BILL NUMBER: AJR 40	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 24, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 10, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Huffman, Solorio, and Caballero

                        APRIL 5, 2010

   Relative to gang violence prevention.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 40, Huffman. Gang violence prevention.
   This measure would urge Congress and the President to establish
more effective mechanisms by which the federal government may
encourage comprehensive local gang violence reduction plans that
reflect promising and best practices and that combine gang
prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies, by providing
greater flexibility in the use of federal funds for
multijurisdictional and cross-disciplinary approaches.



   WHEREAS, Safety is basic to personal and civic health, and gang
violence has not only wounded and killed community members, but has
rendered some segments of California's communities dysfunctional; and

   WHEREAS, Gang violence is a plague that results in the tragic loss
of life and serious injury, undermines families and neighborhoods,
threatens the well-being of cities, including the ability of
community members to be safe outside their homes, and affects an
overall sense of community connectedness and hope; and
   WHEREAS, Gang activity in California has resulted in 2,771
homicides between 2005 and 2007, according to the Governor's Office
of Gang and Youth Violence Policy; and
   WHEREAS, According to the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, the growth of youth gang violence and the
proliferation of youth gangs into smaller cities and rural areas in
recent years have focused public attention on the youth gang problem
and made it an increasingly significant social policy issue; and
   WHEREAS, Addressing and preventing gang-related violence requires
the use of a three-pronged approach based on stopping the violence
and victimization, intervening with those on the edge, and preventing
gang participation through the development of individual and
community well-being strategies; and
   WHEREAS, Adopting comprehensive, communitywide plans that define
and harmonize clear goals regarding enforcement, prevention, and
intervention that are in concert with regional efforts has proven
results; and
   WHEREAS, Gang violence prevention strategies are furthered by
using data-driven local tactics and strategies, utilizing
evidence-based programs and approaches when available, and, where
evidence-based programs do not exist, stressing clarity of outcomes
and performance measures; and
   WHEREAS, Reducing gang activity through prevention results in
positive outcomes, including the decrease of not only homicides, but
also vandalism, illicit activities, and youth gang membership in
target areas; and
   WHEREAS, Gang violence reduction also decreases pressures on
hospitals, emergency rooms, and county jails, and increases school
attendance; and
   WHEREAS, Preventing gang activity also provides a way for cities
and counties to reinvest regional resources in the community through
services and programs to former gang members, including job training,
education, counseling, and tattoo removal to keep them from
returning to their previous lifestyles, instead of diverting funds to
prosecution and incarceration; and
   WHEREAS, Local economic hardship has resulted in deep cuts to
public safety funding in cities and counties, including law
enforcement personnel layoffs, closure of community facilities, and
halts on improvements to, or construction of, public safety
facilities; and
   WHEREAS, Federal grant moneys are an important resource for city
and county governments, schools, and community and faith-based
organizations to fund programs related to community-oriented
policing, drug prevention and enforcement, neighborhood
stabilization, at-risk youth mentoring, continuing education, youth
employment, and job training; and
   WHEREAS, Cities and counties that have shown manifest commitment
to comprehensive planning, implementation, and data sharing involving
key regional stakeholders could better fund their gang violence
prevention strategies if given more flexibility with their existing
resources; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the
Congress and the President of the United States to establish more
effective mechanisms by which the federal government may encourage
comprehensive local gang violence reduction plans that reflect
promising and best practices and that combine gang prevention,
intervention, and suppression strategies, by providing greater
flexibility in the use of federal funds for multijurisdictional and
cross-disciplinary approaches; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.