Source: The Uken Report
“The spread of gang violence is preventable. All Californians have a role to play creating sustainable change within our own neighborhoods,” Garcia said.
Earlier this year, Garcia and Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo, submitted a formal budget letter requesting for $9.2 million to reinstate funding for the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) program. The Governor’s current proposal eliminated allotments for this program.
Garcia added that, “Victim confidentiality is paramount to building positive rapport with public safety officials and ensuring that victims feel safe bringing forward testimony in gang-related cases.”
Yulil Alonso-Garza, founder and president of the Mothers and Men Against Gangs Coalition (MAG Coalition), an Imperial County-based nonprofit, testified at recent committee hearings for AB 2013. “The MAG Coalition and the Garza family are extremely thankful to both Assemblymembers Cunningham and Garcia for allowing us this opportunity and for their joint bipartisan efforts to eradicate gang violence, Alonso-Garza said.
The local organization sponsored, Garcia’s ACR 134; designating the month of January as “Anti-Gang Awareness and Prevention Month” in the State of California.
“The spread of gang violence is preventable. All Californians have a role to play creating sustainable change within our own neighborhoods,” Garcia said.
Garcia’s AB 1262 would work to further impede gang activity within prone underserved areas by expanding the parameters of the California Gang, Crime, and Violence Prevention Partnership program to include the communities of Bakersfield, Brawley, Calexico, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, El Centro, Indio, Richmond, Salinas, Soledad, and Stockton.
This measure also gained bipartisan support to advance from the Assembly to the Senate.
