Gang Prevention Efforts Must Not Falter : Entire Community Needs to Help Make Up for Bankruptcy’s Drain on Public Programs

In some areas of Santa Ana, gunfire is almost a nightly occurrence, the sign of gangbangers at lethal work. So far this year, more than 40 homicides in the city have been the work of gangs, according to police.

The gang violence is not confined to Santa Ana. South County’s gang problems have worsened too, though they are much less extensive than those in North County.

The increasing numbers of gang members, and their violence, worried the Orange County Grand Jury, which after studying the phenomenon for a year recently issued a good report, with a number of worthwhile suggestions.

The panel realistically noted that the county’s bankruptcy has dried up funds, including some that could have gone for gang prevention programs. Drop those programs, and you increase the chances of teen-agers, and some not yet even in their teens, drifting into the gang life.

Police, sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors and judges have to deal with gang members after the crimes have been committed. As the grand jury report aptly noted, “It is much more advantageous to spend $1 ‘up front’ on effective prevention programs than $10 or more in prosecution and crackdowns.�

The Orange County Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Assn. had established a program called Project: No Gangs before the bankruptcy. But the fiscal disaster dried up county funds, and the program all but ended. The association did retain an executive director to raise funds, which was wise. And a planned survey on the extent of gang crime, halted by the bankruptcy, was revived with a grant from an insurance company.

The corporate contribution was a reflection of the need for a communitywide attack on the gang problem. Last year, law enforcement agencies identified nearly 19,000 youths as members of gangs, more than double the number found only six years earlier.

The grand jury recommended that schools and community groups already involved in gang prevention better coordinate their programs, a sensible idea. The panel also urged the Board of Supervisors to maintain funding for gang awareness programs. Businesses were also urged to support school and community programs.

All those ideas are good. Gangs developed over years, and addressing the problem satisfactorily will be neither quick nor easy. But some progress has been made in recent years, and the gains must not be erased because of the bankruptcy.