Countywide : Gang-Prevention Program to Begin

The Board of Supervisors this week gave unanimous approval for about $400,000 in start-up costs for a new gang-prevention and education program developed by the Orange County Chiefs of Police & Sheriff’s Assn.

The anti-gang program is modeled after the Sheriff’s Department’s Drug Abuse Is Life Abuse Foundation, a privately funded partnership between business and law enforcement leaders that has produced anti-drug brochures for students, as well as other educational programs.

Sheriff Brad Gates said he believes the countywide project--which includes cooperation among numerous government agencies, schools, cities and other organizations--is an unprecedented step in fighting gangs.

Supervisors, who approved the funding for the program at their Tuesday meeting, said they believe education is an important part of any effort to curb gangs. “It is a cooperative effort,” Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said. “It is a unified front.”

The project will involve hiring eight civilian employees, including an executive director and crime prevention specialists, who will work with schools and other organizations to increase awareness of gang violence. It will also develop programs to give young people positive alternatives to gang involvement and will support already-established programs.

Organizers predict that the nonprofit project will become self-sufficient within a year through fund-raising and other efforts.