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Meeting
to Help Prevent Gang Violence
. . . community policing at its best . . .
by Everett Littlefield
On Thursday, April 3, 2003, the Rev. Eugene Rivers of the National
Ten Point Leadership Foundation (NTLF) of Boston, MA. will be a
featured guest during a meeting at the West Los Angeles Church of
God in Christ, 3045 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA from 9am-12pm.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: to read the NTFL webpage please see
http://www.ntlf.org/
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Bishop Charles Blake and
Chief William Bratton will be also be speaking, along with other
officials from the LAPD, and current
local COMPSTAT crime information will be shared in a unique way
for the first time:
Media
Relations Section
Office of the Chief of Police
150 North Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-485-3586
213-847-1760 Fax |
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LOS
ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, March 31, 2003
"LAPD Partners with Community to Fight Crime, REAL Time"
WHO:
Los Angeles Chief of Police William J. Bratton, Former Gubernatorial
Candidate William "Bill" Simon, Rev. Eugene F. Rivers, Bishop
Charles E. Blake and more than 100 Faith Leaders From The
Southern California Area.
WHAT:
Los Angeles Police Department Community COMPSTAT and Ten Point
Coalition Meeting
WHEN:
Thursday, April 3, 2003
8:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
WHERE:
West Los Angeles Church of God in Christ
3045 South Crenshaw Boulevard
Los Angeles
Los Angeles: For the first time in the history of the
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the LAPD will utilize
the revolutionary Computer Statistics Program known as COMPSTAT
and will unite this program with Rev. Eugene River’s Ten Point
System. Together, the LAPD and Los Angeles Faith Leaders will
work side by side to rescue young adults from gang violence
and reduce crime.
COMPSTAT is a computer-based technology that allows the LAPD’S
management team to identify, track and define issues pertaining
to crime and quality of life in "real" time. This system provides
a wealth of data, and allows the Department to make the most
efficient use of limited personnel resources by rapidly deploying
officers to the areas when and where they are most needed.
William Bratton originally developed COMPSTAT as a crime-fighting
tool when he served as Commissioner of the New York City Police
Department. In the past, community members were given limited
access to [COMPSTAT] the LAPD’S former FASTRAC meetings. However,
in keeping with Chief Bratton’s commitment to develop an air
of transparency within the Department, the COMPSTAT program,
in conjunction with the Ten Point Plan, will allow Los Angeles
area faith leaders to see first hand what type of crime is
occurring in their community and provide insight on how best
to address the issues.
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton stated, "Given the
relatively small size of the LAPD and the magnitude of the
gang violence problem we face, there is no city in America
more dependent on it’s community to come forward and help
us solve crimes. This meeting is the first I know of anywhere,
in which the community is coming en masse to help us solve
crimes. This is community policing as it was originally intended;
police and the community focused on dealing together with
the crimes and instances of disorder that threaten the safety
and quality of life of all law-abiding people."
The Ten Point Plan is faith-based and is comprised of a community
working group which ministers, mentors and monitors high-risk
youths. This plan promotes positive outcomes for high-risk
youths through the implementation of Ten Points. The coalition’s
goal is: 100 churches mentoring 1000 young people involved
in gangs, and creating neighborhood-based strategies for addressing
the unique developmental needs of gang-involved youths in
Los Angeles.
Rev. Eugene Rivers authored this Plan in 1991. The faith-based
plan resulted in 13 years of successful work with high-risk
youths in Boston. In light of this, the Ten Point Plan has
been brought to the Los Angeles area under the direction of
Bishop Charles E. Blake, Senior Pastor of the West Angeles
Church of Christ, in an effort to save our youths. The Los
Angeles Ten Point Task Force will be a collaborative effort
between the Faith community and the LAPD.
Chief Bratton continued, "No child should have to step around
drug dealers to get to school. And no child should have to
live in a neighborhood where gang members lure them into a
life of violence, destruction and death. We will combine the
resources of the police with the influence and the outreach
abilities of the ecumenical community to ensure that no child
has to live this way in any of our neighborhoods."
Former Gubernatorial Candidate William "Bill" Simon will donate
$25,000 as startup money for the Los Angeles Ten Point Task
Force.
Members of the media are invited to attend a news conference
to announce the first ever Community COMPSTAT and presentation
of funding for the Ten Point Task Force. The COMPSTAT meeting
will immediately follow.
This media advisory was prepared by Public Information Officer
Lucy Diaz, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586.
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Two LA Times editorials
have featured information about this event (March 20 "Standing up
to Street Gangs: The Battlefield at Home", and April 1 "A Crisis
and a Calling"), a meeting to organize religious leaders.
They hope to create strategies to prevent acts of violence similar
to those that have occurred recently.
In one, Lee Denmon III, a former Texan A & M basketball star and
a freshman coach at Inglewood's Morningside High, was fatally shot
while walking up the driveway of his parents' home. A teenager was
arrested in the shooting and LAPD says the suspect is a member of
one of the criminal street gangs that have turned too many neighborhoods
into battlefields.
The last few days have seen several more homicides.
The Times reported that the Los Angeles Police Department has invited
the Rev. Eugene Rivers to Los Angeles to talk to religious leaders
because a decade ago he helped organize preachers to combat violence
in Boston, at the Ella J. Baker House in Dorchester, MA.
Since 1988, the Ella J. Baker House mentors, monitors and ministers
to high-risk youth and the community. They help high-risk youth
avoid violence, achieve literacy and access jobs.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: to read about these efforts please see
http://www.volunteersolutions.org/mit/
volunteer/agency/one_166082.html
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Los Angeles City and
County leaders realize that cops can't stop gang violence by themselves.
Much credit is given to Chief Bratton and his staff to reach out
to the community to search for solutions to end wars being waged
in some of the region's poorer neighborhoods and ask the regular
folks who live outside the battle zones to open their eyes to what
is going on in neighboring communities and take responsibility of
becoming peace makers.
Lets hope that Rev. Rivers can help bring the community religious
organizations together to develop creative strategies and partnerships
of "doing what it takes" to serve the pressing needs of high risk
youth and help prevent gang violence.
The National Ten Point Leadership Foundation (NTLF) is the national
coalition that organizes clergy-law enforcement-community partnerships
for youth development and against violence among inner youth.
The Minister's 10 Point Plan to Mobilize Churches is as follows:
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MINISTER'S
10-POINT
PLAN TO MOBILIZE CHURCHES
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| 1. |
Establish "adopt-a-gang" programs
to serve as drop-in centers and sanctuaries for troubled youths. |
| 2. |
Commission people to serve as
advocates and ombudsmen for black and Latino juveniles in the
courts. |
| 3. |
Commission youth evangelists
to do street-level, one-on-one evangelism with youths involved
in drug trafficking. |
| 4. |
Establish accountable, community-based
economic-development projects. |
| 5. |
Establish links between suburban
and downtown churches and ministries to provide spiritual and
material support. |
| 6. |
Initiate and support neighborhood
crime-watch programs near local churches. |
| 7. |
Establish working relationships
between local churches and community-based health centers to
provide pastoral counseling for families during times of crisis. |
| 8. |
Convene a working summit meeting
for Christian black and Latino men and women to discuss the
development of Christian brotherhoods and sisterhoods that would
provide rational alternatives to violent gang life. |
| 9. |
Establish rape-crisis drop-in
centers and services for battered women. |
| 10. |
Develop an aggressive black and
Latino curriculum, with an additional focus on the struggles
of women and poor people. |
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West Los Angeles Church of God in Christ,
Bishop Charles Blake - website:
http://www.westa.org/
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As
an LA Community Policing emissary, Everett
Littlefield has quietly carried our LACP
message of inclusion to many a community group across the City,
and expressed our goal of seeking public safety solutions by promoting
meaningful partnerships with law enforcement. In addition, Everett
has written several thoughtful pieces for the forum here on the
website over the past several months, and we always look forward
to his contributions.
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