SANTA ANA : City to Vie for Grant to Help Fight Crime

The City Council has instructed staff to apply for a $1.25-million federal grant that would fund a massive multi-agency assault on violent crime and drug use in a local, high-crime neighborhood.

The council voted unanimously on Monday to seek funding for Operation Weed and Seed, an experimental program that would coordinate local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to arrest violent offenders, prevent gang and drug-related crime and encourage community policing. The program, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Justice, would follow up with a wide array of prevention programs, social services and government support to revitalize the targeted neighborhood.

Police Chief Paul M. Walters said the program would target the area bounded by 1st Street to the north, McFadden Avenue to the south, Sullivan Street to the west and Raitt Street to the east.

Police statistics for 1990, the most recent year available, show that the number of crimes reported in that district totaled 2,416, contrasted with a citywide district average of 771.

However, some residents told the council that they were concerned that the cost of improving one neighborhood might be borne by other neighborhoods nearby.

Criminals “don’t just disappear. They go to a different area,” said Elba Freeman. “We are not arguing against the program, but the whole city should have the program, not just patches.”

Walters responded that such “leakage” would be addressed: “We will target people we believe are responsible for crimes not just in the (target) area, but the whole city.”

Other cities now competing for the grants include San Diego, Denver, Seattle, Washington and Atlanta. The Department of Justice will name the recipients by March 31, according to Ed McGah, executive assistant U.S. attorney for the central district of California in Los Angeles.

The council also instructed staff to research the possible creation of a Youth Advisory Commission composed of high school students. The commission was proposed by Councilman John Acosta. The panel would help advise the council and “Weed and Seed” coordinators on issues that include gangs, drugs and racial harmony.