FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AG

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Attorney General Gonzales Highlights

Department Efforts
to Fight Gang Violence in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today joined Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in highlighting the collaboration between the
Department of Justice and the City of Los Angeles to curb the threat of violent gang
crime in the city.

As with many other areas of the country, the Department and its components have
partnered with state and local law enforcement in the Los Angeles area to form key
partnerships and task forces aimed at actively investigating and prosecuting gang
crime, preventing youth from becoming involved in gangs, and providing support to
former gang members who are re-entering society.

“I am concerned about the gang problem in Los Angeles and applaud the strong
coordination between federal law enforcement and our state and local partners to
tackle this challenge,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “Enforcing the law in this
area is important, but keeping kids out of gangs in the first place is the goal of all
goals when it comes to combating gang violence.”

During his visit to Los Angeles, the Attorney General joined Mayor Villaraigosa in
touring Homeboy Industries, a gang prevention facility located in East Los Angeles
that receives support from a Gang Reduction Program (GRP) grant through the
Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Homeboy Industries provides job opportunities, training and counseling to former
and would-be gang members throughout Los Angeles County. The funding for
Homeboy Industries is part of a GRP grant aimed at addressing gang issues in the
Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, which is led by the Mayor’s office with
assistance from federal and local law enforcement representatives.

Because many of the violent gangs in the Los Angeles area also have a presence in
foreign countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the
Department sponsored an International Chiefs of Police Summit on Transnational
Gangs in Los Angeles in February. The summit brought together law enforcement
officials from California and Central America to discuss and develop joint
enforcement, information sharing, and intervention strategies aimed at addressing
their common gang problems. A follow-up conference is scheduled for April in El
Salvador.

Other successful partnerships between the Department, and state and local officials
in the Los Angeles area include the following:

FBI, DEA, and ATF are assisting the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in
two of LAPD’s Gang Enforcement Initiatives for 2007 by identifying, targeting and
investigating the most active and violent gangs and gang members in the city. As
part of this effort, the FBI recently announced that it will be sending a team of
agents to work in the LAPD’s South Bureau, an area of the city with a particularly
serious gang violence problem.

Last year, the Department selected a neighborhood in the Watts area of Los Angeles
as one of six sites nationwide to participate in the Attorney General’s
Comprehensive Anti-Gang Program. As part of the program, the area will receive
$2.5 million in grant funds to enhance enforcement, prevention and prisoner re-
entry efforts. Of this amount, $1.5 million will go directly to support prevention and
re-entry programs designed with input from local citizens, community
organizations, and parole and probation officials.

The Department provides funding to four Weed and Seed sites in the Los Angeles
area. These sites couple enforcement with gang prevention programs ranging from
gang resistance education for elementary school students to summer job programs
for teens.

In conjunction with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the

Department helps fund a Public Housing Safety Initiative in the Jordan Downs
housing development in Watts. The initiative includes a community policing model
to enhance the relationship between police and residents, and a coalition of social
service providers who refer residents to a variety of social services, including
childcare, tutoring, English as a Second Language classes, job training, and
placement programs.

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