On the Right Track With Gang-Violence Prevention

When city officials and police from across Orange County held a gang violence summit more than three years ago, no one was so naive as to believe that the problem of gangs would be solved overnight. One prosecutor said change would take “at least a year, probably two years.” That appears to have been a good forecast.

This month brought publication of a Gang Incident Tracking System report that found that overall gang crime fell 6% in 1995 over the previous year. When the 1996 figures are tallied, they also are likely to be impressive in at least one sector: gang killings. A separate report several months ago found a steep decline in that most horrific measure of gang violence.

The tracking system is a worthwhile tool developed to try to measure the effectiveness of gang-abatement programs in Orange County. UC Irvine researchers and county law enforcement agencies have teamed up in the research effort.

Police said the drop in gang-related crime in 1995 appears to be the result of their coordinated, aggressive crackdowns on the most hard-core gang members in a number of cities. But top cops wisely are not about to declare victory in the war.

In Westminster, which has been a pioneer in fighting gangs, Police Chief James Cook noted that it’s far too early “to declare victory and sit down.” Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters stressed the need for police to keep up with new types of crimes and methods to combat them.

But the distance traveled since the violent year of 1993 is impressive. In that year, there were more than 60 gang-related killings. One Santa Ana priest reported then that of 14 funerals he conducted in three months, 10 were due to gang violence.

Concerns about gang violence were a major reason why fear of crime suddenly vaulted to the No. 1 position in the annual Orange County survey of residents, ahead of the perennial complaint about traffic congestion. The concerns also had prompted the summit and new ways to fight gangs.

Westminster began its TARGET program earlier, grouping police, probation officers and prosecutors for a coordinated fight against criminals who were gang members. The program is a good effort to see to it that when a police officer arrests a gang member, prosecution results and the case does not get shunted aside. Probation officers can let police know if people are violating terms of their probation, including associating with known gang members. The success of the Westminster model spurred replications in Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Anaheim, South County and other cities. The efforts there have also paid dividends.

Analysts are unsure how much the drop in gang violence may owe to anti-crime programs and how much to a temporary decline in the number of adolescents, who are most likely to commit crimes. More worrisome is a concern that some people are so terrified of gangs that they do not report crimes. Some social workers say that fear to speak out is especially prevalent among undocumented immigrants, who are afraid of contact with police or government workers.

In addition to law enforcement’s work, community groups that try to keep youngsters out of gangs are performing valuable work. For instance, in San Juan Capistrano several weeks ago, seven boys from the city’s gang prevention program gave up their spring break to help clean up the cemetery owned and maintained by Mission San Juan Capistrano. Clearly the best solution to gang violence is to persuade young people to steer clear from gang membership. If they don’t and if they become violent, the community has to rely on the police and programs like TARGET.