Broad fix needed for gang woes
by Adam Schiff and Rocky Delgadillo

EDITORIAL article from the Daily News  
12/16/2007

On Sept. 15, Luis Angel Garcia, a 23-day-old infant was shot and killed in broad daylight in a crowded marketplace near MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles. Five men, all alleged members of the 18th Street Gang, have been charged with involvement in the murder. Allegedly, the men targeted a street vendor who refused to pay the "tax" that the gang extorted from vendors in the area. The vendor's wife and the baby's mother were also shot and wounded. Two others have been charged for witness intimidation in connection with the killing.

Sadly, this tragic story is not unique.

Gang-related crimes are on the rise. In 2006, while the overall rate of violent crime fell in Los Angeles, gang-related violence jumped by 14 percent. In the San Fernando Valley, gang violence was up by 40 percent. Sixty percent of homicides in Los Angeles were gang-related, and 86 percent of murder victims were Latino or African-American.

These statistics are alarming and disheartening, and they are also a call to action.

A comprehensive and coordinated approach that combines gang prevention, intervention and suppression is imperative to address our gang problem. That is why the city of Los Angeles has focused on developing targeted gang-reduction zones, which receive an infusion of resources for youth development, education and re-entry programs, to work in tandem with law enforcement in those areas. That is also why on the national level, we have pushed for legislation that would provide funding for community-based prevention and criminal enforcement for the highest intensity gang activity areas.

At the same time, we must target hard-core gang leaders with aggressive prosecution efforts that include enhanced criminal penalties that effectively pursue the most serious gang offenses.

In 1975, Congress passed racketeering legislation to crack down on organized crime. While these laws have successfully broken up the Mafia, today, without adequate gang laws on the books, prosecutors are trying to use these imperfect tools to break up criminal street gangs - today's organized crime. We need to give prosecutors new tools to successfully target criminal street gangs and dismantle gang networks that are designed with those criminal enterprises in mind.

Any comprehensive strategy must focus on juvenile delinquency prevention, intervention and re-entry programs as much as on enforcement. We cannot devote more resources toward the arrest and prosecution of gang members without addressing the factors that led our youth toward criminal street gangs. We must also develop the opportunities for education and employment to lead our youth away from a life of crime. We know that every dollar for prevention can stop countless potential acts of gang violence before they happen.

Such a model has shown great success in Boyle Heights, where prevention, intervention and re-entry services have been integrated with suppression programs. Since the Gang Reduction Program began in 2003, there has been a 44 percent reduction in gang crime.

Legislation has been introduced in Congress that uses this three-prong strategy: prevention, enforcement and criminal penalty enhancements. The Senate bill has passed unanimously in the Senate, and the House measure has yet to be taken up.

The legislation does not contain any mandatory minimums or death penalties, and it does not provide any new mechanism for juveniles to be tried as adults. Nor does the measure target individuals who merely look like or associate with gang members.

Rather, the legislation contains a narrow gang definition that focuses solely on the criminal acts of individuals that further a criminal street gang. Most importantly, the legislation provides for a landmark investment in prevention and intervention efforts.

The situation is urgent. Until we act, our children will continue to be taken from our schools and playgrounds and recruited into street gangs at younger and younger ages.

We cannot arrest our way out of this problem, nor can we prevent all gang violence with youth programs, but with a comprehensive and coordinated strategy we can successfully reduce gang activity in Los Angeles, California, and across the country. It's time for the House of Representatives to join the Senate and move on comprehensive legislation that addresses the nation's burgeoning gang problem.

We have already lost too many young people to gang membership and gang violence. If we act now, we can reverse this trend and save future generations.

Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Rocky Delgadillo is Los Angeles city attorney.