Report Concludes Community Unity Can End Violence

Mark McGuigan
Staff Writer

Nov 16 -- A report published last week outlining effective ways to combat gang-related violence in Los Angeles reflects counter-measures already in place in Santa Monica, according to police officials.

The RAND Corporation study issued Wednesday concludes “that stepped-up law enforcement -- combined with increased cooperation between police, prosecutors, probation authorities and community groups -- can help reduce gun violence in areas plagued by violent gangs.”

Although the report focuses on the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, the tactics used to prevent violent gun-related crime are already being deployed throughout Santa Monica, particularly in the Pico Neighborhood, according to Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr.

“A lot of the points they make are good, and are something we’ve encouraged for the last ten years,” Butts said. “That’s been our operating style for the last 10 to 11 years.

“Gang related deaths are down 85 to 95 percent in the last ten years," Butts said. "The reality is we’re far ahead of anything the City of Los Angeles has accomplished.”

Since 1993, crime around the City has fallen by 57 percent, according to police officials. But despite the impressive statistics, not everyone agrees police tactics are as effective as they might be.

A spate of gang-related shootings in the crime-prone Pico neighborhood during the summer left one man dead and a community questioning whether the violence that has plagued the area for years will ever end.

“One person was killed but there have been many shootings,” said Oscar de la Torre, the executive director of the Pico Youth and Family Center that targets at-risk youth.

“The Pico neighborhood suffers tremendously from this problem. There were five days of shootings along two blocks with one of the highest paid police departments in the country (looking on).”

While Butt’s agrees that “one death is still one death too many,” he insists that police outreach programs are an intrinsic part of reducing gang activity everywhere in the City and that they’re working.

The program at the heart of the RAND report -- called Operation Ceasefire -- brought together community members, faith-based groups and criminal justice agencies to form the partnership that organized the anti-crime effort aimed at reducing gun violence in the community.

Such partnerships are already in place in Santa Monica, Butts said. Police officers work hard at building effective networks among community leaders, schools and parks. Programs already in place include the Santa Monica Police Activities League (PAL) -- a citywide program designed to offer children free educational, cultural, and athletic activities.

The program fosters positive relationships between youth, the community, and police who staff the center and volunteer as coaches and instructors, Butts said. It is an important tool in the battle against gang crime, presenting alternative options to at-risk children.

“We work very closely with schools to ensure that students aren’t put at risk of becoming involved in gang activity, ensure they aren’t truant and we have police officers ensuring order on the campus,” he said. “We work very closely with all community neighborhoods.”

But not close enough with those in the Pico neighborhood, according to de la Torre, a member of the School Board, who argues that the community outreach programs are few and far between in areas that require these programs most.

“In Santa Monica the first thing that needs to happen is that the police department has to have a better relationship with the areas where most of the violence is happening,” said de la Torre.

“When it comes to Pico neighborhood relations and working with gangs, I would say they haven’t been very effective,” he said.

According to the RAND report, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights saw gun-related crimes involving gang members fall by as much as one-third after an effort involving government agencies and the community was put in place to reduce gun violence.

"Curbing gun crime in violent neighborhoods requires a combined effort by both law enforcement and community members," said K. Jack Riley, director of RAND Public Safety and Justice and an author of the report.

"Each agency and community group brings specialized expertise that, when combined, is more effective than if the parties worked separately," he said.

However when it comes to forging a similar working relationship between police and community members in the Pico neighborhood, one issue remains a huge stumbling block.

“There’s no trust,” de la Torre said. “There’s a whole culture of punishment that’s supported 12 times more than preventative behavior. It’s a symptom of the culture of punishment.”

But Chief of Police Butts strongly disagrees. He believes the reduction in crime should be lauded and police officers that place themselves in the line of fire recognized for their achievements in protecting the community.

“Police officers in the department have done an overwhelming work in protecting our neighborhoods and our youth,” said Butts.