New Anti-Gang Approach Gets City Council Approval

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a new approach to fighting gangs, but made a change that gives council districts the ability to make adjustments that an author of the plan said could threaten its effectiveness.

The program L.A. Bridges was approved 14-1, with Councilman Joel Wachs opposing it. Plans call for the program to be focused at 25 middle schools that would work in partnership with police, an array of city agencies, nonprofit groups that would compete for city contracts, and nearby businesses in a concentrated effort primarily aimed at keeping or getting 12- to 15-year-olds out of gangs.

The change, made at the last-minute request of Councilman Richard Alarcon, would allow council districts to use the $350,000 to $400,000 allocated for each of the participating middle schools on other sites.

Alarcon said gang activity is more of a problem in his district at sites other than middle schools. Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who led a committee that held community forums for a year before approving the program in September, accused Alarcon of not having done his homework on how the program works and seeking only “to do what he wants to do in his district.”