers encountered during 
the project.  All of those that attended the focus group were also asked to fill out a brief 
survey about their perceptions of the project.


PART FOUR: 
FINDINGS  IMPLEMENTATION

As stated above, as part of the process evaluation we collected: 1) mentor contact data, 2) 
cultural awareness exposure data, and 3) parental skills course exposure data.  We also 
conducted interviews with key police and school personnel to further understand the 
processes that took place during the course of the project.  In the section below, we 
discuss the implementation of the Redlands School-Based Partnership in terms of the 
stages of the SARA problem solving model.

SCANNING PHASE
In 1997, the Field Services Captain in the Redlands Police Department identified a trend 
in youth violence in the city.  In particular, an increasing number of police reports 
detailing verbal and physical disputes between Hispanic youth were coming from 
Redlands High School and from areas surrounding the school before and after school 
hours.  The crime reports indicated that fights were taking place at school almost every 
day, and on a number of occasions fights involving upwards of 60 or more Hispanic 
youth were taking place immediately after school.  

The administrator interviewed gang unit officers, detectives, division staff, and school 
officials to further examine the scope and nature of the problem.  As a result of his 
examination he found that members of Barrio Redlands, who are primarily Mexican-
American youth, were insulting Mexican National students about their clothing, speech, 
and family heritage.  He found that the insults by the gang members eventually lead to 
full blown bullying, fist fights, and verbal abuse focusing on the Mexican National 
students ethnic background.  For protection, the Mexican National students created their 
own gang (Colonial 13), and have since been feuding with Barrio Redlands.  

The dispute between the two gangs grew significantly.  An analysis of calls for service by 
the Field Services Captain showed that there were 200 incidents involving disputes 
between Barrio Redlands and Colonial 13 in 1998.  Additionally, the violence and 
intimidation between the two gangs spilled into the student population, resulting in 
heightened fear and residual crime and disorder among the general student population.  
Much of this was the result of gang recruiting in the school, where each gang was 
attempting to increase their physical superiority over the other.

At the same time, the Field Services Captain attended the California POST Command 
Colleges Executive Leadership Institute.  As part of his course work, he wrote a detailed 
paper on violence between Mexican Nationals and Mexican-Americans in American 
cities (Fitzmaurice, 1998).  He selected this topic because of his interest in further 
analyzing and understanding the nature of the conflict in Redlands, California.  He 
explained that while the paper focused on the nature of violence between Mexican 
Nationals and Mexican-Americans in general, and did not specifically focus on Redlands 
problem, it did provide him with a thorough understanding of the literature that has 
examined this issue in the past.

In late 1998 and early 1999 a number of community meetings were held by the police 
department, in collaboration with school personnel and Hispanic advocacy groups.  The 
meetings primarily focused on parent and community member concern about the dispute 
between the two gangs, and their concern that the problem was escalating.  Parents and 
community members both called on the police department and school to do something 
about the problem.  These meetings with the community were followed by meetings with 
members from both gangs.  Two meetings, one with members of Barrio Redlands, and 
the other with members of Colonial 13, were held to examine the issue from the 
perspective of each gang.  A third meeting was held at the school with members of both 
gangs and members from a local Hispanic advocacy group, to try to reach a truce 
between the two gangs, which did not materialize. 

In early 1999, the police department learned that the COPS office announced the 
solicitation for the school-based partnership grant program.   Because the department had 
already identified a substantial problem within the school district officials in the 
department decided to apply for the funding to further analyze the dispute between the 
two Hispanic gangs at Redlands High School.  

As such, the primary problem identified for the purpose of this problem solving project 
was on disputes between a Mexican National gang, Colonial 13, and a Mexican-
American gang, Barrio Redlands.  Interviews, focus groups, and official police and 
school data indicated that the culture conflict between the two gangs was resulting in 
taunting, bulling, physical assaults, and assaults with weapons.  The scanning also 
showed that third-party persons (students) at school were being affected by the problem 
in the form of classroom disruptions, disorder, fear of crime, and pressure to join one of 
the two gangs.

ANALYSIS PHASE
On August 20, 1999 Redlands Police Department was formally awarded a grant from the 
COPS office to perform scanning and analysis on the dispute as part of the School-Based 
Partnership program.  Once funded, the analysis phase of the project began with the 
selection of a civilian project coordinator.  The coordinator would be responsible, on a 
full-time basis, for the coordination of the project and would be required to perform all 
necessary analysis.  Upon being hired in March 2000 the coordinator made the decision 
to involve students and teachers in the analysis phase of the project in the hopes that the 
students within the school would take ownership of the problem and play a role in 
formulating a response to the problem.  As such, the program coordinator hired eight high 
school students who lived in Redlands, attended Redlands Senior High, and were familiar 
with the conflict among Hispanics in the school.  The program coordinator also selected a 
teacher facilitator who would coordinate all of the work being conducted at the high 
school and would facilitate communication between the students and the school 
administration.

The program coordinator informed all of the students about the scanning phase of the 
project and explained the history of the problem between the two groups from the 
perspective of the police department and school district.  He then informed the students 
of the purpose of the study that was to be conducted.  In particular, the project 
coordinator articulated that their analysis project had five goals:
1) Identify risk factors and determine their correlation to specific domains such 
as family, school, community, neighborhood, and peers.
2) Identify protective factors that are present in the environment of teens that 
have successfully avoided the conflict.
3) Determine if alcohol, drugs, or other substances play a role in the violence.
4) Determine the age or year in school that identifiable risk factors begin to 
affect violent behavior.
5) Collect usable data that could be used to construct a response to the 
problem. (Arias, 2001: 2).

After the coordinator defined the goals of the project, he tasked the students with a 
project to develop a student survey questionnaire, which would later be used to further 
examine the scope and nature of the dispute between the two gangs.  The student group 
met weekly for two months to construct the survey instrument.  After the students 
developed a preliminary draft, the instrument was reviewed by police administrators, 
community leaders, and the local evaluator for suggestions.  The final instrument 
contained 44 questions pertaining to: 1) the respondents socio-demographic background, 
2) knowledge about the conflict between foreign born Hispanics and U.S. born Hispanics 
in the school and community, 3) perceptions about the conflict between foreign born 
Hispanics and U.S. born Hispanics, and 4) suggestions for solutions to the conflict 
between foreign born Hispanics and U.S. born Hispanics.  The final version of the survey 
instrument was given to a local consultant, who was hired to develop a database that 
would be used to collect and store the data.

Students involved in the project believed that the most accurate and reliable information 
about the problem would come from Hispanic school aged youth.  As a consequence, 
they chose two convenience-based sampling strategies to collect the survey data, with 
the students being responsible for data collection.  First, surveys were administered to 
Hispanic students at Redlands High School.  The principal of the school provided the 
names of all Hispanic students in the school, who were subsequently asked if they would 
like to participate in the study.  Students were told that the study was being conducted by 
both the Redlands Police Department and Redlands High School.  All students were told 
that their participation was voluntary and all information provided would remain 
confidential and only be used for the study.  Interested students were required to obtain 
parental permission prior to participating in the study.

Second, the students set up a booth at the Market Night Festival that takes place every 
Thursday night in the city.  Market Night is an event that allows city residents to set up 
their own booth to sell goods.  The weekly event is heavily attended by both adults and 
school aged youth, and is considered a favorite social event in the city.  The students used 
laptop computers that were purchased from the grant to complete all of the surveys.  

By the end of the analysis phase (April 5, 2001) 300 individuals had participated in the 
survey.  About 38 percent identified themselves as Mexican-American, 34 percent as 
Mexican, 17 percent as Hispanic/Latino/a, 7 percent as Chicano/a, and 3.9 percent as 
other.  Roughly 60 percent of the total sample was male.  Twenty-eight percent were 
between the ages of 12 and 15, 68 percent were between the ages of 15 and 18, and 3 
percent were between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. 

The project coordinator constructed a report that listed all of the questions and presented 
the answers given by the respondents (using frequencies and percentages).  The findings 
primarily focused on three issues: familiarity with the conflict, perceived causes of the 
conflict, and risk factors perceived to be associated with the conflict.  Below is a 
summary of the findings.

Familiarity with the Conflict
All respondents were asked if they thought that there is a conflict between Foreign born 
Hispanics and U.S. born Hispanics.  Roughly 75 percent of respondents indicated that 
they were aware of the conflict.  The respondents were also asked if they claimed 
association with one of the two groups.  About a third of respondents indicated that they 
associated with one of the two groups  with 10 percent claiming that they associated 
with the group of foreign-born Hispanics, and about 21 percent claiming that they 
associated with the group of U.S. born Hispanics.  As such, the analysis revealed that 
there was a high degree of awareness of the problem among the respondents and many of 
the respondents had first hand knowledge of the conflict.

Perceived Causes of the Conflict
The respondents were asked questions about the cause of the conflict.  The respondents 
cited two major causes.  In particular, about 25 percent of the respondents believed that 
the conflict was the result of disputes over territory and about 15 percent believed that the 
conflict was the result of lack of respect between the two groups.  Respondents were also 
asked why they thought that the conflicts between the groups turn violent or physical.  
About 42 percent said that it was to show who is in power/control.  Another 19 percent 
said that the violence was the consequence of peer pressure.

Risk Factors Perceived to be Associated with the Conflict
Respondents were asked questions about risk factors associated with the violence 
between the two groups.  Over two-thirds of the respondents indicted that they believed 
that the violence was related to the easy availability of weapons, drug problems, and 
delinquent peer networks.  Over 89 percent of respondents also believed that children 
who see violence at home are more likely to become violent themselves and about one-
third of the respondents believed that misbehavior at school plays a role in the violence 
between the two groups.

In addition to asking questions about the respondents perception of risk factors 
associated with the conflict, the student interviewers also asked the respondents questions 
about risk factors that might be impacting their own lives.  They found that 39 percent of 
respondents perceived their neighborhood to be safe, 19 percent perceived it to be boring, 
and 8 percent perceived it to be peaceful.  On the other hand, 10 percent of respondents 
indicated that their neighborhood was dangerous and 4 percent indicated that it was 
violent.  Roughly 33 percent of the respondents stated that they would like to live in 
another neighborhood.

Conclusions Reached from Analysis
After reviewing the data, the coordinator and students determined that there were a 
number of risk factors associated with the Hispanics they interviewed.  Specifically, they 
argued that risk factors such as, availability of drugs and guns, low neighborhood 
attachment, family conflict and conflict management problems, lack of commitment 
toward school, favorable attitudes towards problem behavior, were all present in the lives 
of these teens (Arias, 2001: 12).  The coordinator further stipulated that the data clearly 
showed that the more risk factors a youth is exposed to, the greater the probability that 
the youth will become involved in problem behavior (Arias, 2001).  

The coordinator concluded that the above risk factors could be reduced by increasing the 
number of protective factors surrounding the youths.  He suggested that the police 
department and high school might consider focusing on building character, strong 
belief systems, positive relationships between family members, teachers, and other 
positive role models in the community, and establishing clear expectations and rules 
governing behavior (Arias, 2001: 12).  

Problems Encountered During the Analysis Phase
Five major obstacles were encountered over the course of the analysis phase.  These 
problems were related to staffing, computer software, organizational cooperation, time, 
and scope of analysis.  These problems are discussed below, along with the solutions that 
were used to address the problems.

1. Staffing Problems.  
The project coordinator claimed that one major problem encountered during the 
analysis phase was related to staffing.  The police department had a difficult time 
finding a qualified coordinator to run the day-to-day operations of the program.  
The departments initial search for a coordinator was terminated after all of those 
selected to be interviewed were unable to successfully pass a criminal background 
check.  A second search was commenced in February 2000 and an applicant was 
hired in March 2000.  The problems associated with the hiring of the program 
coordinator resulted in the start of the project being delayed by about six months.  

Staffing the project with students presented another problem for the project.  
Many of the students were uninterested in participating, even though they were 
being paid to participate.  The students showed up late to meetings, left early or 
did not show up at all.  Many of the students attributed their ambivalence to the 
fact that they had served on similar types of committees in the past that did not 
generate any positive change.  Many of the students in the group also had other 
obligations such as work, athletics, and other extra-curricular activities that did 
not permit them the time to show up to the meetings. 

Still another staffing problem was related to the teacher facilitator.  The original 
teacher that volunteered to work with the group left the school district half way 
through the analysis phase.  Another suitable teacher facilitator was not found, 
and as a result, the teacher facilitators responsibilities were re-directed to the 
coordinator and two police officers who assisted with the supervision of data 
collection.

2. Computer Software Problems.
The project coordinator also noted that there were several problems related to the 
computer database constructed for the project.  The original program developed 
by the consultant had to be modified numerous times because it did not operate 
correctly.  Also, the computer program did not allow for many of the survey 
questions to be used in their original form, and, as a result, a number of the 
questions had to be altered so that they would conform to the specification 
required by the database.  The biggest problem, however, with the database was 
that it was not saving all of the data that the students were collecting.  It is 
estimated that by the time the problem was detected they had lost data from about 
200 interviews.

3. Organizational Problems.
The project coordinator stated that the project encountered several problems with 
the high school.  Project personnel were required to submit the survey questions 
to school administrators to ensure that the questions were suitable and not 
offensive.  This task was made more difficult due to turnover among 
administrators at the high school, which required project staff to re-introduce the 
study to the administrators and re-sell the project.  Student workers were also 
required to obtain written permission from parents before they were permitted to 
interview a student.  Project personnel believed that this restricted the number of 
students that they were able to interview and lengthened the amount of time that it 
took to complete data collection.  In an effort to increase the participation rate and 
expedite the process student workers stayed after school and contacted parents by 
phone, asking them for permission and informing them that they would need to 
sign a permission slip that would be arriving in the mail and return it to the 
school.



4. Problems Related to Time.
The students who were supposed to be collecting the survey data often times did 
not have the time to commit to data collection.  Additionally, shortly after the start 
of data collection it was discovered that it was taking longer than expected to 
complete each survey.  This led to concern on the part of the coordinator that they 
might not be able to conduct enough surveys to analyze the problem 
appropriately.  He addressed this issue by adding two off-duty police officers to 
the project, who helped collect survey data from the Hispanic students.

5. Scope of Analysis.
Advice and direction from an experienced local evaluator might have provided 
the department with additional information that could have been used in the 
formulation of the response.  This phase might have benefited from an analysis of 
official police and school data to examine the location and time of the disputes.  It 
might also have benefited from a more in depth analysis of the offenders and 
victims involved in the dispute to help narrow the focus of the analysis.


RESPONSE PHASE
On April 12, 2001, several members of the police department met to discuss the findings 
of the analysis and construct a response.  The meeting was lead by the Field Services 
Captain who had originally identified the problem and was also the project manager.  The 
meeting was also attended by the program coordinator, a Sergeant in the gang unit, a 
corporal who was responsible for community policing activities, a detective who was 
responsible teaching parental skills courses for the police department, the school resource 
officer at Redlands High School, and two evaluators from 21st Century Solutions, Inc. 
who were responsible for conducting the national evaluation of the school-based 
partnership project.

Over the course of the meeting the group determined that the primary purpose of their 
response should be to reduce the level of racial and ethnic conflict at Redlands High 
School and surrounding community.  Additionally, they wanted to develop a response 
that would result in a reduction of violence between the Hispanic students at Redlands 
High School, and the surrounding neighborhood, and a decrease in the amount of gang 
violence between Barrio Redlands and Colonial 13.

By the end of the meeting the police officers had developed a three-pronged response: 1) 
establish a mentor program to help guide gang members, 2) establish a cultural awareness 
class at Redlands Senior High to educate students about culture conflict, and 3) establish 
a parenting skills course to provide parents of Redlands Senior High with the tools to 
reduce risk factors in their childrens lives.

Mentor Program.
The first response developed by the working group was the creation of an intervention 
program.  The intervention program centered on a mentoring approach in which 
Redlands Police Department officers would be matched with Redlands Senior High 
students who had been found to be at the center of school-related problems.  Ideally, 
individuals selected for mentoring by police officers would be students at Redlands 
Senior High, Hispanic, and core members of either Barrio Redlands or Colonial 13.  
Students were selected for the program through a referral process in which school 
teachers, probation officers, and the school resource officer referred youth to the project 
manager.

As part of the program, mentors would work with the students with the hope of 
establishing new standards, expectations, and values in the youths lives.  They would 
also serve as an advocate for the youth and their parents, help the students with their 
school work and any language problems they might have, and encourage them to increase 
their number of quality friends.  The mentors were also expected to teach the youth to 
accept individuality and value cultural differences between people.  Officers volunteered 
to work as mentors.  They were to work with their assigned student(s) for at least two 
hours, once a week during their off-duty hours.  Officers who served as mentors received 
overtime pay from funds allotted to the department as part of its participation in the 
evaluation.  The mentor program began on October 13, 2001 and ended March 15, 2002.

The mentor program involved 10 police officers who mentored 19 students.  All of the 
students attended Redlands High School and were Hispanic.  Of the 19 students, 16 were 
male and 3 were female.  As shown in Exhibit 5, the officers, over the course of the 
response, made 147 contacts with the students.  While on average each student had about 
eight contacts with an officer over the course of the response, over half of the students 
had only one contact with their mentor.  The average number of contacts between the 
officers and the students was skewed because one officer/student relationship yielded 73 
contacts.  The minimum number of contacts that an officer made over the course of the 
response was 3, and the maximum number of contacts that an officer made over the 
course of the response was 77.  The mean number of contacts made by each officer was 
15, but most officers made eight or fewer contacts with their mentees.  The officers spent 
a total of 348 hours with the students, with the average contact lasting about 2.4 hours.  
Many of the contacts were made at the students home (32.3%) or some other central 
meeting place (51.9%), and a few contacts were made at school (5.1%), the officers 
office (5.7%) or by phone (5.1%)





Exhibit 5. Mentor/Mentee Contact Statistics.
Number of Mentors 10
Number of Mentees 19
Total Number of Contacts 147




Youth Level Contacts (10 youth)
Minimum 1
Maximum 73
Mean 7.7
Median 1

Officer Level Contacts (19 officers)
Minimum 3
Maximum 77
Mean 14.7
Median 8

Total Time Spent with Mentees 347.7 hours
Average Length of Contact 2.4 hours

Location of Contacts (n=158)
Frequency
Percent of 
Locations
  Office 
9
5.7
  Home 
51
32.3
  School 
8
5.1
  Phone
8
5.1
  Other 
82
51.9

Over the course of the 147 contacts over 604 issues were discussed between the officers 
and students.  As seen in Exhibit 6, most of the contacts involved the officers providing 
general support (29.1%) such as motivational support, rapport building, and recreational 
opportunities.  Many of the contacts (28.5%) also involved the officers discussing 
personal and family issues with their mentees.  Officers, for example, often discussed 
issues pertaining to family and gangs.  Over 11 percent of the contacts led to discussions 
or activities involving education.  These education related contacts were typically related 
to the officer acting as an advocate of the school (e.g., explaining the importance of 
education) and the officer assisting the youth with school placement.  A modest number 
of officer/student contacts led to the officer providing counseling (9.6%) and group 
services (6.1%).  Some of the officers also worked with their mentee on issues relating to 
job preparation, job training, and job placement.  On a few occasions the officers 
addressed issues involving the criminal justice system (4.5%), housing (0.2%), and 
medical care (0.5%).


Exhibit 6. Type of Issues Addressed During Contacts

Frequency
Percent of All Issues (604)



General Support
176
29.1
Motivational
56
9.3
Rapport Building
58
9.6
Referral
4
0.7
Recreation
54
8.9
Community Service
4
0.7



Personal Issues
108
17.9
Gang
29
4.8
Family
53
8.8
Crisis Intervention
6
1.0
Other 
20
3.3



Family Issues
64
10.6
Gang
17
2.8
Family
31
5.1
Crisis Intervention
3
0.5
Other
13
2.2



Vocational
43
7.1
Job Preparation
20
3.3
Job Training
11
1.8
Job Location
7
1.2
Job Placement
4
0.7
Other
1
0.2



Educational
67
11.1
Academy Placement
4
0.7
School Advocacy
39
6.5
School Placement
12
2.0
GED Program
0
0
Community Education
5
0.8
College Placement
4
0.7
Other
3
0.5






Exhibit 6 continued: Type of Issues Addressed during Contacts, continued

Frequency
Percent of All Contacts 
(604)*

Criminal Justice
27
4.5
General Assistance
6
1.0
Arrest
6
1.0
Monitoring
3
0.5
Home Confinement
3
0.5
Probation
2
0.3
Parole/Aftercare
3
0.5
Violation of Probation
1
0.2
Detention
1
0.2
Prosecution
1
0.2
Other
1
0.2



General Issues
12
2.0
Money Management
5
0.8
Welfare
5
0.8
Other
2
0.3



Housing
1
0.2
Locating Housing
0
0
Other
1
0.2



Counseling/Treatment
58
9.6
Alcohol Use
27
4.5
Drug Use
28
4.6
Physical/mental abuse
3
0.5



Medical
3
0.5
General Medical Care
1
0.2
Other
2
0.3



Other
8
1.3
Transportation
7
1.2
Other
1
0.2



Group Services
37
6.1
Crisis Intervention
1
0.2
Mediation
2
0.3
Supervision
2
0.3
Explaining services
1
0.2
Rapport building
9
1.5
Recreation
18
3.0
Community Service
4
0.7




Cultural Awareness Class
In addition to the mentoring program, the Redlands Police Department assigned the 
school resource officer (SRO) at Redlands High School to work with the students on 
cultural awareness, an issue that the group felt was at the root of the problem.  The 
cultural awareness class has been taught yearly at the high school to all ninth graders over 
the past six years.  As such, the class is better thought of as a program in support of the 
intervention, rather than an actual supplement to the intervention.  

The cultural awareness class was taught on November 13, 2001 during the students 
regularly scheduled gym class, which lasted approximately 40 minutes.  An analysis of 
the course curriculum found that the course focused on five primary issues.  First, the 
officer introduced himself to the students and his role at the school, and discussed the 
importance of community policing and risk-focused policing in the city.  Second, the 
school resource officer described risk focused policing and the importance of risk and 
protective factors in the students lives.  Third, the officer discussed issues facing the 
school such as gang activity, racial tensions, and mad dogging.  In this section the officer 
also discussed the need for acceptance of individuality and taught students how to resolve 
conflicts.  Fourth, the officer discussed police tactics and various strategies the police use 
to enhance safety, maintain order, and investigate crime.  Fifth, the officer lectured on 
enforcement options and the authority of school and police officials on school property.   

An analysis of student attendance roster data indicated that about 74 percent (620 out of 
840) of freshman at Redlands Senior High attended the 40 minute class.  Approximately 
46 percent of those that attended the cultural awareness class were male and 54 percent 
were female.  The instructor indicated that students were attentive and paid attention 
while in class.  He believed that the use of war stories kept the students interested, 
while at the same time exposing them to the issues that they might face while at school.

Parenting Skills Course.
The Redlands Police Department incorporated their existing parenting skills course in the 
response.  The officers believed that the course would expose the parents of the gang 
members to resources that are available to them in the community.  They also thought 
that the course would teach them basic parenting skills that would enable the parents to 
increase the number of protective factors in their childs life.  

The parenting skills course was offered twice over the response phase, once from October 
8, 2001 through December 15, 2001, and again October 30, 2001 through January 22, 
2002.  The parenting skills classes met weekly for three hours, over a 10-week period.  
While the class is normally available to the entire public on a first come first serve basis, 
parents with children enrolled at Redlands Senior High were given priority for admission 
into the class to ensure that Redlands Senior High parents were exposed to the program.  

Recruitment for the class was conducted by mailing advertisements to the parents of 
students at the high school and by distributing fliers in high-risk neighborhoods, and to 
organizations that work with parents with at-risk youth.  The school resource officer and 
two community groups were also used to recruit parents for the course.  While these 
special recruitment efforts were made to increase participation among the parents of 
Barrio Redlands and Colonial 13 gang members, participation in the course was 
voluntary.  

The curriculum used by the police department for the parental skills course was 
developed by The Parenting Project and is used by schools, police and probation 
departments, mental health agencies, churches, and other community groups in over 25 
states.  Instructors of the course are required to attend a weeklong training seminar prior 
to teaching parents.  A content analysis of the course syllabus, lecture notes, and 
homework assignments revealed that the course teaches parents identification, 
prevention, and intervention strategies to assist them in addressing destructive youth 
behavior.  The first three units of the class provide parents with information on 
understanding children and their behavior and expose them to a variety of parenting 
strategies.  Units four through nine teach parents how to address specific youth behavior 
such as drinking, drug use, and other problematic behavior.  Units ten through nineteen 
teach parents how to listen to their child and how to clearly communicate expectations, 
standards, and values (Fry, Johnson, Melendez, and Morgan, 1998).  

As stated above, two parenting courses were taught during the response phase.  A total of 
13 parents enrolled in the courses, of which 7 of the parents had at least one child 
enrolled at Redlands Senior High.  Of the 13 enrolled parents, six completed the course; 
and of the six parents that completed the course, three had at least one child enrolled at 
Redlands Senior High.

Instructors of the course indicated that they received high praise for the class.  They 
stated that many of the parents in the class told them that the class was very beneficial.  
The officers stated that many of the parents have difficulty communicating and 
counseling their children and that the class provided the parents with additional tools to 
provide counseling to their children.  Many of the parents suggested that it would be 
useful if the department established a similar class for youth.

Problems Encountered During the Response Phase
Three obstacles were encountered in the response phase: 1) gang members were 
unwilling to participate in the mentoring program, 2) student exposure to the cultural 
awareness class was limited, and 3) targeted parents were uninterested in participating in 
the parental skills course.

1. Gang Members Unwilling to Participate.  
While school officials and parents were generally supportive of the mentoring 
program, police officials had a difficult time recruiting participates.  Members of 
Barrio Redlands and Colonial 13 were reluctant to communicate with the police 
and were unwilling to participate in the mentoring program.  The mentors 
explained that this was largely the consequence of the poor reputation of the 
police in the neighborhoods inhabited by the gang members and because of the 
gang members fear of being labeled as a rat if they were seen with the police.  
As a consequence, the mentoring program was unable to work with those that it 
was originally established to target.  In an attempt to continue with the mentoring 
program, and reach troubled youth, the police department selected at-risk youth 
that attended Redlands High School to participate in the mentoring project.

The project staff indicated that if they were able to start the response phase again 
they would have chosen to focus on different youth than those that participated in 
this project. First, they voiced that they should have mentored younger youth that 
would have been more impressionable and so that they would have had a better 
chance at making an impression in their mentees life.  Second, they wished that 
they had chosen youth that were in a transitional period of their life, believing 
that they might have been able to help those that were on the edge of falling into a 
bad crowd.  Third, they indicated that they spent the majority of their efforts on 
good kids and that more effort should have been placed on working with youth 
that were more criminally involved.

2. Student Exposure to the Cultural Awareness Class was Limited.  
The cultural awareness course was limited to ninth grade students.  While the age 
and grade of the offenders and victims is unknown, the response might have 
benefited by students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade receiving the treatment.  
Additionally, the response might have benefited from a lengthier course on 
cultural awareness.  The 12-15 minutes of exposure to issues of culture conflict 
might not be enough to have an impact on student behavior.

3. Parental Disinterest in Parenting Skills Class.
Only a handful of Redlands High School parents enrolled in the parenting skills 
course.  Those recruiting parents for the class reported that many of the parents 
that they talked to indicated that their child was the source of the problem, and not 
themselves.  Many parents also commented that the 30-hour course was too long 
of a commitment for them to make and that they could not take the time to attend 
the course.  The course instructor attempted a number of strategies to increase 
parental enrollment.  One strategy was to change the stated purpose of the course 
from one that focused on changing parental behavior to one that emphasized 
changing childrens behavior.  The instructor also enlisted the help of two 
community groups to help recruit parents that might benefit from the course. 

ASSESSMENT PHASE
The assessment phase of the Redlands Police Department school-based problem-solving 
project was conducted in two parts.  The first part of the assessment consisted of a 
process evaluation conducted by a local evaluator employed by the University of 
Redlands.  The local evaluator interviewed police and school officials and documented 
the history of the project.  In particular, the local evaluator reviewed the analysis phase 
and described the responses that were employed as part of the intervention.  A draft of the 
process evaluation was submitted to the police department in June 2002 (Rickabaugh, 
2002).  Evaluators from 21st Century Solutions, Inc. conducted the second phase of the 
assessment.  21st Century Solutions, Inc. was contracted to perform the national 
evaluation of the school-based partnership grant program.  This report serves as the 
process and impact evaluation of the Redlands school-based partnership project.

OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE SCHOOL-BASED PARTERNSHIP 
PROJECT BY PROJECT STAFF

At the end of the project, project staff were asked to evaluate various aspects of the 
project.  In the first section staff members were asked to rate whether they strongly 
agreed, agreed, did not know, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with six statements about 
the problem solving process that was used in the school-based partnership project.  As 
seen in Exhibit 7, project staff perceived that the problem solving process used during the 
project was effective, was easy to use, and was informed by a variety of sources of 
information.  

The second section included questions pertaining to their views of the partnerships that 
were created as a consequence of the project.  The analysis indicated that most staff 
members believed that the partnership led to the sharing of information in a timely 
matter, that the partnership was flexible, that all members of the partnership were open to 
outside ideas, that the police and school worked well together, that the staff had clearly 
defined goals, and that all of the necessary agencies and individuals were included in the 
partnership.  

It should be mentioned that during the focus group project staff voiced that there was 
little communication between the project staff and the school.  They stated that because 
the school resource officer had free reign at the high school there was almost no need 
for communication between the school and the police.  The school resource officer 
specifically stated that, the school did not even know that the mentoring program even 
took place, further suggesting that the communication between the two organizations 
was minimal.

The last section of the survey instrument included questions about how the project 
impacted the respondent personally.  Almost all of the participants believed that the 
project helped them have a better understanding of the school problem, thought that they 
would use problem solving in the future, indicated that they enjoyed working on the 
problem solving process, and that their participation in the project had a positive impact 
on the school problem.





Exhibit 7. Officer Evaluations of the School-Based Partnership Project
Level of Agreement with Each Statement
Mean
Percent 
Agree or 
Strongly 
Agree



The Problem Solving Process


Internal issues, concerns, or obstacles were addressed and solved readily
4.29
100.0
We will use this process on other problems in and around the school
4.43
85.7
The problem solving process assisted in reducing the problem at the 
school
4.14
71.4
The information we analyzed assisted us in finding a response to the 
problem 
4.57
85.7
We identified the problem by using a number of different sources of 
information
4.86
100.0
The problem solving model (Scan, Analyze, Respond, and Assess) was 
easy for our team to understand and follow
4.86
100.0



Partnership Members


Relevant information was shared in a timely manner
4.27
100.0
Regularly scheduled partnership meetings or other communication 
occurred
3.64
72.7
The partnership was flexible in that members could be added if necessary
4.27
100.0
The local evaluator assessed the project effectively and in a timely manner
3.55
45.5
The local evaluator was involved in all stages of the project 
3.55
45.5
Members were open to outside ideas or suggestions
4.18
90.9
All members were well informed about the goals and objectives of the 
project
4.27
90.9
The police and school worked well together to solve the problem
4.55
90.9
There were clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each individual 
and agency
4.10
80.0
All of the necessary agencies and individuals were included in this 
partnership
4.36
100.0



Personal Evaluation


I have a better understanding of the school problem since my involvement 
on this project
4.11
77.8
I will use the problem-solving process to address future problems in and 
around schools 
4.44
100.0
I enjoyed working on the problem solving process 
4.56
100.0
My participation in this project has made a positive difference in solving 
the school-based problem
4.56
100.0

NOTE: Strongly Agree=5, Agree=4, Dont Know=3, Disagree=2, Strongly Agree=1

PART FIVE: 
FINDINGSIMPACT

GANG CONFLICT
Official gang data obtained from the police department revealed that four Colonial 13 
gang members had come into contact with the police from August 1, 2000 to June 15, 
2002.  Likewise, 44 Barrio Redlands gang members came into contact with the police 
during the same time period. 

Analysis of the official police data showed that Colonial 13 and Barrio Redlands did not 
have conflict, nor was there any other type of altercation between the two gangs during 
the study period (i.e., pre-intervention, intervention, or post-intervention period).  
However, caution should be used when interpreting these data.  Gang activity of this 
nature is regularly under-reported.  One reason is that the victims (those who typically 
report crime) are gang members themselves and are unwilling to report these incidents 
because it might uncover their own illegal activity.  Likewise, gang culture dictates that 
the gang, rather than outsiders such as the police, should seek retribution. Second, 
witnesses rarely report conflict or problems between gangs and gang members out of fear 
of becoming involved and becoming a victim.

STUDENT FEARS AND CONCERNS
Exhibit 8 shows the findings for three different indicators related to student perceptions 
of safety at school, on the way to school, and in their neighborhood.  The exhibit presents 
findings for both the target and comparison schools for both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic 
students prior to and after the intervention.  It also indicates whether the change between 
the two time periods was statistically significant.  

Exhibit 8 shows that prior to the intervention about 18 percent of Non-Hispanics and 
Hispanics at Redlands Senior High reported feeling very unsafe or unsafe traveling to and 
from school, compared to 12 percent of Non-Hispanics and 6 percent of Hispanics at 
Redlands East Valley.  The Exhibit also shows that after the intervention significantly 
fewer Non-Hispanic and Hispanic students at Redlands Senior High reported feeling very 
unsafe or unsafe traveling to and from school, while students at Redlands East Valley did 
not report a significant change in their feelings of safety going to and from school during 
the same period.  

Another item was used to examine feelings of safety while at school.  Analysis of the 
student survey data showed that there was no significant change in the number of 
students reporting feeling very unsafe or unsafe between the pre-intervention period and 
the post-intervention period at either school.

Students were also asked how safe they felt in their own neighborhoods.  Respondents 
could indicate whether they felt very safe, safe, unsafe, or very unsafe.  Students at 
Redlands Senior High were significantly less likely to report feeling unsafe or very 
unsafe in their own neighborhood in the post-intervention period compared to the pre-
intervention period.  In particular, the percentage of Non-Hispanic and Hispanic students 
reporting feeling Unsafe or Very Unsafe in their own neighborhood declined by half 
between the two periods (12.3% to 6.2% for Non-Hispanics and 19.4% to 10.6% for 
Hispanics). There was no change in feelings of safety in their neighborhood among 
students at Redlands East Valley between the pre-intervention and post-intervention 
periods.

Exhibit 8. Student Fears of Safety in and away from School

Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
 Percent Feeling:
Pre
Post
Pre
Post





Very unsafe or unsafe going to and 
from school




Non-Hispanics T
17.6
10.8
12.4
9.3
Hispanics
18.7
8.8
6.0
7.1





Very unsafe or unsafe at school




Non-Hispanics
11.3
10.8
7.4
8.7
Hispanics
16.9
13.7
9.6
11.9





Very unsafe or unsafe in 
neighborhood




Non-Hispanics T
12.3
6.2
6.3
7.1
Hispanics
19.4
10.6
3.3
5.4





NOTE:T or C indicates t-statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison group

Three items were used to measure the students concerns about cultural diversity issues.   
They were asked about the extent of their worry about racial and ethnic relations, foreign 
immigrants, and changing moral standards. For these questions a 1 represented a low 
frequency of worry about cultural diversity issues and a 4 represented a high frequency of 
worry about cultural diversity issues.  As seen in Exhibit 9, students at Redlands Senior 
High reported being more worried about racial and ethnic relations, foreign immigrants, 
and changing moral standards than students at Redlands East Valley during the pre-
intervention period.  When comparing the pre-intervention period to the post-intervention 
period the data indicated that while concerns about cultural diversity increased 
significantly for two of the measures at Redlands East Valley High, the same measures 
indicated that concern about cultural diversity remained stable at Redlands Senior High.  
Specifically, at Redlands East Valley Non-Hispanics and Hispanics reported being 
significantly more worried about racial and ethnic relations and Hispanics reported 
feeling significantly more worried about changing moral standards during the post-
intervention period.

Exhibit 9. Worries about Culture Conflict

Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
Mean frequency of worry about: 
Pre
Post
Pre
Post





Racial and ethnic relations

Non-Hispanics C
2.26
2.13
1.90
2.06
Hispanics C
2.03
2.25
1.76
2.14





Foreign immigrants

Non-Hispanics
1.75
1.72
1.63
1.69
Hispanics
1.61
1.50
1.51
1.64





Changing moral standards

Non-Hispanics
2.05
2.11
1.88
1.96
Hispanics C
1.85
2.16
1.76
2.07





NOTE: T or C indicates t- statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison group
Questions are coded:  1=Never, 2=Hardly Ever, 3=Occasionally, 4=Frequently

Students at both schools were asked whether they had missed school because they felt 
unsafe at school or felt unsafe going to and from school.  As seen in Exhibit 10, a 
moderate number of students (i.e., 6 to 10 percent) from both schools reported that over 
the past 30 days they had missed school because they felt unsafe at school or felt unsafe 
going to and from school.  There were few differences reported between the pre-
intervention survey and the post-intervention survey, the only exception being for 
Hispanic students at Redlands East Valley.  In particular, about nine percent of Hispanics 
at Redlands East Valley reported missing school in the past 30 days because they felt 
unsafe going to and from school during the pre-intervention period compared to 1.7 
percent in the post-intervention period.  

Students were also asked whether they had been in a fight on their way to school or on 
their way from school during the past 30 days.  Exhibit nine shows that roughly nine 
percent of students at Redlands Senior High and seven percent of students at Redlands 
East Valley reported being in a fight coming to or from school in the past 30 days.  The 
number of fights coming to or from school did not significantly change between the two 
time periods for either school.







Exhibit 10. Student Self-Reported Behavior in past 30 days

Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
Percent of Students in Past 30 Days that:  
Pre
Post
Pre
Post





Missed school because unsafe to and from school 

Non-Hispanics
5.9
5.9
7.5
5.3
Hispanics C
10.4
5.9
9.1
1.7





Missed school because unsafe at school

Non-Hispanics
8.5
6.8
7.7
5.8
Hispanics
8.3
6.6
7.2
6.0





Were in a fight to or from school

Non-Hispanics
9.5
8.9
6.5
5.9
Hispanics
8.1
8.5
7.4
5.6





NOTE: T or C indicates t- statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison group

Students were also asked whether they had carried a weapon at school in the past 30 
days.  Self-reported data indicated that gun, knife, and club carrying among both 
Hispanic and Non-Hispanic students at both Redlands High School and Redlands East 
Valley High School did not change from the pre-intervention period to the post-
intervention period.  However, the self-reported data did show that Non-Hispanic 
students at Redlands High School were significantly more likely to start carrying any 
weapon to school after the intervention than before the intervention.  A similar trend was 
not observed at Redlands East Valley High School.

Exhibit 11. Percent of students carrying weapons at school in the past 30 days

Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
 
Pre
Post
Pre
Post
Any weapon




Non-Hispanics T
8.4
14.8
7.5
10.0
Hispanics
13.0
16.4
8.4
13.8
Gun




Non-Hispanics
1.9
2.2
.9
2.0
Hispanics
2.6
1.8
1.9
1.5





Knife




Non-Hispanics
5.4
5.4
4.5
5.6
Hispanics
9.1
10.1
3.7
3.2





Club




Non-Hispanics
1.1
2.7
1.3
2.4
Hispanics
1.3
2.3
0.6
3.1





Any other weapon




Non-Hispanics T
5.6
11.2
5.8
7.7
Hispanics
9.1
12.0
4.2
8.5





NOTE:T or C indicates t-statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison group

As part of the survey students were asked how they would respond to particular types of 
behavior by other students.  One question asked the students how they would respond if 
someone called them a name and another asked them how they would respond if 
someone pushed or shoved them.  They were presented with several alternative ways that 
they might respond.  Some of these responses were pro-social such as tell a teacher, 
parent, or school resource officer, while other responses were conflict oriented such as hit 
them back and tell a friend so that they would help them fight.  

There were few significant differences between the pre and post intervention periods at 
both schools.  However, it should be noted that there were consistent differences between 
the ethnic groups at both schools.  In particular, Hispanic students were more likely to 
respond to name calling and physical contact by using conflict than would non-Hispanic 
students.  

Exhibit 12. Responses to aggressive behavior (In percentages).

Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
 
Pre
Post
Pre
Post
Response to being called a name




Pro-social 
44.0
46.2
44.2
36.5
Non-Hispanics
Conflict 
45.6
47.6
47.8
55.2
Other
10.3
6.2
8.0
8.2





Pro-social
29.9
38.3
37.2
33.7
Hispanics
Conflict
59.7
57.7
53.0
58.7
Other
10.4
3.9
9.8
7.5





Response to being pushed or shoved




Pro-social 
33.5
33.6
28.2
20.6
Non-Hispanics C
Conflict
57.8
59.6
61.1
72.3
Other
8.7
6.8
10.7
7.1





Pro-social
21.4
16.3
29.2
27.1
Hispanics
Conflict
64.0
74.9
65.1
68.5
Other
14.6
8.8
5.7
4.6





NOTE: T or C indicates chi-square statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison 
group

We also examined the percentage of students victimized at school in the past 30 days at 
both high schools.  Non-Hispanic students at Redlands East Valley High reported 
significantly more harassment because of their race/ethnicity and were significantly more 
likely to be threatened or injured with a weapon at school during the post-intervention 
period when compared to the pre-intervention period.  Similarly, Hispanic students at 
Redlands East Valley High reported significantly more harassment because of their 
race/ethnicity during the post-intervention period when compared to the pre-intervention 
period.  Similar trends in victimization were not observed at Redlands High School.


Exhibit 13. Percent of students victimized at school in the past 30 days
	
Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
 
Pre
Post
Pre
Post
Harassed because of race/ethnicity




Non-Hispanics C  
24.0
23.3
15.7
22.2
Hispanics C
18.4
27.0
7.0
20.9





Threatened or injured with a weapon




Non-Hispanics C
7.3
9.0
5.6
9.2
Hispanics
6.9
8.7
6.7
9.9





NOTE: T or C indicates t- statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison group


As part of the student survey respondents were asked questions about their observations 
of gang activity at their school.  They were asked questions about fights between gang 
members, gang intimidation, and gang recruiting.  In general, students reported that gang-
related activity remained unchanged at Redlands East Valley high, but increased 
significantly at Redlands High School.  For example, both Hispanics and Non-Hispanics 
at Redlands High reported observing more fights between gang members during the post-
intervention period, when compared to the pre-intervention period.  Similarly, non-
Hispanics at Redlands Senior High reported observing more gang recruiting at school 
during the post-intervention period when compared to the pre-intervention period.


Exhibit 14. Percent of students witnessing gang activity at school in past year

Target (RHS)
Comparison (REV)
Percentage Witnessing:  
Pre
Post
Pre
Post
Fights between gang members




Non-Hispanics T
28.7
42.1
32.6
29.5
Hispanics T
40.3
61.0
31.0
31.0





Gang intimidation




Non-Hispanics
29.7
33.5
22.8
23.2
Hispanics
36.4
47.9
25.0
22.7





Gang recruiting




Non-Hispanics T
12.2
21.9
15.2
13.4
Hispanics
35.0
33.2
15.3
19.7





NOTE: T or C indicates t- statistic is significant at .05 level for Target or Comparison group



STUDENT BEHAVIOR
Next, we examined the impact of the school-based partnership program on school 
absences, suspensions, and expulsions.  Exhibit 15 shows that there were no significant 
differences in terms of unexcused absences or expulsions between the two schools or 
between the pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention periods.  However, the 
official school data showed that while Redlands High School did experience significantly 
fewer suspensions in the post-intervention period compared to the same time the year 
prior, the decrease was not as substantial as it was at Redlands East Valley High School.



Exhibit 15. Daily Average number of students missing at least one period by type of absence


Pre-Intervention
Intervention
Post-Intervention


Begin School Year 
 October 13
October 14  
March 15
March 16  
End School Year





Average Number of Students per Day 
Absent from at least one Period 
due to Suspension


2000-01 School Year
56.1
43.6
50.4
RHS
2001-02 School Year
85.2
54.5
46.8

% Change
52.0%
25.1%
-7.2%R,I


2000-01 School Year
101.4
47.1
41.9
REV
2001-02 School Year
76.0
40.2
29.8

% Change
-25.0%
-14.6%
-28.8%





Average Number of Students per Day 
with an Unexcused Absence from 
at least one Period


2000-01 School Year
215.3
200.6
269.4
RHS
2001-02 School Year
211.8
188.1
265.3

% Change
-1.6%
-6.2%
-1.5%


2000-01 School Year
137.8
105.1
137.7
REV
2001-02 School Year
152.6
116.8
143.4

% Change
10.8%
11.1%
4.1%



Average Number of Expulsions per 
Month


2000-01 School Year
1.6
3.7
1.3
RHS
2001-02 School Year
3.2
2.7
1.7

% Change
94.7%
-26.3%
25.0%



2000-01 School Year
3.2
1.0
1.0
REV
2001-02 School Year
3.9
2.0
2.3

% Change
21.7%
100.0%
133.3%



R indicates the change is significantly different than the change at REV
I indicates the change is significantly different than the change during the Intervention phase


Exhibit 16 shows the average number of disciplinary actions taken per month by type of 
misconduct.  When examining all types of misconduct Exhibit 16 shows that misconduct 
at Redlands High School decreased substantially during the pre-intervention, 
intervention, and post-intervention periods, when compared to the same time periods the 
year earlier.  In comparison, at Redlands East Valley High School misconduct increased 
substantially during the pre-intervention and intervention periods when compared to the 
same periods the year prior, but then decreased during the post-intervention period when 
compared to the same period the year prior.  Change in misconduct, by type of 
misconduct, was most pronounced between the two schools for weapons offenses and 
other misconduct.  For example, weapons offenses decreased by 60 percent during the 
intervention period at Redlands High School, where as at Redlands East Valley they 
increased by 133 percent.  Likewise, other misconduct at Redlands Senior High 
decreased substantially during the intervention and post-intervention periods when 
compared to the same period the year prior.  However, at Redlands East Valley High 
School other offenses increased substantially during the intervention period and post-
intervention period when compared to the same period the year prior.  

Of special interest was the finding that there was no disciplinary action recorded as 
Gang Activity at Redlands High School, and very few disciplinary actions recorded as 
Gang Activity at Redlands East Valley in both the 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years.


Exhibit 16. Average Number of Disciplinary Actions Taken Per Month by Type of Misconduct


Pre-Intervention
Intervention
Post-Intervention


Begin School Year  
October 13
October 14  
March 15
March 16  
End School Year
All Types





2000-01 School Year
89.2
126.7
102.7
RHS
2001-02 School Year
63.2
57.5
42.0

% Change
-29.2%
-54.6%
-59.1%






2000-01 School Year
73.0
82.8
79.3
REV
2001-02 School Year
78.9
101.2
62.7

% Change
8.2%
22.3%
-21.0%
Gang Activity*





2000-01 School Year
0.0
1.6
0.0
REV
2001-02 School Year
0.0
0.0
0.0

% Change
--
-100.0%
--
Assault/Fighting





2000-01 School Year
14.6
27.5
16.0
RHS
2001-02 School Year
15.0
21.0
8.3

% Change
2.8%
-23.6%
-47.9%






2000-01 School Year
34.1
27.1
22.0
REV
2001-02 School Year
36.3
30.6
14.0

% Change
6.6%
13.0%
-36.4%
Disruption





2000-01 School Year
50.3
63.1
57.3
RHS
2001-02 School Year
22.1
18.0
15.0

% Change
-56.0%
-71.4%
-73.8%






2000-01 School Year
25.9
25.1
31.3
REV
2001-02 School Year
15.8
18.8
18.7

% Change
-39.1%
-25.0%
-40.4%
Weapon





2000-01 School Year
1.6
3.9
4.7
RHS
2001-02 School Year
1.6
1.6
0.7

% Change
-2.6%
-60.0%
-85.7%






2000-01 School Year
1.6
2.4
0.7
REV
2001-02 School Year
0.0
5.5
0.0

% Change
-100.0%
133.3%
-100.0%
Other





2000-01 School Year
21.1
31.4
24.0
RHS
2001-02 School Year
22.1
15.3
17.0

% Change
4.9%
-51.3%
-29.2%






2000-01 School Year
8.1
26.7
22.7
REV
2001-02 School Year
26.8
43.5
28.7

% Change
231.1%
63.2%
26.5%
* There was no disciplinary action recorded as Gang Activity at RHS.

CALLS FOR SERVICE
Calls for service (CFS) data were also analyzed to examine the impact of the project on 
crime and other related behavior at the school, around the school, and in parks frequented 
by the student population.  In all places we found that there was no significant change in 
CFS.  However, we do detail some moderate changes that might be of interest to police 
and school officials.

Exhibit 17 details changes in CFS at Redlands High School between the pre-intervention, 
intervention, and post-intervention periods.  It also shows changes from the 2000-01 
school year compared to the 2001-02 school year.  The average monthly CFS at Redlands 
High School increased for assaults, guns/weapons, and other offenses during the 
intervention period compared to the year prior.  However, when we examined the post-
intervention period we found that the average monthly calls for all assaults, 
guns/weapons, suspicious activity, and other offenses decreased when compared to the 
year prior.


Exhibit 17. Average Monthly CFS at Redlands High School


Pre-Intervention
Intervention
Post-
Intervention


Begin School 
Year - October 
13
October 14 - 
March 15
March 16 - End 
School Year





All CFS
2000-01 School Year
17.03
16.08
20.00

2001-02 School Year
21.31
20.78
19.00

% Change
25.1%
29.3%
-5.0%





All Assaults
2000-01 School Year
0.81
0.39
1.33

2001-02 School Year
0.79
1.57
0.67

% Change
-2.7%
300.0%
-50.0%





Fight/Disturbance/ 
Threat
2000-01 School Year
0.81
1.18
1.67

2001-02 School Year
0.79
1.18
4.00

% Change
-2.7%
0%
140.0%





Guns/Weapons
2000-01 School Year
0.81
0.20
1.33

2001-02 School Year
0
0.78
1.00

% Change
-100.0%
300.0%
-25.0%





Suspicious Activity
2000-01 School Year
0.81
0.78
1.33

2001-02 School Year
1.58
0.59
1.00

% Change
94.6%
-25.0%
-25.0%





Other
2000-01 School Year
13.79
13.53
14.33

2001-02 School Year
18.15
16.67
12.33

% Change
31.7%
23.2%
-14.0%






Exhibit 18 shows changes in the average monthly CFS within a half-mile of Redlands 
High School and Sylvan Park.  When comparing the average monthly CFS during the 
intervention period to the same time the year prior the data show that all CFS, assaults, 
fights/disturbances/threats, guns/weapons, and other offenses decreased.  Comparing the 
average monthly CFS during the post-intervention period to the same time the year prior 
illustrates that only guns/weapons and suspicious activity CFS declined.  On the other 
hand, all CFS, assaults, fights/disturbances/threats, and other offenses increased between 
time periods.  


Exhibit 18. Average Monthly CFS within  mile of Redlands High School and Sylvan Park


Pre-Intervention
Intervention
Post-Intervention


Begin School Year 
- October 13
October 14 - 
March 15
March 16 - End 
School Year





All CFS
2000-01 School Year
217.36
190.59
185.67

2001-02 School Year
223.36
177.45
195.67

% Change
2.8%
-6.9%
5.4%





All Assaults
2000-01 School Year
5.68
4.51
2.33

2001-02 School Year
4.74
1.18
5.00

% Change
-16.6%
-73.9%
114.3%





Fight/Disturbance/ 
Threat
2000-01 School Year
12.17
9.80
8.00

2001-02 School Year
7.89
6.27
10.33

% Change
-35.1%
-36.0%
29.2%





Guns/Weapons
2000-01 School Year
1.62
1.76
1.33

2001-02 School Year
1.58
0.59
1.00

% Change
-2.7%
-66.7%
-25.0%





Suspicious Activity
2000-01 School Year
12.98
7.84
9.33

2001-02 School Year
11.05
8.43
7.33

% Change
-14.8%
7.5%
-21.4%





Other
2000-01 School Year
184.91
166.67
164.67

2001-02 School Year
198.11
160.98
172.00

% Change
7.1%
-3.4%
4.5%






Exhibit 19 presents the average monthly CFS within a half-mile of the community 
Ballpark.  When comparing the intervention period to the same time the year before, the 
data showed that: 1) CFS for guns/weapons and for suspicious activity declined, 2) CFS 
for assaults, fights/disturbance/threat increased, and 3) overall CFS and CFS for other 
offenses remained about the same.  When comparing the post-intervention period to the 
same time the year before the data showed that CFS for assaults, guns/weapons, 
suspicious activity, other offenses, and overall CFS declined, while CFS for 
fights/disturbances/threats increased. 




Exhibit 19. Average Monthly CFS within  mile of Community Ballpark


Pre-Intervention
Intervention
Post-Intervention


Begin School Year 
- October 13
October 14 - 
March 15
March 16 - End 
School Year





All CFS
2000-01 School Year
96.51
96.27
128.67

2001-02 School Year
104.97
95.88
114.33

% Change
8.8%
-0.4%
-11.1%





All Assaults
2000-01 School Year
4.87
2.16
2.67

2001-02 School Year
1.58
2.55
2.33

% Change
-67.6%
18.2%
-12.5%





Fight/Disturbance/ 
Threat
2000-01 School Year
4.87
2.75
5.33

2001-02 School Year
3.16
4.31
7.67

% Change
-35.1%
57.1%
43.8%





Guns/Weapons
2000-01 School Year
0
0.78
2.00

2001-02 School Year
3.16
0.59
1.00

% Change
--
-25.0%
-50.0%





Suspicious Activity
2000-01 School Year
1.62
4.51
7.33

2001-02 School Year
4.74
2.35
6.33

% Change
191.9%
-47.8%
-13.6%





Other
2000-01 School Year
85.16
86.08
111.33

2001-02 School Year
92.34
86.08
97.00

% Change
8.4%
0.0%
-12.9%



SECTION 6:
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In this report we examined the effectiveness of the Redlands, California school-based 
partnership project.  The project was established to encourage the police department to 
collaborate with the local school district to address crime and disorder problems in and 
around schools.  Using the problem solving model SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, 
and Assessment), the police identified a dispute between two local gangs at Redlands 
High School.  The dispute between the two gangs involved gang-related violence within 
and outside of the school and lead to increased disorder among the general student 
population.  Further analysis by the police department indicated that the dispute between 
the two gangs was the result of a culture conflict, with Mexican-American gang 
members bullying Mexican National students.  The Mexican National students, in an 
effort to protect themselves, formed a gang, which according to police officials lead to 
increases in gang violence.

The police department responded to the problem by implementing three responses.  The 
first was a mentoring program that focused on police officers mentoring gang members in 
an effort to increase the number of protective factors in the youths lives and to decrease 
the number of risk factors in their life.  The second was the adoption of a cultural 
awareness course taught to freshman at Redlands High School.  The course exposed 
students to the problems that they might face while at school and stressed the importance 
of accepting individual differences and taught the students conflict resolution skills.  The 
third response implemented by the police department was a parenting skills course that 
was made available to parents of Redlands High School students.  The course focused on 
teaching basic parenting skills and included a curriculum that taught parents how to 
increase the protective factors surrounding their children.

A nonequivalent comparison group, pretest-posttest research design was used to examine 
the project.  Redlands Senior High served as the school targeted for intervention and 
Redlands East Valley served as the comparison school.  Process measures were used to 
document the responses implemented as part of the project.  Process data included 
interviews with key personnel, mentor contact data, cultural awareness exposure data, 
and parenting skills course exposure data.  Impact measures were also used to examine 
the effectiveness of the project.  The impact data collected included official police data, 
official school data, student survey data, and interviews with project staff.

The process data indicated that 147 contacts were made between the police officers and 
their mentees, with the average contact lasting 2.4 hours.  Mentors primarily provided 
their mentees with general support and assistance with personal and family issues.  While 
the mentor program was implemented fully, the analyses indicated that the police were 
unable to mentor those individuals that were in the greatest need.  Because of the 
unwillingness of gang members to be mentored, program staff mentored youth that were 
not involved with gangs and were relatively uninvolved with the gang conflict that was 
the focus of the intervention.  These findings suggest that the mentoring program most 
likely had little impact on the identified problem.

The process data indicated that seven parents of Redlands High School students enrolled 
in the parenting skills course.  Of the seven parents that enrolled in the parenting course 
three completed the course.  As such, less that one percent of the students at the school 
had parents that were exposed to the intervention.  The low exposure to the parenting 
skills course suggests that the course most likely had little impact on the identified 
problem.

Analysis of the school records showed that about 74 percent (n=620) of freshman at 
Redlands High School attended the cultural awareness course.  The data indicated that 
each student received about 12 to 15 minutes of instruction related to culture conflict and 
other crime and disorder problems associated with the project.  If culture conflict 
problems persist in the school we recommend that the portion of the class pertaining to 
culture conflict be enhanced and that the course be presented to sophomores, juniors, and 
seniors.

The direct impact measures suggest that the project had a minimal impact on the gang 
conflict.  Official police gang data and official school data indicated that there was no 
conflict between Colonial 13 and Barrio Redlands from August 1, 2000 through June 15, 
2002.  This data suggested that the conflict between the two gangs was minor from the 
pre-intervention period (as well as during the analysis, response, and assessment phase) 
through the post-intervention period.  The lack of gang activity, at least as observed 
through official police and school data, indicated that the success of any intervention 
would not have been detectible because the magnitude of the problem (at least as dictated 
by official data) was too small.  

However, once again, it is important to point out that these types of official data often 
under-estimate the magnitude of a gang problem because gang events are regularly 
under-reported to police and school officials.  As such, a limitation to these impact 
measures is that it might not be possible to detect change in gang behavior unless such 
behavior is substantial in magnitude.

Follow-up interviews were conducted with the gang unit officers to further examine this 
issue.  The interview data indicated that about one to two years prior to the response 
being implemented, Colonial 13 gang members no longer claimed the City of Redlands 
as part of their territory.  In particular, it was stated that when the gang first established 
itself in Redlands the police department began to suppress the gangs activities as 
members of North Redlands and Barrio Redlands clashed with Colonial 13 over territory.  
As a consequence, the gang unit officers claimed that Colonial 13 members moved to the 
city of Highland and have claimed Highland, rather than Redlands, since 2000.

As such, the reduction in gang activity might have been the consequence of the problem 
dissipating prior to the response phase.  In particular, the traditional law enforcement 
efforts that were used by the police department to combat the gang problem may have 
been effective.  Another possibility is that the gang conflict might have simply taken take 
of itself  as suggested by some of the gang unit officersin that the conflict between the 
two gangs may have lead to one gang being forced to leave the community for its own 
survival.

Other direct and indirect measures indicated that the program had a minimal impact on 
the gang conflict or on crime in and around the school.  For example, the survey data 
indicated that weapons carrying among non-Hispanic students at Redlands High School 
increased and that student observations of gang fights and gang recruiting at the school 
increased significantly.  Additionally, an examination of the calls for service data at the 
high school, and in surrounding areas, showed that crime and related problems did not 
change significantly over the course of the project.

With this said, there was a substantial amount of evidence that suggested that the school 
environment was improving by the end of the project.  For example, data from the post-
test student survey indicated that students at Redlands Senior High were significantly less 
likely to feel unsafe in their own neighborhood, going to school, and leaving from school 
when compared to the pre-test survey.  Similarly, while worry about cultural diversity, 
harassment because of race/ethnicity, and threats with a weapon/ injury with a weapon 
significantly increased at Redland East Valley, a similar trend was not observed at 
Redland Senior High during the same time period.

Interviews with police administrators and project staff indicated that these positive trends 
might be the consequence of several on-going programs that have been established in the 
city.  For example, in recent years the department has established after school programs, 
recreation programs, neighborhood clean up programs, community advisory groups, as 
well as several other community policing initiatives.  Almost all of the project staff 
indicated that the culture of the police department is one that attempts to maximize its 
opportunities to work with youth in the city to decrease risk factors.  The cumulative 
effect of these projects might, therefore, have increased the quality of life for Redlands in 
general and increased the quality of life for youth specifically.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the present study of the Redlands, California School-Based Partnership 
program three recommendations for problem solving efforts are briefly discussed.

1. Increase Emphasis on Analysis.
In the future, enhanced analysis of the selected problem is recommended.  We 
would encourage officials in the future to examine the several sources of 
information that they have at their finger tips to guide them in identifying and 
understanding potential problems.  One strategy might be to focus on the 
offenders, victims, and locations of problems through the examination of the 
departments well developed information infrastructure.  Additionally, the 
inclusion of official school data to examine trends in assaults, gang fights, and 
other disruptions might have provided additional insight into the problem.  This 
analytical approach is intended to triangulate the analysis of the problem to ensure 
that the problem exists and to develop a better understanding of the factors that 
influence the problem.

2. Greater Use of Local Evaluation.
The project might have benefited from the use of a local evaluator to assist with 
the analysis phase of this project.  While the police department did hire an 
individual to conduct the analysis phase of the project he was not trained to 
perform the analysis that was required for this project.  A skilled evaluator should 
have the capacity to determine which types of data are needed to examine a 
problem, determine the best strategies for accessing data, and identify the 
strengths and weaknesses of data.  

3. Increase Dosage of Response.
In the future it is recommended that responses be continually assessed to examine 
the magnitude of the response directed toward a problem.  The response in the 
current problem solving project was most likely not substantial enough to have an 
impact on a problem.  It is often helpful to conceptualize responses as medicine, 
and offenders, victims, and locations as the patients.  It is important that patients 
receive the medicine and to insure that the amount of medicine is carefully 
monitored to improve the probability of effectiveness.

4. Willingness to Innovate.
We would also recommend that the police department continue in their pursuit to 
try innovative approaches to combat problems.  It was apparent throughout the 
project that project members were very committed to the project and that the 
departments culture of innovation is a driving force in its success.  Project staff 
were rarely, if ever, stuck in a mind-set of having to rely on traditional law 
enforcement methods to address a problem.  Instead, officers were cognizant of 
other non-traditional strategies that have worked in other communities and were 
interested in implementing strategies that would solve underlying problems rather 
than simply responding to incidents.

5. Willingness to Work with Others.
We would recommend that the police department continue to collaborate with 
students and other youth in the city to address community problems.  In the 
present project students played a major role in collecting and analyzing data to 
identify problems within their school.  Interviews and observations indicated that 
their participation in the project resulted in increased awareness of community 
problems, increased feelings of empowerment, and increased satisfaction with the 
police.

6. Commitment to Problem Solving.
We would recommend that the department continue its commitment toward 
problem solving projects.  From the beginning of the project it was apparent that 
officials in the department were committed to the idea of analyzing potential 
problems, developing a response to an identified problem, and following through 
with a response.  The commitment found within the department, and among the 
project staff toward the project, was found in very few other agencies across the 
county.


REFERENCES

Arias, Tony (2001).  Analysis Report: School Based Partnerships 99.  Unpublished 
manuscript.

California Department of Education (1999). Educational Demographics Unit Report. 
Sacramento: California Department of Education.

Fitzmaurice, Thomas (1998).  Understanding the Reasons for Violence Between Natural 
and Foreign Born People of Hispanic Origin and Seeking to Prevent it Through a 
Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Strategy. Unpublished manuscript.

Katz, Charles M., Vincent J. Webb, and Todd A. Armstrong (2003). Fear and gangs: A 
test of alternative theoretical models.  Justice Quarterly, 20, 1, Forthcoming.

Kenney, Dennis and Watson, Steuart (1999). Crime in the Schools: Reducing Conflict 
with Student Problem Solving.  Washington DC: National Institute of Justice.

Lane, Jodi and Meeker, James (2000).  Subcultural diversity and the fear of crime and 
gangs.  Crime & Delinquency, 46, 4, 497-521.

Rossi, Peter, Freeman, Howard, and Wright, Sonia (1979).  Evaluation: A Systematic 
Approach.  Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

Small, Margaret and Tetrick, Kellie (2001).  School violence: An overview.  Juvenile 
Justice, 8, 1, 3-12.

Toby, Jackson (1995).  The schools.  In Wilson, J. and Petersilia, J. (eds.) Crime. San 
Francisco: ICS Press.

Uchida, Craig (1999).  Assessment of the School-Based Partnership Grant Program.  A 
proposal Submitted to The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Program, 
Policy Support and Evaluation Division.

U.S. Census Bureau (2001). County and City Data Book, 2000.  Washington DC: U.S. 
Census Bureau.

Varano, Rita and Bezdikian, Veh (2001).  Addressing School-Related Crime and 
Disorder: Interim Lessons from School-Based Problem-Solving Projects.  Washington 
DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. 

APPENDIX A
Redlands Project Contact Card
Staff Name: 		Date: 	
First Contact:	? Yes	? No	Location of Contact:
		? Office Visit
Name of Youth: 			? Home Visit
		? School Visit
		? Phone
		? Other 	
Time of Contact: 	
Length of Contact (Hours/Minutes): 	
Contact Code:
Please check the appropriate sub-codes for each contact
01.	General Support
? Motivational
? Rapport Building
? Referral
? Recreation
? Community Service

02.	Personal Issues
? Gang
? Family
? Crisis Intervention
? Other Issues

03.	Family Issues
? Gang
? Family
? Crisis Intervention
? Other Issues

04.	Vocational 
? Job Preparation
? Job Training
? Job Location
? Job Placement
? Other
05.	General Support
? Academy 
Assessment
? School Advocacy
? School Placement
? GED Program
? Community 
Education
? College Placement
? Other

06.	Criminal Justice
? General Assistance
? Arrest
? Monitoring
? Home Confinement
? Probation
? Parole/Aftercare
? Violation of 
Probation or
    Parole
? Detention
? Prosecution
? Other
07.	General Issues
? Money 
Management
? Welfare
? Other

08.	Housing Issues
? Locating Housing
? Other

09.
	Counsel/Treatme
nt
? Psych/Soc. 
Assessment
? Alcohol Use
? Drug Use
? Physical/Mental 
Abuse
? Other

10.	Medical
? General Care
? Trauma
? Other
11.	Other
? Child Care
? Transportation
? Other

12.	Group Service
? Crisis Intervention
? Mediation
? Supervision
? Explaining Service
? Rapport Building
? Statutory Notice
? Recreation
? Community Service
? Group Discussion
COMMENTS/OUTCOMES: 	

Appendix B
Redlands Healthy Kids High School Questionnaire

? This is a survey about health-related behaviors and attitudes.  It includes questions about school 
safety and violence.  Whether or not you have ever done any of these things, please answer all the 
questions.  You will be able to answer that you have not done them.
? You do not have to answer all of the questions in this survey, but we hope that you will.
? Please do not write your name on this form or on the answer sheet.
? Do not identify yourself in any other way.
? Please mark all your answers on the answer sheet.  Do not write on the survey questionnaire.  
Only mark one answer unless told otherwise.


SECTION A
The fist questions ask for some background information about you

1. How old are you?
A. 13 old or younger
B. 14
C. 15
D. 16
E. 17
F. 18 years old or older

2. What is your sex?
A. Female
B. Male

3. How do you describe yourself (Mark all that apply.)?
A. American Indian
B. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
C. Asian or Asian American
D. Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
E. Hispanic or Latino/Latina
F. White (Caucasian/non-Hispanic)
G. Other

4. In what grade are you in?
A. 9th grade
B. 10th Grade
C. 11th Grade
D. 12th Grade
E. Other Grade
F. Ungraded




SECTION B
Now here are some questions about other things that you may have done or may have 
happened to you

During the past 30 days, how many times on school property have you
5. Happened on school property
0 times
1 time
2 or 3 
times
4 or 
more 
times
5a. Been offered, sold, or given an illegal 
drug?
A
B
C
D
5b. Been harassed because of your race or 
ethnicity?
A
B
C
D
5c. Been threatened or injured with a 
weapon such as a gun, knife or club?
A
B
C
D
5d. Been in a physical fight?
A
B
C
D
5e. Had your property stolen or deliberately 
damaged, such as your car, clothing, or 
books?
A
B
C
D


During the past 30 days, on how many days did you carry on school property
6. Carried on school property
0 days
1 day
2 or 3 
days
4 or 
more 
days
6a. A gun?
A
B
C
D
6b. A knife ?
A
B
C
D
6c. A club?
A
B
C
D
6d. Any other weapon?
A
B
C
D


7. How safe do you feel when you are at school?
a. Very safe
b. Safe
c. Unsafe
d. Very unsafe

8. How safe do you feel going to and from school?
a. Very safe
b. Safe
c. Unsafe
d. Very unsafe





9. How safe do you feel in your neighborhood?
a. Very safe
b. Safe
c. Unsafe
d. Very unsafe

10. During the past 30 days, on how many days did you not go to school because you 
felt you would be unsafe on your way to or from school? (circle one)
a. 0 days 
b. 1 day 
c. 2 or 3 days 
d. 4 or more days

11. During the past 30 days, on how many days did you not go to school because you 
felt you would be unsafe at school? (circle one)
a. 0 days 
b. 1 day 
c. 2 or 3 days 
d. 4 or more days

12. During the past 30 days, how many times were you in a physical fight on your 
way to or from school?
a. 0 days 
b. 1 day 
c. 2 or 3 days 
d. 4 or more days

13. If someone called you a name, would you  (circle one)?
a. Call him/her a name back 
b. Hit him/her
c. Ignore him/her                       
d. Tell a friend and not do anything else         
e. Tell a friend so that he/she would help you fight
f. Tell a teacher, principal or parent
g. Tell the School Resource Officer
h. Other (what?): ___________________









14. If someone pushed or shoved you, would you (circle one)?
a. Push him/her back  
b. Hit him/her
c. Ignore him/her                       
d. Tell a friend and not do anything else         
e. Tell a friend so that he/she would help you fight
f. Tell a teacher, principal or parent 
g. Tell the School Resource Officer
h. Other (what?):

15. In the past school year, how often have you witnessed any of the following gang 
activities at your school or on school grounds? (circle the letter that goes with 
your answer)

0 
times
1 time
2-3 
times
4 or more times
15a. Fights between members of 
different gangs
A
B
C
D
15b. Gang intimidation
A
B
C
D
15c. Gang recruiting
A
B
C
D

SECTION C
Here are some questions about your perceptions of the school environment

16. How often do you worry about problems of racial and ethnic relations in your 
school
a. Frequently
b. Occasionally
c. Hardly Ever
d. Never

17. How often to you worry about foreign immigrants going to school at Redlands 
High School
a. Frequently
b. Occasionally
c. Hardly Ever
d. Never

18. How often do you worry about changing moral standards in your school
a. Frequently
b. Occasionally
c. Hardly Ever
d. Never
  It is unclear how this sampling strategy might have influenced our sample.  One possibility is that by 
administering the test to students in English class is that Spanish speakers might be underrepresented.  
However, we were told by the school administration that the class is required by all students.
  The report specifically indicated that the age groups in which the respondents were categorized for the 
purpose of analysis were 12-15 years old, 15-18 years old, and 18 to 25 years old.  These categories are 
obviously not exclusive of one another, with a respondent being able to fit into two groups at one time.  
However, the figures presented add up to 100 percent.  It is assumed by this author that there was a 
typographical error in the analysis report by the project coordinator. The project coordinator could not be 
reached to address this issue.
  These measures have been previously used by Lane and Meeker (2000) and Katz, Webb, and Armstrong 
(2003) to examine the impact of subcultural diversity on fear of crime and fear of gangs.

55

59