DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06255.v1
title: Street Gangs and Drug Sales in Pasadena and Pomona, California, 1989-1991
title: Version 1

description: These data were collected to explore connections between street gangs and drug distribution. The research objectives for this study were (1) to assess the magnitude of gang involvement in cocaine and other drug sales in two suburban cities, (2) to compare the characteristics of gang-involved drug sale incidents with those without gang involvement, (3) to assess the generalizability of findings on cocaine to other drugs, and from urban to more suburban settings, and (4) to translate the implications of the research findings into the development of law enforcement strategies. Law enforcement arrest records and gang membership records were obtained for two study sites, Pasadena and Pomona, California. Part 1, the incident-level file, supplies information on arrest incidents qualifying as drug sales. Variables in the file include presence at arrest of violence, guns, cash, and drugs, types of charges, gang characteristics of the incident, racial/ethnic makeup of arrestees, gender of arrestees, and gang affiliation of arrestees. Part 2, the participant-level file, supplies data on each participant in each incident. Variables in this file include gender, ethnicity, gang membership status, and charges.
description: This study was conducted to explore connections between street gangs and drug distribution. Most sources (including law enforcement opinion) suggest a strong connection, with increases in violence as a side effect. No such connection was found in earlier research, but the emergence of "crack" cocaine and subsequent law enforcement beliefs in a strong link between gangs and crack distribution led to the initiation of this study. The research objectives for this study were (1) to assess the magnitude of gang involvement in cocaine and other drug sales in two suburban cities, (2) to compare the characteristics of gang-involved drug sale incidents with those without gang involvement, (3) to assess the generalizability of findings on cocaine to other drugs, and from urban to more suburban settings, and (4) to translate the implications of the research findings into the development of law enforcement strategies.
description: Law enforcement arrest records and gang membership records were obtained for two study sites, Pasadena and Pomona, California. At each site, researchers were given a computer-generated list of all suspects arrested for drug sale offenses between 1989 and 1991, along with co-arrestees charged with incident-related offenses. If the type of drug was not clarified by the arrest code or drug evidence listed, case records were checked in order to categorize incidents as cocaine-involved or not. Cases including the sales of other drugs in addition to cocaine were categorized as cocaine sales. Teams of trained, supervised students extracted information relevant to the incident from case file material.
description: Variables in the incident-level file include presence at arrest of violence, guns, cash, and drugs, types of charges, gang characteristics of the incident, racial/ethnic makeup of arrestees, gender of arrestees, and gang affiliation of arrestees. Variables in the participant-level file include gender, ethnicity, gang membership status, and charges.
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Performed consistency checks.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes..
description: Presence of Common Scales: No scales were used.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS0: Study-Level Files 
 DS1: Incident-Level Data 
 DS2: Participant-Level Data 
 DS4: SAS Data Definition Statements for Incident-Level Data 
 DS5: SAS Data Definition Statements for Participant-Level Data
description: Cities in the United States with populations of 100,000-300,000 that reported the onset of gangs prior to 1981.
description: Pasadena and Pomona were selected from a pool of cities with populations of 100,000-300,000 that had reported the existence of gangs prior to 1981. All drug sale incidents in the two selected cities from 1989 to 1991 were included, as were all suspects arrested for these offenses, and their co-arrestees. Incidents were coded as cocaine or non-cocaine, gang or non-gang. Up to 100 cases in each of the four groups were sampled randomly from the list constructed for each city.