Benefit Aimed at Gang Prevention

The Los Angeles Police Department and KLVE/TenQ radio stations are hosting the fifth annual “Sin Fronteras” (Without Borders) Latino Music Festival Sunday, with all proceeds benefiting a gang-prevention program for at-risk youth.

“Sin Fronteras,” to be held at Hansen Dam Sports Center, 11770 Foothill Blvd., last year attracted 35,000 people, according to organizers.

The festival will include performances by Jose Feliciano, El Mariachi Nacional de Mexico and Lucia Mendez, among others, as well as food booths, law enforcement exhibits and helicopter and mounted unit demonstrations.

The LAPD Jeopardy Program “Balancing the Odds”--which benefits from the event--combines family counseling, sports and artistic programs and literacy testing to sway kids 8 to 17 away from the gang lifestyle and encourage them to stay in school.

“The main reason they’re not going to school is that they don’t understand the material,” said Det. Richard Knapp, explaining why tutoring and study hall programs are so important.

The program, staffed by three officers and 131 volunteers, works to inform at-risk children that “there are choices,” Knapp added.

“The aim of the festival is to raise money and have the opportunity for [the police] to meet one-on-one with the community and be friends,” said Oralia Michel, a spokeswoman for KLVE/TenQ, the sponsoring Spanish-language radio stations.

The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $5.