The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force was created 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.  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. In 2002 the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force was honored with the “Frederick Milton Thrasher Award” for having an 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. 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. With representatives from local government, law enforcement, school districts, social service agencies, and community groups working together in a common purpose, the task force shares information and resources to have a far bigger impact on reducing gang activity in San José.   Over its twelve-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 provides alternatives and solutions to gang activities. Please click here to find out more about the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force.