San José
Gang Prevention Efforts
Receive National Recognition
Mayor’s interagency task force gets award for
model program for reducing gang-related crime in San José
San José, CA ---- The Mayor’s
Gang Prevention Task Force has just received national recognition for
its long-term success in reducing gang-related crime in San José
with the “Frederick Milton Thrasher Award” for the exemplary
program for gang prevention and intervention from the National Gang Crime
Research Center.
The national award was created in 1992 to honor outstanding contributions
in leadership, research, and service in dealing with gang problems in
America. The award, which was given to a San José delegation at
the annual National Gang Crime Research Conference in Chicago in August,
was presented the San José City Council today.
“By focusing on collaborative crime prevention and providing positive
alternatives for youth, we have created a national model that has been
extremely successful to keep our young people on the right track and the
residents of San José safe,” said Mayor Ron Gonzales.
“We have built on former Mayor Susan Hammer’s original leadership
and vision with our continuing commitment and the sustained involvement
from our community partners that have significantly reduced gang-related
crime in our city.”
Since 1995 the task force has been instrumental in helping San José
reduce its gang-related arrests by 47 percent, and it has contributed
to San José remaining the safest big city in the nation according
to FBI statistics. In the prior decade, from 1984 to 1994, violent juvenile
crime in Santa Clara County had increased by 321 percent, four times the
national rate at the time.
Examples of the collaborative’s recent achievements include reducing
the dropout rate in San José public schools from 16 percent in
1999 to 10 percent in 2000 while steadily increasing high school graduation
rates. The San José BEST program, which funds a wide range of community-based
organizations, provides services to more than 30,000 clients a year with
counseling, training, and related crime and gang prevention activities.
The Chicago conference covered topics such as gang intelligence strategies,
female gangs, and specific gang styles and practices. “We used this
opportunity to learn very useful information regarding gang reduction
efforts across the nation,” said Neil Rufino, Youth Division Superintendent
in the city’s Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Department.
“It also really highlighted for us that San José is doing
the right thing and that we are well ahead of many communities by building
a positive environment that helps keep our community safe. Our program
and our success are clearly a model for other cities.”
The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force was started in 1991 to
address the issues of community safety and violent and gang-involved youth.
The task force includes police, community service organizations, and schools
to develop coordinated programs to prevent, intervene, and suppress gang
activity and crime among young people in San José.
In the early 1990s the city made the reduction of juvenile violent crime
through greater gang prevention a top community priority. Their goal was
both to make the community safer and to reduce the long-term societal
costs associated with youth crime.
“The mayor’s gang task force has proven to be a truly effective
and collaborative community effort,” said Rufino. “Our mission
is to reduce gang activity by providing safe opportunities for youth and
their families to be successful and productive in their homes, schools,
and neighborhoods.
“With representatives from local government, law enforcement,
school districts, social service agencies, and community groups working
together in a common purpose, we can share information and resources to
have a far bigger impact on reducing gang activity in San José.”
The task force includes a policy team of community and government leaders
chaired by Mayor Gonzales that meets quarterly basis to direct and support
the efforts of the technical team. The technical team includes San José
city and police staff and representatives from more than 50 partner agencies
and community service organizations.
Over its ten-year history, the task force has been successful in building
the capacity of community-based organizations through performance measures
and evaluation techniques to better serve youth and families and provide
alternatives and solutions to gang activities.
“By working with our partner agencies, we have been able to train
hundreds of staff members to deal with issues such as gang lifestyles,
learning disabilities, and substance abuse,” said Rufino.
San José’s ongoing commitment to reducing gang problems
also has helped the city receive substantial resources from outside funders
that focus on youth, families, and community safety. Over the past two
years, the Mayor’s gang task force has obtained more than $6 million
in additional funding to supplement San José’s local annual
commitment of $3 million for gang prevention services.
In addition to accepting the award in Chicago, San Jose representatives
also made a presentation to the National Gang Crime Research Conference
on the city’s collaborative efforts to prevent gangs. Presenters
included Rufino, Mayor Gonzales’ Deputy Chief of Staff Dustin DeRollo,
San Jose Police Officer Curtis Reeves from the SJPD Community Services
Bureau, and Esther Mota, Rafael Gomez, and Fernando Lopez from the San
Jose PRNS Youth Division.
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