MISSION VIEJO : Hate-Crime Task Force Meets Today
The third and final meeting of the city’s hate-crime task force will be held at City Hall today at 9:30 a.m.
The group will review information gathered at its first two sessions and make recommendations to the City Council on how to control hate crimes in the city. “We will emphasize preventive measures and educational programs to combat this particularly vile problem,” said Mayor Robert A. Curtis.
The task force was formed in July in reaction to a series of violent outbursts involving race in Mission Viejo and the South County area. In Mission Viejo, police said a white man beat a 12-year-old black youth for walking with a group of white schoolmates.
Made up of city council members and race-relation leaders in the county, the task force has heard from law enforcement officials and concerned community groups in its previous meetings.
Curtis said he would like to see the city implement a school education program developed by the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith.
“It’s called the ‘World of Difference’ program and involves the sponsorship of teachers in Mission Viejo schools,” he said. “It’s an eight-hour course that provides teachers with a supplement to their ordinary curriculum.”
The group also will look at law-enforcement procedures.
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