Gang intervention academy one step closer
Willa Seidenberg | 12-16-2009 | Comments |
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The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a one-year, $200,000 contract with the Advancement Project to operate the proposed Los Angeles Violence Intervention Training Academy.The Advancement Project was co-founded by civil rights attorney Connie Rice. Her academy will train and certify gang interventionists. However, the mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development will still conduct background checks, fingerprinting and drug testing of potential gang interventionists before they attend the academy.
Los Angeles has an estimated 400 gangs and the city spends some $26 million a year in gang intervention and prevention. Many gang interventionists are former gang members, but they operate without much training or oversight from the city. They have had mixed success in preventing gang violence and some agencies have come under a cloud of suspicion. The city terminated a contract earlier this year with Unity T.W.O., a gang intervention agency, because it allegedly could not account for millions of dollars in money from the government. Also this year, the executive director of Homies Unidos was arrested on federal racketeering and conspiracy charges, and another respected gang intervention worker was charged with robbing a well-known rap artist.
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