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.
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,” DeVos 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 school year, 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.
For the full story, see the Pinnacle on Friday.
