RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Fewer liquor outlets in gang-infested neighborhoods could result in less violence, according to a new study authored by a UC Riverside sociology professor and two graduate students.
The researchers mapped incidents of gang violence between 2000 and 2002 and compared that map to another showing the locations of outlets licensed to sell liquor.
They found that Riverside's Eastside community had both the highest concentration of gang-related violence and the highest density of alcohol outlets in the city, according to a UCR statement summarizing the study findings.
"The findings suggest that alcohol is directly related to gang-related violence, suggesting that a way to enhance gang prevention and intervention efforts would be to use alcohol policy levers to limit outlet density," wrote Professor Robert Nash Parker, co-director of UCR's Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, and sociology graduate students Kate Luther and Lisa Murphy
They said increased liquor license compliance checks to verify that retailers are not selling alcoholic beverages to underage customers might be one solution.
"In any community, it is well-known that there are places that won't check identification," Parker said. "Previous studies show that underage drinkers have a 65 percent success rate in buying alcohol without any challenge."
He said that if others studies confirm a link between police alcohol stings and decreased gang activity, it might mean stepped up enforcement that could translate into millions of dollars saved "on prisons and gang-intervention programs."
The researchers' study, titled "Availability, Gang Violence, and Alcohol Policy: Gaining Support for Alcohol Regulation via Harm Reduction Strategies," is in the current issue of the quarterly journal "Contemporary Drug Problems."
The study evolved from a 12-year gang intervention project in Riverside that offered insights into the relationship between alcohol consumption among gang members and their propensity for violence, according to Parker.
"Gang members always describe the role that alcohol plays," Parker wrote. "They sip 40-ouncers, they party, they get their courage up. These for the most part are underage drinkers. If alcohol use is a central part of their activity, reducing it might reduce the rate of violent activity.
"It may be that if we interrupt the supply, we will reduce their ability to get pumped up for a fight, and reduce gang violence."
The researchers mapped incidents of gang violence between 2000 and 2002 and compared that map to another showing the locations of outlets licensed to sell liquor.
They found that Riverside's Eastside community had both the highest concentration of gang-related violence and the highest density of alcohol outlets in the city, according to a UCR statement summarizing the study findings.
"The findings suggest that alcohol is directly related to gang-related violence, suggesting that a way to enhance gang prevention and intervention efforts would be to use alcohol policy levers to limit outlet density," wrote Professor Robert Nash Parker, co-director of UCR's Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, and sociology graduate students Kate Luther and Lisa Murphy
They said increased liquor license compliance checks to verify that retailers are not selling alcoholic beverages to underage customers might be one solution.
"In any community, it is well-known that there are places that won't check identification," Parker said. "Previous studies show that underage drinkers have a 65 percent success rate in buying alcohol without any challenge."
He said that if others studies confirm a link between police alcohol stings and decreased gang activity, it might mean stepped up enforcement that could translate into millions of dollars saved "on prisons and gang-intervention programs."
The researchers' study, titled "Availability, Gang Violence, and Alcohol Policy: Gaining Support for Alcohol Regulation via Harm Reduction Strategies," is in the current issue of the quarterly journal "Contemporary Drug Problems."
The study evolved from a 12-year gang intervention project in Riverside that offered insights into the relationship between alcohol consumption among gang members and their propensity for violence, according to Parker.
"Gang members always describe the role that alcohol plays," Parker wrote. "They sip 40-ouncers, they party, they get their courage up. These for the most part are underage drinkers. If alcohol use is a central part of their activity, reducing it might reduce the rate of violent activity.
"It may be that if we interrupt the supply, we will reduce their ability to get pumped up for a fight, and reduce gang violence."