LA HABRA
With gang activity on the decline in La Habra, the city has had no gang-related homicides this year to date, said Sgt. Phil Stufflebean, special enforcement unit supervisor for the Police Department. La Habra has about 320 active gang members, a 50% decrease since 1992, he said.
Stufflebean credits the decline in gang-related deaths to longer jail terms, education for parents and programs begun in 1992 to strengthen law enforcement and educate children. The number of gang members ages 17 to 19 also has decreased since 1992.
Officials have been working to prevent younger children from joining gangs rather than “chasing them after they get in,” said Russel Bauer, deputy probation officer for the Police Department.
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