Mayor’s interagency task force gets award for model program for reducing gang-related crime in San José

San José ----  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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