'Marshall Plan' urged to stop L.A. gang crime
An L.A. study calls for an effort to give young people alternatives and stop the spread of crime into safe communities.
January 13, 2007
Los Angeles faces a crisis of gang violence that will continue to spread into previously safe neighborhoods unless the city adopts a Marshall Plan-like initiative to provide young people with jobs and other alternatives in gang-plagued communities, a city-financed study warned Friday.
The report by the Advancement Project called for a significantly greater investment — up to $1 billion during the first 18 months, according to project director Connie Rice — in a comprehensive mix of programs that include gang intervention and prevention and economic development.
Much of that money already may be in the city budget for such programs but not as part of a focused, comprehensive strategy, said Rice, a civil rights attorney.
The report also called for creation of a department of neighborhood safety to be headed by a "high-powered, politically skilled" gang czar to recast and run the city's scattered 23 anti-gang programs that cost $82 million annually.
"After a quarter century of a multibillion-dollar war on gangs, there are six times as many gangs and at least double the number of gang members in the region," the report states.
The $593,000 study was commissioned by the City Council a year ago and contains more than 100 recommendations.
The report calls for the Los Angeles Police Department to get smarter at gang enforcement by focusing more on the most violent of the city's more than 720 gangs, which have more than 39,000 members.
Last week, city officials said that gang crimes, including assaults and robberies, rose 14% last year. Fifty-six percent of the 478 homicides last year were gang-related.
Noting that nearly 75% of youth gang homicides in California occurred in Los Angeles County, the report said the violence would continue to spread without effective countermeasures.
An L.A. study calls for an effort to give young people alternatives and stop the spread of crime into safe communities.
January 13, 2007
Los Angeles faces a crisis of gang violence that will continue to spread into previously safe neighborhoods unless the city adopts a Marshall Plan-like initiative to provide young people with jobs and other alternatives in gang-plagued communities, a city-financed study warned Friday.
The report by the Advancement Project called for a significantly greater investment — up to $1 billion during the first 18 months, according to project director Connie Rice — in a comprehensive mix of programs that include gang intervention and prevention and economic development.
Much of that money already may be in the city budget for such programs but not as part of a focused, comprehensive strategy, said Rice, a civil rights attorney.
The report also called for creation of a department of neighborhood safety to be headed by a "high-powered, politically skilled" gang czar to recast and run the city's scattered 23 anti-gang programs that cost $82 million annually.
"After a quarter century of a multibillion-dollar war on gangs, there are six times as many gangs and at least double the number of gang members in the region," the report states.
The $593,000 study was commissioned by the City Council a year ago and contains more than 100 recommendations.
The report calls for the Los Angeles Police Department to get smarter at gang enforcement by focusing more on the most violent of the city's more than 720 gangs, which have more than 39,000 members.
Last week, city officials said that gang crimes, including assaults and robberies, rose 14% last year. Fifty-six percent of the 478 homicides last year were gang-related.
Noting that nearly 75% of youth gang homicides in California occurred in Los Angeles County, the report said the violence would continue to spread without effective countermeasures.
