Curbing Gang Violence

I have just read Frank del Olmos’ column “Orange County Can Step In to Diminish Gang Violence” (Op-Ed Page, Sept. 25). While the advice was sound, there is more to it than that. The successes in curbing gang violence in East Los Angeles weren’t due to the efforts of one group, and it didn’t come about in a period of four or five years with the creation of the Community Youth Gang Services Project.

Efforts to curb gang violence in East Los Angeles go back to the mid-1970s, when the California Youth Authority (CYA) implemented the Gang Violence Reduction Project (GVRP) in East Los Angeles in November of 1976. And before the state stepped in, a group of mothers who had seen their sons killed decided they were going to prevent their remaining children from being killed. And the Catholic Church also became involved in these mothers’ quests.

GVRP was the successful program that provided city and county officials with a model to create the Community Youth Gang Services Project. Both involve interagency cooperation, and success has come from the involvement of the community in both efforts. The involvement of parents, the business community, the churches, as well as government, has been an integral part of the success story.

Recent increases in gang-related deaths can be attributed to the overflow from the intensity of the gang wars in South-Central Los Angeles. In spite of this increased violence, the East Los Angeles community is fighting desperately to hold the line. Some of the violence is still leaching through the defenses. This may have something to do with the fact that these defenses have been weakened somewhat when the consultants from the Youth Gang Services Project were moved to South-Central to work their magic in that community.

A coalescence has been occurring in East Los Angeles during this decade that has gone virtually undetected. Quietly, this community has been looking into itself for answers to some of its problems. If Orange County, or any other community, is going to be able to fight back and nip the gang violence problems in the bud . . . it must be a concentrated community effort that involves government, schools, churches, businesses and families.

JULIO CALDERON

Information Officer

Department of Youth Authority

Sacramento