What is the aim of this review? This Campbell systematic summarizes the evidence from 30 studies of the effects of BWCs on several officer and citizen behaviors. The majority of studies are from the United States. 1.2 | What is this review about? The last decade has been marked by the rapid adoption of BWCs by the police and a growing body of evaluation research on the technology's effects. Spurred on by high-profile officer-involved shooting incidents and protests, many citizens and community groups have supported the adoption of BWCs, hoping that this technology will deter police misconduct, better capture use-of-force events, and increase police accountability and transparency. At the same time, some police officers and community members have expressed concerns that BWCs might discourage citizens from reporting crimes or cause officers to pull back on preventative or proactive activities that may help prevent offending. This Campbell

This Campbell systematic review examines the predictors of youth gang membership in low‐ and middle‐income countries. The review summarises findings from eight reports from five countries and the Caribbean region. The lack of available evidence limits the extent to which clear conclusions can be drawn about the factors associated with youth gang membership. The review is based on a very small number of studies, and has significant limitations in coverage. The limited evidence of the correlates of youth gang membership suggests factors that may drive gang membership and suggests areas where interventions may prove promising in the family, school, and community domains, as well as provide a starting point for future studies. Plain language summary Evidence shows which factors predict gang membership in low‐ and middle‐income countries, but more studies neededYouth gang membership is associated with delinquency, violent crime and trafficking. A range of individual, peer, family, school and community factors can predict the likelihood of youths getting involved with gangs. Knowledge of these factors can be helpful for reducing gang membership. What is this review about?Youth gang membership is associated with delinquency, violent crime and trafficking – and gang members are themselves frequently the victims of these offences. Yet youth gangs can also provide a form of social capital, a sense of belonging and purpose to disenfranchised youth.This review identifies the factors associated with young people joining gangs, and the differences between gang‐involved and non‐gang‐involved youth. Understanding these associations is essential to reduce the levels of gang membership and the incidence of related violence. What studies are included?Studies of youth gangs in in low‐ and middle‐income countries were included, with participants aged 10‐29 years. The studies had to assess an individual predictor or correlate of youth gang membership, where the predictor or correlate is a single characteristic, not a conglomeration of multiple constructs. Included studies had designs including data on both gang‐involved and non‐gang‐involved youth, recruited with strategies that were eligible.Nine studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. One of these studies did not report all the required data and so was not included in the analyses. The studies were conducted in Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, El Salvador, China and Brazil.Factors associated with gang membership Domain Significantly associated with gang membership No significant association with gang membership IndividualDelinquency Alcohol and soft drug use Male gender Risky sexual behaviours Employment Psychological risk factors (low self‐control, impulsivity) and lack of psychological protective factors (empathy, future orientation, belief in moral order) VictimisationAge Minority ethnicity Protective behaviours surrounding sexual behaviour or alcohol and soft drug use.PeerSocialising with delinquent peersSocialising with pro‐social peers...

Background Police can play a role in tackling violent extremism through disrupting terrorist plots and by working with communities to identify individuals at risk of radicalisation. Police programmes to tackle violent extremism can involve a range of approaches and partnerships. One approach includes efforts to improve community connectedness by working to address social isolation, belonging, economic opportunities and norms and values that may lead people to endorse or support violent extremist causes and groups. The assumption is that the risk of an individual being radicalised in the community can be reduced when police work in pothe international legal ordersitive ways with community members and groups to mobilise and support activities that help generate a sense of belonging and trust. Police programmes that build a sense of belonging and trust may help ensure individuals are not influenced by activities that violent extremists use to attract support for their cause. Objectives The review aimed to systematically examine whether or not police programmes that seek to promote community connectedness are effective in reducing violent extremist behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. The review also sought to identify whether effectiveness varied by the intervention type and location. Search Methods Using terrorism‐related terms, we searched the Global Policing Database to identify eligible published and unpublished evaluations between January 2002 and December 2018. We supplemented this with comprehensive searches of relevant terrorism and counter‐terrorism websites and research repositories, reference harvesting of eligible and topic‐relevant studies, forward citation searches of eligible studies, hand‐searches of leading journals and consultations with experts. Selection Criteria Eligible studies needed to include an initiative that involved the police, either through police initiation, development, leadership or where the police were receivers of the programme (such as a training programme) or where the police delivered or implemented the intervention. The initiative also needed to be some kind of a strategy, technique, approach, activity, campaign, training, programme, directive or funding/organisational change that involved police in some way to promote community connectedness. Community connectedness was defined as being community consultation, partnership or collaboration with citizens and/or organisational entities. Eligible outcomes included violent extremism, along with radicalisation and disengagement which are considered to be attitudinal and belief‐based components of violent extremism. These outcomes could be measured via self‐report instruments, interviews, observations and/or official data. To be included, studies could utilise individuals, micro‐ or macroplaces as the participants. Finally, studies needed to provide a quantitative impact evaluation that utilised a randomised or quasi‐experimental design with a comparison group that either did not receive the intervention, or that received “b...

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This Campbell systematic review examines why the implementation of preventive interventions to reduce youth involvement in gangs and gang crime may fail or succeed low and middle‐income countries. The review summarises findings from four studies conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean. These include findings from field observations and interviews with 63 former gang members in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, 940 respondents in three Jamaican communities, 24 participants in Nicaragua and 25 participants in Peru. It is not possible to make any conclusions regarding the effectiveness of preventive interventions. Four factors may be important for intervention design and implementation: Having a range of programme components that appeal to youth such as arts and sports. Active engagement of youths and gang leaders in forming and implementing the programme. Ensuring continuity of social ties outside the gang which are fragile and may not be preserved after short‐term interventions. Ongoing violence and gang involvement limits successful implementation so needs to be addressed. Plain Language Summary BackgroundYouth gang membership and the crime that it generates is a serious problem in low‐and middle‐income countries, involving many thousands of young people and resulting in billions of dollars of crime, loss of life, and social disruption. This review assessed the evidence on preventive interventions that focus on increasing social capacity to reduce gang membership or rehabilitate gang members outside of the criminal justice system. ApproachWe conducted an extensive search of the published and unpublished academic literature, as well as government and non‐government organization reports to identify studies assessing the effects of preventive youth gang interventions in low‐and middle‐income countries. We also included studies assessing the reasons for success or failure of such interventions and conducted a thematic synthesis of overarching themes identified across the studies. ResultsWe did not identify any studies assessing the effect of preventive gang interventions in LMICs using an experimental or quasi‐experimental design. Four studies evaluating the reasons for implementation success or failure were included. The limited number of studies included in the review suggests that the findings identified here should provide a direction for future research, rather than any substantive or generalizable claim to best practice. Specifically, the synthesis of reasons for implementation success or failure identified five factors that may be important for intervention design and implementation. Preventive gang interventions may be more likely to be successfully implemented when they include: a range of program components that appeal to youth, active engagement of youth, where their agency is embraced and leadership is offered, programs that offer continuity of social ties outside of the gang, and a focus on demobilization and reconciliation. ImplicationsThe lack of evidence prevents us from making any conclusion...