NLC helps California cities fight gangs
The Washington-based National League of Cities (NLC) and the Oakland, Calif.-based National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) are helping 13 California cities develop anti-gang strategies. The cities are part of the newly formed California Cities Gang Prevention Network that includes Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Oxnard, Richmond, Sacramento, Salinas, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Stockton.
Each city sent five-member teams to the network’s first two-day meeting last week. The teams are comprised of representatives of public health offices, schools, probation offices and community-based organizations. NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education and Families and NCCD will work with the network to develop policies to reduce gang violence. “Many young people engage in violence due to issues of respect. We must reestablish in our communities a basic respect for human dignity, for all human life,” says Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. The network will develop a resource bank of information to be shared by the cities, publish bulletins and recommend policy changes at the state and federal level.