![]() ![]() “But the question people should be asking, given what L.A. “I think it makes sense to incorporate it in a more comprehensive system,” Ridley-Thomas said. Bridges, said the city’s gang intervention and prevention programs need to be more comprehensive and better-coordinated. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), who as a city councilman helped launch L.A. “But I think there can be better working relationships than we have.” “The gang interventionists will tell you they don’t want to be seen as working too closely, being too closely aligned with the police, because they are fearful that gang members won’t work with them then,” Bratton said. Bratton said there is inadequate coordination between intervention agencies and the police. “We let them do their work, and we do our work,” said Mustafa Fletcher, executive director of Unity Two Inc. The workers go out on their own instead of teaming with police officers. ![]() The head of one group said his intervention workers just started working with police this year and are in touch with them only once a month. Still, some contractors are interacting more than others. In his book, “Reducing Youth Gang Crime,” Spergel looked at one anti-gang effort in Chicago during a five-year period and found a 60% reduction in serious violence for 200 young people as well as a 25% drop in gang membership.īridges officials said they are trying to work more with police. Spergel said that is done by using police records and conducting annual interviews with youths to determine which ones are no longer involved in gang crime. The programs also have to evaluate how many gang members or wannabes are helped out of the gang life. “The secret of success,” Spergel said, is to have probation officers, community organizations, the police and ex-gang members serving as intervention workers collaborating as teams in gang neighborhoods. Spergel, a sociologist at the University of Chicago. Those programs were designed under the stewardship of Irving A. Bridges to shift to the type of model used by Chicago, Riverside, Mesa, Ariz., and other cities, which emphasizes close coordination between multiple agencies and measurable results. Bridges and other city gang programs.īoth studies urged L.A. Seven years after Tuttle’s scathing audit, a new city report produced by attorney Connie Rice made the same criticisms of L.A. “I think it has done some good,” Perry said. Those who commented about the contributions said they support the program because it helps young people, not because it provides campaign checks. The contributions totaled $48,500, including $7,200 to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and smaller amounts to council members Wendy Greuel, Janice Hahn, Bill Rosendahl, Jose Huizar, Jan Perry, Ed Reyes and Bernard Parks. In addition, 172 political contributions were made to city politicians by executives and employees of 20 of the 26 contractors for L.A. ![]() Six of the contracts are held by current or former appointees to city commissions. It also helped that many of the contractors themselves were influential in city politics, which led to criticism that the program involved political patronage. Bridges, including employees of contractors who were receiving millions of dollars from the program, packed City Hall. The vote occurred after more than 300 backers of L.A. “They had money coming into their districts,” said Malcolm Klein, a USC scholar on gang programs, regarding the council vote. The City Council unanimously voted to overturn his decision. The mayor at the time, Richard Riordan, agreed with the findings and announced he was cutting off funding to L.A. Then-Controller Rick Tuttle also concluded that Bridges agencies were not required to show what effect the program might be having on gang violence and membership. ![]()
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