Juvenile Crime Prevention

* Juvenile justice reform has been one of my highest priorities as district attorney. I join The Times (editorial, July 13) in urging the passage of HR 1818, Rep. Frank Riggs’ (R-Windsor) important bipartisan bill that emphasizes a federal multipronged approach to juvenile crime prevention as well as prosecution.

We also urge Congress to ensure that more of the federal tax dollars we pay be used to target juvenile crime prevention in Los Angeles and expand the crime prevention efforts of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Our Abolish Chronic Truancy program has deputy district attorneys working with thousands of families to keep kids in school. Through our SAGE program we have gang prosecutors working every day to help residents reclaim their neighborhoods from gangs. Our LEAD program has more than 150 prosecutors and others volunteering for the entire school year to work with fifth-graders, encouraging them to avoid violence, gangs and drugs and understand the importance of staying in school. RESCUE teams firefighters with our office to mentor individual at-risk kids. My office has also already proposed one solution to the punishment issue: Ensure immediate and real consequences the first time a juvenile is charged with a minor crime. Right now, many slip through the cracks of the system until they become involved in more serious crimes.

GIL GARCETTI

District Attorney

Los Angeles County