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SANTA ANA : A GREAT Plan to Get Police in Classrooms

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Uniformed police officers could begin teaching seventh-grade classes at two local intermediate schools under an anti-gang plan approved by the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education.

At its regular meeting last week, the board approved entering a partnership with the Santa Ana Police Department to run Gang Resistance Education and Training at Willard and Spurgeon intermediate schools.

The two agencies are seeking $300,000 to run the program, known as GREAT, and plan to begin the classes as soon as a funding source is found, said Santa Ana Police Capt. Dan McCoy.

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“We want to do it as rapidly as we can. We believe it’s something we need to get into intermediate schools. It’s critically important,” he said.

Supt. Rudy Castruita said that many other school districts in the state have similar programs targeting intermediate school students to defuse potential gang problems.

He added: “This is the kind of direction I see us moving toward.”

Under the program, Santa Ana police officers would conduct weekly classes at both schools teaching students how to resolve conflicts peacefully and how to deal with peer and gang pressure.

It would also teach children about how gangs and drugs affect their neighborhoods and the impact of crime on victims and their families, said Edward Lee Vargas, assistant superintendent for support services.

He added: “We want to keep kids out of gangs, and this program gives them the tools to resist gang programs. It’s a great program, no pun intended.”

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