IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Commerce : Weaving an Anti-Gang Net

When the city of Commerce suffered its first drive-by shooting in late 1989, officials were quick to react. By early 1990, the Community Youth Gang Task Force was established to reach out to “at risk” youth before they became full-fledged gang members.

The task force weaves a safety net for troubled youth by tapping into existing social programs or creating new ones to help them stay in school and get jobs. Teachers, school counselors, recreation and parks employees, law-enforcement officers and others identify youth at risk because of truancy, tagging, drug use, attitude changes and street gang activity. Once identified, the youths can be referred by social services staff for voluntary sessions with probation officials and professional counselers. Parenting classes can also be part of the program.

Commerce, a city of 12,000, spends $1.8 million--6% of its $30.6-million budget--on its gang- diversion efforts. Officials gauge the program’s effectiveness by measuring gang-related activity in Commerce, which has remained low. The city posted a 12% drop in overall crime from 1992-93, one of the largest in Los Angeles County, according to information from the Sheriff’s Department.

HOW IT WORKS: A CASE STUDY

In early 1993, Manuel Castano was a junior at Bell Gardens High School. School officials noted that problems, including truancy, were interferring with his education.

“I was involved in too many gang-related activities,” Castano said. “I didn’t feel I had to be there regularly.”

* In August, Castano’s name was given to a Social Services worker who recruited him for Soledad Enrichment Action, an independent study program aimed at helping participants earn a high school diploma or take the GED test.

“The City of Commerce called me” Castano said. “They actually called me. People here make you want to come to their program.”

* At the same time, he agreed to participate in the county Probation Department’s Gang Alternative and Prevention Program. Operated since 1990, GAPP provides a form of voluntary probation to troubled youth who must agree to be supervised and counseled. Supervision lasts six months on average but can be extended. Up to 60 Commerce youths participate in any given month.

Castano also took advantage of additional counseling. Social Services advisers and a professional psychologist serve approximately 1,000 Commerce residents of all ages annually.

* Castano then worked with the city Employment Referral Office to find a job. “The same day I got interviewed, they found me a job at a fast-food restaurant,” Castano said. In 1994, 384 people were placed by the referral office.

* Last December, Castano became the first student to obtain his high school diploma through the Soledad Enrichment Action program. His job has allowed him to move into his own apartment.

“I stuck it all the way through. My main interest is computers,” Castano said, “I want to learn and get in that profession. Maybe go to trade school.”

AN OBSERVER’S VIEW

“Most employers are interested in doing business and doing it comfortably and without a lot of problems. The absence of crime, the absence of gangs, the absence of graffiti--all those things are positives (for the economy). They are worth the dollars.”

DAYLE FRISK, executive director of the industrial council, Chamber of Commerce, City of Commerce.

TO GET INVOLVED

Call (213) 887-4460. Researched by JAMES BLAIR / For The Times