Killing Spurs City to Consider Hiring Gang Prevention Expert

Spurred to action by last month’s gang-related shooting death at a local restaurant, the City Council today will consider hiring a full-time gang prevention specialist.

The specialist, who would be paid $45,412 a year, would be a youth counselor from Community Service Programs Inc. The organization, founded in 1972 at UC Irvine, contracts with Orange County’s police departments to provide counseling for youth offenders.

In this case, said director Margo Carlson, a counselor with special training in gang-related issues would be added to the regular youth counselor working with the San Clemente Police Department. Huntington Beach police have a similar agreement with Community Service Programs.

Carlson said the recent incident in which a San Clemente teen-ager was shot to death outside the Great Wall restaurant by an alleged rival gang member shook the city action. For the last four months, the city has been talking with Community Service Programs about developing a gang prevention program with the neighboring cities of San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, Carlson said.

“We were given notice (on Monday) that they were going to proceed with this,” Carlson said.

The program is not related to the Gang Prevention Unit proposed by Sheriff Brad Gates and the County Board of Supervisors for the cities of San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and San Clemente. That proposal, which was rejected by the San Clemente City Council and adopted by the other two cities, called for adding a special sheriff’s unit to handle gang-related problems.

The City Council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall, after a swearing-in ceremony for new council members Joe Anderson and Truman Benedict and returning Councilman Thomas Lorch.