Research Projects
Over 20 years of research and technical assistance spanning the Caribbean and Latin America.
Current Research
Tren de Aragua (TDA) Research
Recently, Dr. Katz has been researching issues surrounding Tren de Aragua (TDA), a transnational criminal organization that originated in Venezuela and has since expanded its operations across Latin America and into the United States. His work combines field-based research, law enforcement intelligence, and academic analysis to study TDA’s criminal evolution — from its origins in Venezuelan prisons, to its growth into a transnational organization involved in human trafficking, extortion, drug trafficking, and migrant exploitation. This research has placed Dr. Katz at the forefront of efforts to document TDA’s impact on the hemisphere’s security.
Delivering Capacity Building on Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Analysis for Caribbean First Responders
Through Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funding, Dr. Katz is providing specialized capacity-building and technical assistance to the Jamaica Constabulary Force and partner agencies to strengthen law enforcement and multi-sector responses to domestic and sexual violence — combining evidence-based prevention training, data-driven decision-making, and trauma-informed practice.
Delivering Capacity Building on Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Analysis for Caribbean First Responders
We are providing specialized capacity-building and technical assistance to strengthen law enforcement and multi-sector responses to domestic and sexual violence. Our work includes designing and delivering an intensive training program for police, first responders, health care providers, social workers, and community stakeholders focused on evidence-based prevention, victim-centered response, violence surveillance, and data-driven decision-making. We will also develop operational blueprints, guidebooks, and implementation frameworks that integrate trauma-informed and survivor-informed approaches while supporting long-term institutional adoption. Through practical exercises, stakeholder collaboration, and applied research, we help agencies build sustainable and locally grounded domestic violence prevention and response capabilities.
Eastern and Southern Caribbean Criminal Dynamics Study
As part of the USAID-funded Eastern and Southern Caribbean Criminal Dynamics Study, Charles M. Katz served as a technical advisor on a major regional assessment of gangs and criminal violence across eleven Caribbean nations, as well as on in-depth country studies of Saint Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Using a multi-method research design that combined youth surveys, police expert surveys, social network analysis (SNA), homicide data, and regional public opinion data, this work examined the prevalence, structure, and geographic concentration of gangs, the risk and protective factors associated with gang involvement, and the policy and practice implications for prevention, intervention, and suppression. The project was designed to move beyond description and provide governments and practitioners with actionable, evidence-based strategies for responding to gang violence in the Caribbean.
For more information, see: https://developmentpi.com/what-we-do/projects/latin-america-and-caribbean-learning-and-rapid-response-laclearn
Youth Resilience, Inclusion, and Empowerment (Y-RIE) Program
I worked as a technical assistance consultant for the USAID-sponsored, DAI-administered Y-RIE program in St. Lucia, Grenada, and Guyana. My responsibilities included supporting the program’s initial development and helping create and validate a risk assessment tool tailored to the Caribbean context. I collaborated with faculty and staff from the University of the West Indies to enhance local capacity to adapt and use this risk assessment tool. Additionally, I conducted training sessions for local stakeholders and partners on implementing the instrument.
For more information, see: https://bb.usembassy.gov/the-united-states-launches-three-new-programs-to-benefit-grenadas-youth/
Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Systems Reform in Suriname
This project examined the institutional systems used to collect and report domestic and sexual violence data in Suriname. Supported by the Inter-American Development Bank and carried out by Charles Katz and Karla Freemon at Arizona State University, it focused on the Domestic Violence Reporting Form (DVRF) and the broader administrative, legal, and organizational processes tied to gender-based violence reporting. The project assessed current data-collection practices, identified stakeholder and policymaker data needs, evaluated institutional capacity, and documented barriers to effective data maintenance and dissemination. Using a mixed-methods approach, the project combined document analysis, stakeholder consultation, qualitative interviews and focus groups, and administrative data from police, courts, and victim-service agencies. The project was designed to inform stronger data governance and improve the foundations for policy development, interagency coordination, and evidence-based responses to domestic and sexual violence in Suriname.
LibrES: “for an El Salvador without Gender-Based Violence”
This project was funded by a $35 million, five-year cooperative agreement awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The USAID LibrES activity aimed to eliminate Gender Based Violence in El Salvador. ASU led LibrES in collaboration with seven partners. The Activity had two tiers of results: firstly, it aims to reduce violence against women and vulnerable populations, improve perceptions of safety and security, and decrease illegal migration. Secondly, it aimed to establish innovative approaches and ensure long-term sustainability to benefit collaborating organizations.
For more information, see: https://www.statepress.com/article/2024/01/elsalvador-gendered-violence
Crime Analysis Training for English and Dutch-Speaking Caribbean Nations
I served as the principal investigator and instructor for the crime analysis component of the CariSECURE project from 2019 to 2021. The project’s objective was to strengthen the organizational capacity of nine English-speaking Caribbean nations and Suriname in utilizing applied crime analysis to generate, analyze, and report data. This effort aimed to support police operations, decision-making, and policy formulation. My graduate students and I delivered approximately 360 hours of training to nearly 30 Caribbean crime analysts across the region, enabling them to understand, engage with, and implement crime analysis concepts and methodologies. Furthermore, this training empowered them to identify and address issues pertinent to their respective police services and countries. Notably, except for trainees from Trinidad and Tobago, all participants served as their nations’ inaugural crime analysts.
For more information, see: https://www.undp.org/barbados/press-releases/strengthening-response-crime-caribbean-using-data-driven-approaches and https://news.asu.edu/20210413-global-engagement-asu-team-trains-first-crime-analysts-9-caribbean-nations
CariSECURE
In 2018 and 2019, I served as a change management consultant for the CariSECURE project, administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project involved ten Eastern and Southern Caribbean nations, aiming to strengthen their national and regional institutions’ capacity to collect, analyze, and utilize police data for the development and implementation of data-driven, evidence-based policies and programs. As part of my responsibilities, I conducted a comprehensive change complexity assessment, which included evaluating the region’s readiness for change and identifying potential challenges that policymakers and police leaders might face during the implementation of the Police Records Management Information System (PRMIS), which is intended to replace paper-based police reports. Additionally, I served as a technical advisor in establishing the Regional Crime Observatory (RSS), an initiative designed to support efforts in reducing crime levels at both the national and regional levels through advanced crime analysis.
For more information, see: https://www.undp.org/latin-america/carisecure and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVIAEX3Cp_0
Community, Family, and Youth Resilience Program (CFYR)
From 2017 to 2020, I served as an external evaluation advisor for the Community, Family, and Youth Resilience Program (CFYR), providing technical assistance in the adaptation of the YSET—a risk assessment instrument designed to identify at-risk youth for program services. This support was extended to specialists across three program countries: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Guyana. The primary objective of CFYR was to mitigate youth involvement in violence, reduce associated risks, and strengthen protective factors related to violence among young individuals. The efforts undertaken by my team and I on this project culminated in an internal evaluation of the Family Matters program utilizing a randomized controlled trial, a report on the validity and reliability of the YSET, and training local program specialists in the utilization of the revised YSET tool.
For more information, see: https://www.creativeassociatesinternational.com/past-programs/eastern-southern-caribbean-community-families-youth-resilience/
Honduras Justice, Human Rights, and Security Strengthening
Through a subcontract with Development Assistance International (DAI), Dr. Katz provided research, technical assistance, and training to support Unidos Por La Justicia, a major USAID-funded development project in Honduras. Unidos Por La Justica, a rule of law-focused project, provided Honduras with assistance to improve social justice, safety, and security. Dr. Katz engaged in projects related to community policing as well as research on homicide and crimes against women. He also led a project with the National Police College of Honduras to build research capacity by developing and delivering Applied Research Training (ART) to Honduras police personnel.
For more information, see: https://dai-global-developments.com/articles/modernized-honduran-judicial-system-promises-lower-costs-increased-efficiency-safer-communities-and-greater-transparency/
Proponte Más: Development of the IMC Risk Assessment Instrument
To support data-driven prevention programming, Dr. Katz and his team developed and validated the Honduran Instrumento de Medición del Comportamiento (IMC), a culturally adapted behavioral risk and protective factor assessment tool. The IMC measures youth risk across individual, family, peer, school, and community domains and provides empirically derived cut-points for program eligibility. This work marked one of the first locally validated criminological risk assessment tools in the Northern Triangle, strengthening the capacity of service providers and policymakers to allocate prevention resources based on measurable need rather than anecdote or ideology.
For more information, see: https://www.creativeassociatesinternational.com/past-programs/honduras-proponte-mas-secondary-violence-prevention-activity/
An Evaluation of Proponte Más: A Family-Based Violence and Gang Prevention Program
My evaluation of Proponte Más represented the first randomized controlled trial of a family-based violence prevention program conducted in Central America. Implemented in high-violence communities in Honduras, the project funded by USAID tested whether structured family counseling could reduce youth risk factors associated with gang involvement and delinquency. The study demonstrated measurable improvements in family functioning and reductions in risk exposure, providing rare experimental evidence that prevention science can be successfully implemented in fragile, high-crime environments. This project helped establish that rigorous evaluation is both feasible and necessary for Latin American violence-prevention policy.
For more information, see: https://www.creativeassociatesinternational.com/past-programs/honduras-proponte-mas-secondary-violence-prevention-activity/
Assessing the Transnational Criminal Capacity of MS-13 in the United States and El Salvador
This federally funded study, led by Dr. Edward Maguire replicated and extended Charles Katz’s prior U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) research assessing the structure and transnational capacity of MS-13 (see below). Using surveys of law enforcement gang experts, interviews with gang members, stakeholder interviews, and social network analysis in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and San Salvador, the project examined gang organization, recruitment, and cross-border connections. Findings showed MS-13 operates primarily as loosely connected local cliques with limited centralized control or sustained transnational criminal capacity, challenging dominant policy narratives and informing more targeted prevention, enforcement, and intervention strategies.
Understanding Best Practices in USAID Funded Employment Intervention Programming for High-Risk Populations
In El Salvador, and supported by USAID, Dr. Katz led a team of eight graduate students to rapidly evaluate youth employment intervention programming aimed at reducing violence involvement by enhancing workforce readiness and economic opportunities among high-risk youth. The study examined whether structured job training, placement support, and employer engagement could bolster protective factors and decrease delinquency risk in some of the country’s most violence-affected communities. Employing rigorous analytical methods, the findings indicated that employment programs can enhance future orientation and economic attachment; however, their effectiveness in preventing violence depends on precise targeting, sustained engagement, and integration with broader support systems. This project contributed to clarifying the realistic role that employment initiatives can play within comprehensive violence prevention strategies.
For more information, see: https://garciabodan.com/en/proyecto-soluciones/
Identifying Risk and Protective Factors for Delinquency, Drug Use, and Gang Membership among Salvadorian youth
Complementing the employment evaluation, Dr. Katz and his team conducted a comprehensive study of youth risk and protective factors in El Salvador to better understand the drivers of violence and gang involvement. Drawing on multi-domain measurement across individual, family, peer, school, and community contexts, the study identified the constellation of factors most strongly associated with delinquency and gang participation. The findings reinforced the importance of family functioning, peer networks, and neighborhood exposure in shaping youth trajectories, while also highlighting protective mechanisms that can be strengthened through policy intervention. This work provided empirical grounding for prevention programming in El Salvador, helping shift policy discussions toward measurable risk reduction rather than relying solely on reactive enforcement.
Evaluation of the Salvadoran Gang Truce
Sponsored by USAID, the evaluation of the Salvadoran gang truce provided the first rigorous analysis of a nationally brokered gang ceasefire in Central America. Using official homicide data and advanced statistical modeling, the study found a substantial short-term reduction in homicides following the truce, while also identifying structural and political vulnerabilities that limited long-term sustainability. This work contributed to global debates on violence interruption, state–gang negotiation, and the role of third-party brokers, offering evidence-based lessons for governments considering nontraditional violence reduction strategies.
Prevalence and Patterns of Troublesome Youth Groups in the Caribbean
In 2012, I volunteered on a project with the Regional Security System (RSS) to research gangs and related violence in the English-speaking Caribbean, as mandated by the Caribbean Council of Ministers. The seven RSS member countries—Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada—requested an assessment to determine if resources should be allocated to address the issue and what actions to take. We used surveys of youth, detainees, and police, stakeholder interviews, and homicide data. After starting the RSS TYG assessment, USAID funded and expanded the project to include Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
For more information, see: https://scm.oas.org/pdfs/2024/CP49826_4.2_1.pdf
Assessing Citizen Insecurity throughout the Caribbean
Around 2011, I collaborated with a team of Caribbean criminologists led by Anthony Harriott on a project funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to assess citizen insecurity across the Caribbean. I was responsible for coordinating with national experts throughout the region to report on street gangs and organized crime in the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. The research was incorporated as Chapter 3, titled “Reducing the Contribution of Street Gangs and Organized Crime to Violence,” in the UNDP’s 2012 Caribbean Human Development Report.
For more information, see: https://www.undp.org/publications/caribbean-human-development-report-2012
Central American gangs as a proxy for third-country nationals promoting politically motivated violence in the U.S.
Going beyond a doorstep defense of U.S. security requires developing strategic responses to serious threats at some distance from U.S. borders. One such threat is that of third-country nationals who use Mexican territory as a gateway to enter the United States, often legally, to engage in criminal activity or to commit political violence. This project, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, extended existing studies of transnational criminal gangs in Central America to anticipate methods and approaches that could be used by third-country nationals to enter the US to commit politically motivated violence in the United States. The study encompassed interviews with over 100 active MS13 gang members in Santa Tecla, El Salvador; more than four Salvadorans detained in the United States and being deported to El Salvador; dozens of law enforcement officials from the United States and El Salvador; as well as intelligence data from the DHS ICE National Gang Unit.
For more information, see: https://news.asu.edu/content/grad-students-research-central-american-gangs-violence-us
The Violence Prevention Academy (VPA)
In 2008, the Violence Prevention Academy (VPA) was established to train school-based personnel to develop comprehensive, evidence-based violence prevention strategies tailored to the specific needs of participating schools in Trinidad. The Academy was structured around four key components: (1) a training program, (2) the creation of a school-specific violence prevention plan for each participating institution, (3) the implementation of these plans, and (4) a formal evaluation of both the execution and impact of each plan. The training comprises four sessions designed to familiarize participants with the violence prevention planning process. Under the guidance of Academy staff, participants applied the knowledge they had acquired to develop and implement violence-prevention initiatives within their respective schools. The program was sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and was implemented across 25 schools nationwide.
For more information, see: https://archives.newsday.co.tt/2008/09/22/violence-prevention-academy-one-of-many-strategies/
Diagnosing and Responding to Street Gangs in Antigua and Barbuda
In June 2008, the OAS Department of Public Security received a formal request from the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to assess the gang situation in Antigua and Barbuda and to formulate recommendations for addressing the issue. I served as one of three team members responsible for diagnosing the nation’s gang problem and evaluating its capacity to respond. Recommendations for capacity building to address gang-related issues were subsequently provided to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.
For more information, see: https://archives.newsday.co.tt/2008/04/24/oas-helps-to-fight-gangs/
Technical Assistance to the Ministry of National Security, Trinidad and Tobago
From approximately 2005 to early 2010, team members representing Arizona State University, George Mason University, Sam Houston State University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte collaborated with the Ministry of National Security of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to formulate a comprehensive strategic plan aimed at addressing the country’s violence issues. As part of this initiative, I developed a multi-methodological approach to diagnose the nation’s gang-related challenges and led the development of a tailored, comprehensive response to violent gangs. Furthermore, the team implemented a series of reforms within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), including the establishment of a Homicide Prevention Working Group, a gang unit, a Crime and Problem Analysis Unit (CAPA), a homicide unit, the Integrated Ballistic Information Network, and the promotion of community- and problem-oriented policing.
For more information, see: http://www.edmaguire.net/research/4