La Habra : City to Launch Gang Prevention Program

The city has unveiled a $51,034 Preventive Gang Activity Program that officials hope will spare La Habra some of the drug and gang violence so common in other cities.

City Manager Lee Risner said gang activity in La Habra is limited to about 12 individuals and “a substantial percentage of this number is incarcerated or (about) to stand trial for various incidents.”

He estimated that an additional “75 to 100 young people, predominately males, might have some propensity” to become gang members.

Risner said the city, the La Habra City School District and the Neighborhood Housing Service of La Habra have joined forces to organize the program. A $25,000 grant will be combined with local funds to provide educational and counseling services to fourth- and fifth-grade students, he said.

Glen D. Hayes, executive director of the Neighborhood Housing Service, said the program “is designed to expose the reality of gang activity and its serious effects which in some cases are fatal.”

The program provides $27,000 for a counselor who will meet with school children as well as neighborhood groups in the El Campo, Grace Pacific, and Alta Vista communities.

The school district has initiated another program targeting youths who are identified to be “at risk.”

Felipe Plascencia, newly hired youth and community services coordinator, indicated that the program will include direct interaction with students as well as involvement of parents and community agencies, including the clergy.