Local News in Brief : Gang Crackdown Move
A legal advocacy group announced Wednesday that it is launching a campaign to toughen laws, law-enforcement procedures and court rulings in an effort to crack down on street-gang violence.
The state juvenile justice system’s effort to rehabilitate juvenile offenders “has not only failed, it has given young juveniles the impression that they can commit crimes without paying much of a price,” Michael Rushford, president of the Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Parker Center headquarters.
Rushford was joined at a news conference by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates; Vance Ray, legal affairs secretary for Gov. George Deukmejian; John Malone, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and Gardena Police Chief Richard Propster, a representative of the California Police Chief’s Assn.--and all of who said they support the foundation’s efforts.
Donna Clontz, who will head the campaign for the foundation, said the six-month effort will include the development of suggestions for legislators, lobbying organizations and citizens groups on how to strengthen the juvenile justice system and the submission of friend-of-the-court briefs in cases that test juvenile legal issues.
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