Maybe I misunderstood Pilgrim's vague comment.
It was tongue in cheek, but there were some parts of the strategy that would work today. The U.S. Army found that they couldn't engage the Indians in decisive battle. They did find they could deprive the Indians of food, shelter, and refuge, and thus force their submission to the U.S. government's policy towards the Indians.
Instead of granting the Indian tribes their winter refuge, the U.S. Army started conducting winter campaigns which kept the Indian tribes on the run. Whenever an Indian village was encountered, the Army troops burned the housing and food stocks of the Indians, plus they killed the Indians' horses. Faced with starvation and freezing to death, the Indians submitted to the U.S. government.
My post on Crime Free Mutit-Housing programs can address the housing and shelter issue of the gang bangers. The bangers don't live in cardboard boxes in the parks and under freeway overpasses. They go home to houses and apartment complexes. CFMH encourages and enables property owners and landlords to screen their prospective tenants to weed out potential problems before they happen, and to actively get rid of criminal and disruptive occupants. The goal is safe and secure housing for the tenants.
Likewise, in the case of single unit rentals, neighbors can sue the owner/landlord if he rents to criminal or disruptive persons who affect the safety and peace of the neighborhood.
As far as the starvation tactic goes, there was a criminal family who lived in the town where I worked when I was a deputy sheriff. There were four criminal sons, 'bangers', who lived with their mother. When the human services office went after the mother for welfare fraud, she couldn't afford to feed her worthless sons. They lost their secure place of shelter and refuge.
Today, the 'bangers' don't have horses but they do have automobiles. Strict enforcement of the vehicle code and other statutes will eventually deprive them of their transportation.
Another strategy is an aggressive probation department who keeps tight control on 'bangers' who are on probation. Probation searches which do not require a warrant or probable cause keep the 'bangers' on their toes. Invariably they screw up and go back to jail, and in many cases end up with additional charges to keep them there longer.
The whole point of the strategy is to keep after them. You don't stop just because they are quiet. You keep after them until they leave town.
Pilgrim
Most of the time, when one dials
