Federal Grant to Aid Anti-Gang Coalition

Under a federal grant of almost $1 million, a coalition of local law enforcement agencies has expanded the city’s Street Terrorist Offender Project.

The 12-month, $926,561 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will pay for a deputy district attorney, a district attorney investigator, a probation officer and two Santa Ana police officers assigned to gang investigations, Police Capt. Dan McCoy said Thursday.

Some of the money also will go to studies on the effectiveness of STOP efforts.

On Monday, the City Council is expected to approve a $160,200 share of the grant to pay for hiring the two additional officers.

STOP members, along with an intervention counselor, work together to target Santa Ana gangs. STOP was begun in 1994 and is in its third year.

The results of the 1995 program, announced at a high-profile press conference by officials flanked with confiscated weapons, were mixed.

Felony assaults such as attempted murder were up 14% in the target areas, but other crimes that police say were gang-related, such as street robbery and auto theft, were down an average of 35%.

McCoy said the third STOP team formed by the recent federal grant will help build on the efforts of the two existing forces to cut crime.

He said the city is searching for funds to maintain the third STOP program once the grant expires.