Tag Archives: prevention

Gang and drug crime intiative unveiled

June 17, 2009Views & Newsceasefire, crime, gangs, gun laws, gun violence, justice, prevention, youthJulie

And here is the just-out brochure describing the National Network for Safe Communities, the (very) innovative gang and drug crime initiative unveiled Monday at the US mayors’ conference in Providence. Looks like 30 cities (and counting) are on board so far, including Stockton and Sacramento from my fair state. And Salinas? Not yet, anyway. Hmmm…

Just click this link to download the PDF: nationalnetwork

Here’s more about the program and the cities that are on board: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/2666.php

Ceasefire: Proven programs to lower rates of gang violence

June 11, 2009Reporters' Resources, Views & Newsceasefire, gun violence, prevention, teen deaths, youthJulie

Chicago’s Ceasefire Program is Looking Good: Read here

Note: Since I wrote this post in 2009, Chicago Ceasefire has changed its name to avoid confusion with the Boston Ceasefire violence reduction strategy, which you can learn more about here. (Chicago’s Ceasefire is now called Cure Violence and it’s gone through some changes.)

——————-

People often ask me if we can ever stop gang violence. Here’s the short answer: it takes a lot of work, but it can be done.

I’ve been tracking evidence-based programs such as the city of Chicago’s Ceasefire with a lot of interest. Proponents say these intensive, multi-pronged public-health approaches are the only proven way to lower murder rates.

pubedgrowupeng

Chicago is one of several cities using a model that basically treats youth violence as a public health issue and not just a law enforcement problem. The idea is to follow the example of epidemiologists and public health experts by adopting the same kind of successful approaches that have gotten people to stop smoking or use seat beats or condoms.

Another program called Ceasefire has gotten results in Boston and other cities (Stockton, California being one close to home), and it’s one of things I’ve been studying during my fellowship at Harvard.

More than anything, I’m hoping to see the city of Salinas emulate some of this success.

Here’s an excerpt from the new report, describing a few of Chicago Ceasefire’s five key components (the bolding is mine):

“CeaseFire focused on changing the behavior of a small number of carefully selected members of the community, those with a high chance of either ‘being shot or being a shooter’ in the immediate future.

Violence interrupters worked on the street, mediating conflicts between gangs and intervening to stem the cycle of retaliatory violence that threatens to break out following a shooting.

Outreach workers counseled young clients and connected them to a range of services.”

The five core components, by the way, are:

Street-level outreach
Public education
Community mobilization
Faith leader involvement
Police participation

Download the full report: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/227181.pdf
The Chicago Ceasefire Web site: http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/
The Boston Gun Project and Boston’s Operation Ceasefire: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/criminaljustice/research/bgp.htm

press

California, crime, el andar, gangs, hispanic magazine, incarceration rate, julia reynolds, justice, kazu, mark schapiro, monterey county herald, nafta gang, nuestra familia, pacific news service, prevention, prisons, reporting, salinas, Views & News, youth

Reporting about my reporting

For press coverage of Blood in the Fields, go here.

Reporting on traumatic events

• When Crime is Just the Beginning of the Story
• Bringing What’s Buried in Folders to Life
• Strategies for Reporters Coping with Stress
Coverage of Julia Reynolds’ work at the 2009 Aftermath Conference at Harvard in Nieman Reports.

How we report on youth violence, a guide
From Chicago is the World

Gang prevention strategies

Project Ceasefire
Sandip Roy interviews Julia Reynolds, Prof. Victor Rios of UC Santa Barbara and Stockton Peacekeepers Jose Gomez and Ralph Womack on San Francisco’s KALW 91.7 fm show “Your Call,” about Project Ceasefire and other strategies to deal with gang and youth violence. Oct. 14, 2009

Operation Knockout II
California Watch reports on Julia Reynolds’ coverage in the Monterey County Herald of Operation Knockout, the April 2010 take-down of Nuestra Familia associates in Salinas, and revives an earlier interview with one of the gang’s entrepreneurs.
by Michael Montgomery, California Watch, Apr 28, 2010

Operation Knockout Meets Ceasefire
In a television interview and panel with fellow Bay Area reporters, Reynolds discusses the April 22, 2010 Nuestra Familia takedown in Salinas. Hosted by Belva Davis, KQED-tv, “This Week in Northern California” Apr 23, 2010

Operation Knockout I
Radio interview with Julia Reynolds on the day of the Knockout raids in Salinas and how Ceasefire might help with the aftermath.
by Cy Musiker, KQED-fm, Apr 22, 2010

Nuestra Familia: Our Family
Radio interview with reporters Julia Reynolds and George Sánchez about the surprising origins of the NF and California’s gang wars
by Ben Adler, KAZU-fm, Apr 28, 2006

Documentary Goes Inside Nuestra Familia
by Brenda Moore, Monterey County Herald, Dec 2, 2005

Documentary Examines Salinas Gang Problem
Reporters follow current, former gang members
KSBW-TV, Nov. 11, 2005

Exposé: America’s Investigative Reports
This clip from the documentary was featured on PBS’s Web site.

Guns

Outed by Public TV Web Site, Fleeing Arms Dealer is Nabbed
Current Newspaper
June 24, 2002

The NAFTA Gang episode

In late 1999, our tiny bilingual magazine el Andar was threatened with a $10 million defamation lawsuit by one of Mexico’s most powerful families, the Hanks — over an article by yours truly, titled “The NAFTA Gang.” We refused to retract our reporting and with the support of first amendment groups and press coverage here and abroad, the family backed down within a year.

Drug War on Trial
by Mark Schapiro, The Nation, Sept 6, 2001

U.S. Based Hispanic Magazine Stands Ground Against Powerful Mexican Family
By Mary Jo McConahay, Pacific News Service, Oct. 22, 1999

New federal gang prevention laws

March 24, 2009Views & NewsAdd new tag, crime, gangs, justice, justice reform, prevention, youthJulie

The name keeps changing… from the Youth Promise Act of 2007 to the PRECAUTION Act of 2009 (Prevention Resources for Eliminating Criminal Activity Using Tailored Interventions in Our Neighborhoods Act of 2009)

Phew, what a mouthful!

Anyway, for those who care to follow this legislation, it was recently re-introduced as H.R. 1064. The Senate version is S. 435.

Track them both (and any other federal bills) at this awesome site: OpenCongress.org.

The description from the Senate bill is:

A bill to provide for evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention to help build individual, family, and community strength and resiliency to ensure that youth lead productive, safe, health, gang-free, and law-abiding lives.

As always, read the fine print. Just as with other “gang prevention” legislation in the past, the devil is in the details.

film/tv

bill moyers, California, center for investigative reporting, crime, fbi, gangs, gun laws, gun runners, justice, latino public broadcasting, pbs, pbs documentary, prevention, prisons, salinas, salinas valley, teen deaths, youth

Nuestra Familia, Our Family | The PBS documentary

The Center for Investigative Reporting and Latino Public Broadcasting‘s award-winning film about a father, a son, a gang and the FBI.
Co-producer, lead reporter, writer

Hear me and co-reporter George Sánchez talk about Salinas gangs and our work on this film.

Gun Land | NOW with Bill Moyers
Reporter, researcher, production assistant (Center for Investigative Reporting)

Gun Runners | Frontline/WORLD
Reporter, researcher (Center for Investigative Reporting)

Gangs Thrive In Maximum Security | 60 Minutes
Reporter, researcher (Center for Investigative Reporting)

stories

american radio works, California, crime, gangs, gun laws, gun runners, incarceration rate, justice, justice reform, monterey county herald, overcrowded prisons, pbs documentary, prevention, prison reform, prisons, reporting, salinas valley, teen deaths, Views & News, youth

Print and online coverage of justice, youth violence, gangs, guns, and the FBI

: Crowd at Salinas crime scene | photo © Janjaap Dekker

JUSTICE: THE SYSTEM, THE CONCEPT, THE REALITY

From overcrowded prisons to life without parole for juveniles and problematic witness protection — our justice system offers plenty to write about.

The guns of Pacific Grove: Unraveling a police commander’s arms dealings | The Monterey Herald

The silent empire: the state’s largest for-profit jail health care provider | The Monterey Herald (funny how they change headlines on the web for search engine optimization)

Experts slam Monterey County Jail conditions | The Monterey Herald
(yes, they re-named our newspaper)

Series on prison mental health | The Monterey County Herald

Reasonable Doubt in a Cold Case | The Monterey County Herald

The Long Journey: Johnny Angel Martinez’ search for redemption | The Monterey County Herald

Down for Life series | The Monterey County Herald Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3
>>PDFs Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3
Down for Life series | KAZU-fm Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3

Multimedia: A Long Night’s Wait at Salinas Valley State Prison

Witness Protection Not a Guarantee | The Monterey County Herald
Murder Victims’ Families Find Solace | The Monterey County Herald

GANGS

Since 2002, I’ve reported on the Nuestra Familia and the law enforcement efforts to bring it down.

The NF is one of the nation’s most violent and sophisticated gangs, a drug-dealing mafia that for more than three decades has exerted powerful control over the West’s agricultural towns. In the Salinas Valley, second, third and now fourth generations of children are literally being born into this gang and raised to be criminals. My work chronicles the gang’s power and a community’s struggle to defeat it.

Nuestra Familia, Our Family | The PBS documentary
Our award-winning film about a father, a son, a gang and the FBI.

OPERATION VALLEY STAR STORIES

The FBI’s largest case against Nuestra Familia, with trials still underway.

The Operation Valley Star Archive — all stories

WOMEN, GIRLS AND GANGS

Girlfriends, wives and sisters are an integral — and often expendable — part of gang organizations.

Women Caught up in Gang Life | Monterey County Herald

Prison Gang Tied to Soledad Killings | Monterey County Herald

GANG VIOLENCE – SOLUTIONS

When people ask me how to end gangs, I usually say something useless like “end poverty first.” But there may be more immediate hope for stopping some of the killings. The Boston Ceasefire violence reduction strategy is gaining support and believers. I’m one of them.

Ceasefire: A series on the innovative program to stop gang shootings | Monterey County Herald

Reasons for Hope: Three journalists who report on the drug trade’s violence in the United States and Mexico compare notes during a peaceful pause | Nieman Reports Fall 2011

I also continuously cover solutions to gang and youth violence, as well as prison and reentry issues as my regular beat at The Monterey County Herald.

GUNS

In the world of gunrunning, money drives the engine. What starts with an illegal but booming worldwide arms trade ends with misery around the globe – including teen deaths in Northern California.

South Florida’s Elusive Arms Baron | Frontline/WORLD
The Guns of Opa-Locka | The Nation
Youths, Gangs and Guns | KQED-TV and Oakland Tribune

I also contributed reporting to these investigative projects:
Gun Land | NOW with Bill Moyers
Gun Runners | Frontline/WORLD

Critics: Terrorists Manipulate Loopholes in U.S. Gun Laws | NPR’s All Things Considered [ram audio]