As gang-related crime continues to rise in Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to use several city and county reports to develop a plan to provide relief to communities countywide. The move comes as the Sheriff's Department reported gang-related crime rose 15 percent from 2001 to 2006 and that gang violence killed 5,752 people in the past decade in L.A.
County. The county, considered the epicenter of the nation's gang problem, has 1,076 documented gangs and 80,757 gang members. "We need to take the crud out of the community first," Supervisor Gloria Molina said.
"Young people are attracted to gangs because they are allowed to carry out their nonsense without ever being caught. "We don't have enough prosecutions. You can't begin to create alternatives until you start prosecuting these gang members for the guns, drugs and all the other crimes.
This problem is escalating. We have more gangs operating every single day." Supervisor Yvonne B.
Burke originally brought the motion directing Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen and key department heads to review findings of recent reports by the Advancement Project, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Sheriff Lee Baca. Burke's motion directs the CAO to collaborate with the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the Sheriff's Department, District Attorney's Office, city officials and think tanks to develop recommendations for a coordinated, multi-jurisdictional approach to dealing with gangs. Baca issued his recommendations Tuesday, noting that half of the county's gang membership is in the city of L.
A. and the other half in the county's 87 other cities and unincorporated areas. "During the last 10 years in the state of California, 297 souls have been lost to major disasters," Baca wrote in his report.
"By comparison, just in Los Angeles County in the last 10 years, we have lost 5,752 souls to gang violence." Baca suggested using the same approach as in responding to natural disasters and other major emergencies by creating a Gang Emergency Operations Center under the direction of an executive coordinator. The center would feature a centralized intelligence system and bring together county law enforcement officers with the latest technology to combat gang violence.
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