CHICK BLUEPRINT CALLS FOR REFOCUSSING, REORGANIZING, REINVENTING LOS ANGELES’ ANTI-GANG EFFORTS
Los Angeles—Calling it, “A time for action…now,” City Controller Laura Chick released her wide ranging and highly anticipated Blueprint on ending gang violence.
“During the last two decades, there have been countless studies, reports, consultants, City Council ad-hoc committees, new programs and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars spent to stem the gang crisis. And what do we have to show for it? The recent in-depth Advancement Project study painted a grim picture, which my report echoes, of a disjointed maze of services that don't reach the intended “at risk” youth population,” said City Controller Chick.
“Now what? It is important to note what my report does not say. There is no call for immediate new dollars, but there is a plan spelled out on how to spend the money more wisely and efficiently. New programs are not advocated, but rather the redesign, refocus and merging of existing programs is proscribed,” said Chick.
“The report does not recommend the creation of a new department with additional layers of bureaucracy, but directs the creation of the Anti-Gang Office which will operate directly under the Mayor. This will be a centralized, empowered entity that has the oversight and responsibility of our many anti-gang efforts. To ensure public transparency, the City Controller’s Office will issue status reports beginning six months from today, along with conducting periodic fiscal and performance audits,” said Chick.
"Controller Laura Chick's blueprint underscores the importance of the multi-faceted and coordinated approach we are employing around the State, with a focus on intervention, suppression and prevention in reducing gang activity and violence. I applaud her commitment, joined by Mayor Villaraigosa and other city officials, to enact a comprehensive, Citywide anti-gang strategy," said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I fully embrace the Controller’s report and am committed to working with our partners on the City Council to implement the kind of coordination and accountability necessary for success,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
"This plan gives us the accountability, transparency and focus that we have been waiting for. We now have a road map for how we can finally end gang violence in Los Angeles," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn.
"As Controller Chick, Connie Rice and many others have pointed out, our gang prevention and intervention system is broken. We need more accountability, more transparency and more effectiveness -- to ensure we are spending the public's money wisely; but even more importantly, to save the lives of the at-risk youth in our neighborhoods,” said City Attorney Rock Delgadillo.
"I commend Controller Chick in her effort to help the City and County with their approach to solving the gang problem. This is a good report, and it has my full support," said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.
"The Controller's analysis is a welcome next step for how the City should proceed to end the youth gang homicide epidemic, which still exists in the City's hot zones despite record reductions in crime. The message from this report is that the City has to consolidate its efforts and document the results of reducing gang membership and gang violence, and increasing child safety in the hot zones. The City now has two reports indicating what needs to be done to get substantial reductions in gang violence and to increase the impact of the Mayor's office, the City Council's Ad Hoc Committee, and other City entities' current efforts to reverse this epidemic." -Connie Rice, Co-Director of the Advancement Project
"The LA Controller's call for a comprehensive and collaborative anti-gang strategy, with clear accountability, will allow the City of Los Angeles to take a quantum-leap in its approach to reducing gang violence," said Paul Seave, California's State Director of Gang and Youth Violence Policy.
To view the report, go to the Controller’s web site at www.lacity.org/ctr and click on “audits, reports and correspondence”.