Law Enforcement Teamwork Succeeds

About your Nov. 20 editorial, “Only Law Enforcement Unity Can Meet Gang’s Threat”:

More than four years ago, the Orange County Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Assn. established the County-Wide Gang Strategy Steering Committee to inform and coordinate anti-gang activities throughout Orange County.

All 22 law enforcement agencies in Orange County participate in this cooperative effort. The members of the steering committee include chiefs of police James Cook (Westminster), Randy Gaston (Anaheim), El Miali (Fountain Valley), Neil Purcell (Laguna Beach), Kathy Stanley (UCI) and Paul Walters (Santa Ana), along with Marshal Mike Carona, FBI Special Agent in Charge James Donckels, district attorney Chief Investigator Loren DuChesne, Sheriff Brad Gates, Chief Probation Officer Michael Schumacher and school superintendents Mac Bernd (Newport-Mesa) and Dennis Smith (Irvine).

The steering committee sponsors anti-gang initiatives dealing with gang suppression, enforcement, intervention, education and prevention. The changing problem of gangs is monitored through research sponsored by the association and conducted by UCI called the Gang Incident Tracking System. This system provides information used by law enforcement leaders to determine priorities, allocate resources, and make decisions about anti-gang initiatives.

The TARGET program has taken aim at the worst gang offenders in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana, Westminster and the South County sheriff’s area. Intense professional cooperation among police, sheriff, probation and the district attorney’s personnel has resulted in a conviction rate estimated to exceed 95%, with dramatic reductions in gang crime in the targeted areas. TARGET has demonstrated just how effective the criminal justice system can be when all of the parts work together.

The steering committee has also been successful in attracting several grants to further our anti-gang efforts:

1. A $60,000 grant from Pacific Mutual Insurance Company to fund research at UCI.

2. A $750,000 grant from the Office of Criminal Justice Planning to increase our TARGET and Project: No Gangs efforts.

3. A $969,000 grant to aid coordination of the steering committee, expand TARGET, further development of Project: NO Gangs, and continue development of the Gang Incident Tracking System at UCI. This is the only tracking system of its kind in the nation.

The Orange County Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Assn. believes that we have created a climate of coordinated effort that is achieving remarkable results.

JAMES I. COOK

Chairman

County-Wide Gang Strategy

Steering Committee