Gang Prevention

Gang Prevention

• Support $9 million in funding for the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Program (CalGRIP), consistent with the budget measure passed in February.

Research shows there are proven strategies to cut gang-related violence. These models combine close supervision and swift consequences for gang and youth crime, coordinated with collaborative community services to help youth get off drugs, stay in school or find a job. Boston, Philadelphia and Baton Rouge have rapidly reduced violent crime by gang members and other troubled youth. After Boston adopted its collaborative anti-gang effort citywide called Operation Ceasefire, youth homicides dropped by two-thirds. In the two Philadelphia police districts where the Philadelphia collaborative approach was first implemented, youth homicides dropped twice as fast as in the rest of Philadelphia. And in Baton Rouge, youths in the program had one-fifth as many new violent offenses as similar youths not yet served by the program. Stockton and San Francisco have implemented similar models.

The 2008-2009 budget expanded the Governor’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Program (CalGRIP) program established in 2007, by providing over $9 million to cities and community-based organizations for local anti-gang suppression, intervention, and prevention programs. Five (Oakland, Oxnard, Modesto, Salinas and Stockton) of the new 17 CalGRIP city grants will support strategies based on the Ceasefire model and receive technical assistance through a public/private partnership with several foundations.