Gang Training - New England Street Level Gangs: Identifications, Observations, and Investigations

The Vermont Police Academy is thrilled to have the New England Gang School provide this 2-day gang training to the Vermont law enforcement community. The training will focus on actual practices and presented in an easy to understand curriculum setting. The primary focus is on the recognition and understanding of gang activity, behavior, and investigations. It is noted the indicators of deception, criminal behavior, individual actions, or group conspiracy are the same regardless of the crime. And so, an understanding of the skills taught, can be applicable in any jurisdiction.

This course does not simply review unnecessary YouTube “shock” videos or focus on outdated materials from the west coast; nor is it franchised or borrowed. To the contrary, you will learn with specific purpose and focus on New England current trends that are applicable to you. The mission of the New England Gang School is to provide a fresh, current, and local, prospective on gang intervention with a focus on professionalism and future court case preparation. The training is presented in such a manner that truly respects the individual subjects of your investigations and encounters; thereby increasing your successes and minimizing your professional exposure and subsequent liability.

Introduction to Gangs and Gang Life: This blockof instruction will discuss the basics; however, it will be presented through a unique and more specific manner than a traditional Intro to Gangs course. Whether you are an experienced investigator or a relatively new officer, this course will introduce you to the kinds of practices, design, and identifiers of New England style gangs. The presentation will include actual “take-away” lessons that can be employed, rather than just a generic overview. This course aims to be unique in that it specifically addresses the kinds of local gangs you encounter in the course of your work; as they relate, or do not relate, to the national gangs more commonly discussed.

Characteristics of Armed Persons: The behavior of armed persons varies far beyond just “waistband adjustments” and “straight-arms.” There are specific behaviors that give cues regarding whether a weapon is carried, hidden, passed off, or gone, and the behaviors can vary from street encounters, to car stops, to bars, or house parties. All will be discussed. The recognition of armed persons, as well as the recognition of deception, is the fundamental building block to the recovery of firearms. This portion does not cover the defensive tactics or the use of force required to combat the presence of firearms, but rather, the types of identifiers that assist in the recognition, detection, and location of firearms.

Motorcycle Gangs: A look at how 1%er Motorcycle Gangs manifest here in New England. Many of the motorcycle gang courses we have all taken will often only discuss the national trends and the historical crimes. This course aims to cover that information as well, yet with attention to the manner in which the local bike gangs are organizing here.

Honor in Policing Gangs: This portion will discuss the reality of how the youth get drawn into the gangs before they even recognize where they are, and how this new “family” becomes, in many cases, the only option. This is a discussion based on the words of former and current gang members. The purpose of this portion is that it benefits us all to hear the role that law enforcement plays in a gang member’s personal story. And how those individual contacts that you have with gang suspects, can add up, and become as significant to them as any other life contacts that they have. It can be eye-opening to view the gang members’ perception of us, through the lens of our own actions. Ask yourself a question, “If the gang member you arrested today, were to turn their life around, and then write a book in 20 years… What kind of character would you be in that book?” Were you the "animal" who arrested them? Or were you the good cop who caught them? And can you be proud of your actions during your history of encounters with them?