Award to fund a variety of programs over two years
Local gang prevention activities will get a significant boost
over the next two years with nearly $400,000 in funding targeted at
a host of suppression and intervention efforts.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last weekend that the city,
through the Hollister Police Department, was one of 24 recipients
statewide of funding from the California Gang Reduction,
Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) initiative.
”
This is great news,
”
said Al De Vos, San Benito County’s gang prevention coordinator,
who coordinated the grant application and will facilitate the
expenditure of the money.
”
They only gave two grants to cities with a population under
200,000. It’s a great testimony to what we have going on here. The
work that everyone put together to create the gang coordinator
position shows the level of commitment in our community. It shows a
degree of initiative that shows we have a sense of urgency.
”
Award to fund a variety of programs over two years
Local gang prevention activities will get a significant boost over the next two years with nearly $400,000 in funding targeted at a host of suppression and intervention efforts.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last weekend that the city, through the Hollister Police Department, was one of 24 recipients statewide of funding from the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) initiative.
“This is great news,” said Al De Vos, San Benito County’s gang prevention coordinator, who coordinated the grant application and will facilitate the expenditure of the money. “They only gave two grants to cities with a population under 200,000. It’s a great testimony to what we have going on here. The work that everyone put together to create the gang coordinator position shows the level of commitment in our community. It shows a degree of initiative that shows we have a sense of urgency.”
The CalGRIP funding will support gang suppression activities, intelligence gathering, bullying prevention programs in schools, youth outreach activities, community-service activities for minor juvenile offenders and graffiti removal efforts. De Vos said the money will also provide support for the Hollister Police Department’s Juvenile Impact Program and the Sheriff’s Office Gang Resistance Education and Training program.
“One of the biggest results of this is that it’s going to help us build our partnership across agencies and jurisdictions,” De Vos said. “All of us are working together toward the same goal. Now we have some more resources.”
The anti-bullying efforts will be introduced in local schools next fall, with gang suppression and intelligence-gathering activities related to the grant beginning as soon as the money becomes available.
De Vos said he anticipates that the grant may open the doors to more anti-gang funding, perhaps from federal sources or from foundations. The city is not required to provide matching funds for the $382,639 grant award, though it does need to provide in-kind donations of services or facility usage.
To help address the gang issue in San Benito County, De Vos said he is working on “establishing a baseline and figuring out what the nature and extent of the gang issue is.”
“Right now we’re trying to get the data so everyone has it, it’s accessible and we’re sharing it,” he said. “We still have quite a bit of work to do on that.”
The grant, for which letters of support were submitted by the county Parks and Recreation Commission, the Juvenile Justice Commission, State Sen. Jeff Denham and Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, also will help fund a database that allows gang information to be shared regionally, De Vos said.
“Gang members aren’t static,” he said. “They cross county and city jurisdictions.”
One reason the grant was approved was the amount of agencies involved with gang prevention in San Benito County, De Vos said.
“They all wanted to be a part of it and help out,” he said. “That attitude and commitment from agencies shows a level of cooperation that we need to start addressing issues in the community.”
Paul Seave, director of the Governor’s Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy, is not just about suppression, but also gang prevention.
“The gang problem in California has become statewide,” he said in a news release. “Part of the governor’s anti-gang initiative is to bring additional resources to our local communities to help combat gang violence and prevent at-risk youth from joining gangs.”
Despite an overall decrease in crime in most California cities since the 1990s, rates of gang-related violent crime have remained steady or increased in many communities, according to the governor’s office.
Central Coast communities received more than $1.5 million in state funds to fight gangs, with matching amounts given to Gonzales (including Greenfield, King City and Soledad), Watsonville, Salinas and Hollister. More than $9.2 million was awarded statewide.
