BILL ANALYSIS
AJR 40
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2010
Counsel: Milena Nelson
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AJR 40 (Huffman) - As Introduced: April 5, 2010
SUMMARY : Encourages Congress and the President to establish
more effective mechanisms by which the Federal Government may
encourage comprehensive local gang violence reduction plans.
Specifically, this bill :
1)States that safety is basic to personal and civil health, and
that gang violence has wounded and killed community members,
and made some segments of California's communities
dysfunctional.
2)States that gang violence is a plague that results in the
tragic loss of life, 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.
3)Recognizes that gang activity has resulted in 2,771 homicides
in California between 2005 and 2007.
4)States that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) has found that the growth and proliferation
of youth gangs into smaller cities and rural areas has focused
public attention on the problem and made youth gang violence
and increasingly significant social policy issue.
5)Recognizes that 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 based strategies.
6)Recognizes that the adoption of comprehensive, communitywide
plans that define and harmonize clear goals regarding
AJR 40
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enforcement, prevention, and intervention that are in concert
with regional efforts has proven results.
7)States that gang violence prevention strategies are furthered
by using data-driven local tactics and strategies, utilizing
evidence-based programs and approaches where available, and
where evidence-based programs do not exists, stressing clarity
of outcomes and performance measures.
8)Recognizes that reducing gang activity through prevention
results in positive outcomes, including a decrease in
homicides as well as vandalism, illicit activities, and youth
gang membership in target areas.
9)Recognizes that reduction in gang violence also reduces
pressure on hospitals, emergency rooms, and county jails and
increases school attendance.
10)States that gang activity prevention also allows 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 form returning to their previous
lifestyles, instead of diverting funds to prosecution and
incarceration.
11)Recognizes that 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.
12)Recognizes the importance of federal grant moneys to city and
county governments, schools, and community and faith-based
organization 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.
13)Recognizes that cities and counties that have a proven
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.
AJR 40
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14)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 multi-jurisdictional and cross-disciplinary
approaches.
15)Requests the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the
United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each of the Senators
and Representatives from California.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that it is the right of every person to be secure and
protected from fear, intimidation, and physical harm caused by
the activities of violent groups and individuals. Recognizes
that all individuals have constitutionally protected rights of
freedom of expression and association, but also recognizes
that California is in a state of crisis because of the actions
of criminal street gangs. (Penal Code Section 186.21.)
2)Prohibits active participation in a criminal street gang with
knowledge that its members engage in, or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes,
furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by
members of that gang. Violation is punishable by imprisonment
in county jail for up to one year, or in state prison for 16
months, or two or three years. [Penal Code Section 186.22(a).]
3)Provides that any person convicted of a felony committed for
the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with
any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote,
further, or assist in criminal conduct by gang members, shall
receive a sentence enhancement, as specified. [Penal Code
Section 186.22(b).]
4)Provides that the minimum enhancements (in addition to the
prison term for the underlying felony) are: a felony (other
than specified) - two, three, or four years; a serious felony
- five years; a violent felony - 10 years; a home invasion
robbery - life with a minimum of 15 years before parole
AJR 40
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eligibility; a carjacking - life with a minimum of 15 years; a
shooting from a vehicle - life with a minimum of 15 years; and
extortion or witness intimidation - life with a minimum of
seven years. [Penal Code Section 186.22(b).]
5)Defines "criminal street gang" as any ongoing organization,
association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal
or informal, having as one of its primary activities the
commission of one or more enumerated offenses, having a common
name or identifying sign or symbol, and whose members engage
in a pattern of gang activity. [Penal Code Section
186.22(f).]
6)Defines "pattern of criminal gang activity" as the commission
of two or more of enumerated offenses, provided at least one
of the offenses occurred after the effective date of the
statute and the last of the offenses occurred within three
years after a prior offense, and the offenses were committed
on separate occasions, or by two or more persons. [Penal Code
Section 186.22(e).]
7)Prohibits the recruitment or solicitation of another to
actively participate in a criminal street gang with the intent
that the person solicited or recruited participate in the
pattern of criminal street gang activity, or with the intent
that the person solicited or recruited promote, further, or
assist in any felonious conduct by members of a criminal
street gang . Violation is punishable by imprisonment in
state prison for 16 months, or two or three years. (Penal
Code Section 186.26.)
8)Provides that the Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy
(OGYVP), located within the Emergency Management Agency (EMA),
is responsible for "identifying and evaluating state, local,
and federal gang and youth violence suppression, intervention,
and prevention programs and strategies, along with funding for
those efforts. [Penal Code Section 13827(b).]
9)States that the OGYVP is "responsible for monitoring,
assessing, and coordinating the state's programs, strategies,
and funding that address gang and youth violence in a manner
that maximizes the effectiveness and coordination of those
programs, strategies, and resources." [Penal Code Section
13827(b).] The OGYVP is also responsible for collaborating
with a wide range of state and local stakeholders to develop
AJR 40
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comprehensive recommendations "to define its mission, role,
and responsibilities as a statewide entity dedicated to
reducing violence and the proliferation of gangs and gang
violence in California communities." [Penal Code Section
13827(b).]
10)States that the OGYVP must play a role in the collection and
analysis of data on gang membership statewide and the
effectiveness of various gang prevention efforts, the
development of reliable and accurate sources of data to
measure the scale and characteristics of California's gang
problems, the development of a clearinghouse for research on
gangs, at-risk youth, and prevention and intervention programs
in order to identify best practices and evidence-based
programming, as well as unsuccessful practices, and in order
to promote effective strategies for reducing gang involvement
and gang violence. [Penal Code Section 13827(b).] In
addition, the OGYVP must play a role in assisting state and
local governmental and nongovernmental entities in developing
violence and gang prevention strategies, including built-in
evaluation components, developing sustained coordination
mechanisms among state, local, and regional entities, and
identifying available or needed federal, state, regional,
local, and private funding resources. [Penal Code Section
13827(b).]
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Gangs are
responsible for numerous crimes including murder, witness
intimidation, money laundering, extortion, narcotic production
and sales, prostitution, human trafficking, theft and
counterfeiting. In spite of an overall decrease in crime in
most California cities since the 1990's, rates of gang-related
violent crime remain steady. According to the Governor's
Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy, gang activity in
California resulted in 2,771 homicides between 2005 and 2007.
"The U.S. Attorney General recently announced a recommendation
for increased federal funding for cities to develop
comprehensive planning and action to confront youth and gang
violence prevention. Available federal resources are and will
continue to be limited, and maximizing how far to stretch each
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dollar is pivotal to local success.
"The State of California needs to be on record that we support
comprehensive planning at the local level to combat this part
of illegal, criminal activity. Together with our federal
partners, California can focus its efforts on strategies that
actually work and support community efforts to create peaceful
neighborhoods.
"AJR 40 urges the Federal Government to provide greater
flexibility when appropriating federal funds to encourage
local governments to implement the most effective and
evidence-based plans that blend prevention of gang
participation, intervention of at-risk youth and offenders,
and suppression of crime activity. AJR 40 also demonstrates
California's commitment to the prevention of gang violence,
which will make our state more competitive for future federal
funding."
2)Background : According to background information provided by
the author, "In order to reduce gang-related violence and
victimization through cross-city peer learning, identify and
implement best practices and initiate state policy changes to
support local practice, a three-year, Thirteen-City Gang
Prevention Initiative was launched in California.
Participating cities, including, Richmond, Sacramento, Santa
Rosa, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Oakland, Oxnard,
Stockton, San Jose, Fresno, Salinas, Los Angeles (San Fernando
Valley portion) and San Diego, have pledged to forge
comprehensive city-wide plans that blend prevention,
intervention, enforcement and the community's 'moral voice'
before fear alone dominates the government's response and
drives policymakers toward prison-only solutions.
"The Governor's California Gang Reduction, Intervention and
Prevention (CalGRIP) program combines funding from different
state and federal funds to help coordinate local governments
to reduce gang violence. However, perpetual budget cuts
threaten the limited resources available to local governments
across the state to address gang violence.
"Need for the resolution: As promising gang violence prevention
efforts rest on locally-crafted, comprehensive strategies, the
Federal Government must assist jurisdictions by actively
involving other federal agencies such as Department of Housing
AJR 40
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and Urban Development, Department of Health and Human
Services, Department of Labor, Department of Education and
Homeland Security in the fight against gang violence.
Currently, the federal government makes funding available
through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
Program (Byrne/JAG), which is a partnership among federal,
state, and local governments to create safer communities. The
program, administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJS), is the leading source of federal justice funding to
state and local jurisdictions. The BJS calculates a minimum
allocation based on population and the state's share of the
country's violent crime statistics. Once state funding is
calculated, 60 percent of the allocation is awarded to the
state and 40 percent to eligible units of local government.
"At present, no preference or priority is given to states or
local governments with comprehensive, evidence-based plans for
reducing crime and violence. This should change. And current
efforts on the federal level to allow flexibility in access to
use of federal funds should be encouraged."
3)National Gang Threat Assessment : According to the 2009
National Gang Threat Assessment released by the National Gang
Intelligence Center (NGIC) and the National Drug Intelligence
Center, "Gangs pose a serious threat to public safety in many
communities throughout the United States. Gang members are
increasingly migrating from urban to suburban areas and are
responsible for a growing percentage of crime and violence in
many communities. Much gang-related criminal activity
involves drug trafficking; however, gang members are
increasingly engaging in alien and weapons trafficking.
Additionally, a rising number of U.S.-based gangs are
seemingly intent on developing working relationships with U.S.
and foreign-based drug trafficking organizations and other
criminal organizations to gain direct access to foreign
sources of illicit drugs.
"Gang migration from larger cities to suburban and rural areas
is an ongoing concern for law enforcement. According to
analysis of National Drug Threat Survey 2008 data, the
percentage of law enforcement agencies in the United States
reporting gang activity in their jurisdictions increased from
45 percent in 2004 to 58 percent in 2008. Moreover, the
percentage of jurisdictions reporting gang activity during
this time frame increased in each of the seven NGIC regions;
AJR 40
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however, the most significant increases were in the East and
Southeast Regions, most likely the result of the migration of
gang members from urban areas such as New York, New York;
Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California, to smaller
jurisdictions in these regions.
"Gang migration from urban areas has led to the recruitment of
new, younger gang members in many suburban and rural
communities. According to the most recent biennial School
Crime Supplement to the Bureau of Justice Statistics National
Crime Victimization Survey, the percentage of suburban
students ages 12-18 who reported that gangs were present at
school during the previous 6 months increased 17 percent from
2003 to 2005 after remaining stable from 2001 to 2003, and the
percentage of rural students reporting likewise increased 33
percent from 2003 to 2005 after decreasing (8%) from 2001 to
2003. In comparison, percentages of both total students and
urban students reporting gangs present at school increased
steadily from 2001 to 2005 (20% and 24%, respectively).
"Gang membership in the United States was conservatively
estimated at 1 million members as of September 2008, based on
analysis of federal, state, and local law enforcement
reporting-an increase from an estimated 800,000 members in
2005. Current estimates include approximately 900,000 gang
members residing within local communities across the country
and more than 147,000 documented gang members incarcerated in
federal, state, and local correctional facilities, according
to state and federal corrections data. States in the Pacific,
Southwest, and Central Regions rank highest in the percentage
of the population identified as gang members.
"Most regions in the United States will experience increased
gang membership, continued migration of gangs to suburban and
rural areas, and increased gang-related criminal activity.
Gang-related violence is very likely to remain at high levels
or increase as gangs expand their criminal operations into
suburban and rural communities. As these gangs encounter
resistance from local gangs or other drug distributors in
these communities, an increase in violent incidents such as
assaults, drive-by shootings, and homicides can be expected."
4)OJJDP's Gang Reduction Program : The Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, within the U.S. Department
of Justice, has a number of programs designed to reduce gang
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activity. The Gang Reduction Program "is designed to reduce
gang activity in targeted neighborhoods by incorporating a
broad spectrum of research-based interventions to address the
range of personal, family, and community factors that
contribute to juvenile delinquency and gang activity. The
program integrates local, state, and federal resources to
incorporate state-of-the-art practices in prevention,
intervention, and suppression." The program currently has
four pilot sites, including one in East Los Angeles.
This program implements the Comprehensive Gang Model,
developed by the OJJDP. This model, developed by Dr. Irving
Spergel and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, has
been tested at over 20 sites and is designed to be used by
communities to address and reduce their youth gang issues.
According to a report by the OJJDP, "The Model's key
distinguishing feature is a strategic planning process that
empowers communities to assess their own gang problems and
fashion a complement of anti-gang strategies and program
activities. Community leaders considering this Model will be
able to call on a strategic planning tool developed by OJJDP
and available at no cost." [U.S. Department of Justice, Best
Practices to Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP's
Comprehensive Gang Model (2007)
(as of April
27, 2010).]
5)Related Legislation :
a) AB 2140 (Solorio) would have established the High
Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas Task Force to
formulate a comprehensive strategy for addressing high
intensity gang activity throughout California and to advise
EMA on the appropriate disbursement of funds to regional
high activity gang areas. AB 2140 has not been heard by
this Committee.
b) AB 1439 (Solario) would have required OGYVP to
consolidate and streamline existing state agency gang and
youth violence grant programs with a goal toward giving
priority to grant programs that employ evidence-based
practices. AB 1439 was vetoed.
6)Prior Legislation :
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a) AB 128 (Dymally), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
would have required the Department of Education to contract
with the Los Angeles County Office of Education to develop,
administer, and implement community-based Gang Violence
Mitigation Pilot programs to provide gang alternative
education, counseling and support services to pupils
enrolled in grades four to eight, inclusive in specified
school districts. AB 128 was held on the Assembly
Committee on Appropriations' Suspense File.
b) AB 301 (Soto), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session, would
have created the position of the California Gang Prevention
Coordinator within the Department of Justice who would be
responsible for coordinating gang prevention efforts
statewide. SB 301 would have required the Attorney General
to request funding for the position as part of the annual
budget process and would make appointment to the position
contingent on obtaining funding. AB 301 was never heard by
this Committee and returned to the Chief Clerk of the
Assembly.
c) AB 802 (Salas), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
would have established the California Commission on Gang
Prevention and Intervention that would be responsible for
creating a statewide strategy on gang violence prevention
and intervention and collaborating with local agencies to
implement the statewide strategy. AB 802 was held on the
Assembly Committee on Appropriations' Suspense File.
d) AB 1381 (Nunez), Chapter 459, Statutes of 2007,
established the OGYVP, which is responsible for
coordinating and assisting various persons and entities
with strategies to prevent violence and gang involvement.
e) AB 1625 (Solorio), of the 2007-2008 Legislative Session,
would have created within the Office of Emergency Services
a program designated as the High Intensity Interstate Gang
Activity Areas Task Force. AB 1625 was held on the
Assembly Committee on Appropriations' Suspense File.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
League of California Cities
AJR 40
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Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Milena Nelson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744