Councilmen Tony Cardenas (left) and Dennis Zine (right) listen to the
panel's report. (Photo by Natalie Ragus.)

An ad hoc panel charged with analyzing Los Angeles' approach to youth violence recommended on Monday the city create a permanent agency devoted to curbing gang activity.

Should the City Council follow the recommendation, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Gang Reduction and Youth Development Office, or GRYD, would become a separate entity.

"The main challenge is that [GRYD] is under an elected office and there's no accountability," said Candace Kaminsky, a graduate student at USC's School of Social Work, who helped prepare a report for the ad hoc panel.

Without a permanent spot in the city's governance system, GRYD does not have to answer to the City Council and can be suspended at the mayor's will, she said at a meeting of the council's public safety committee.

The proposed GRYD office would continue to focus on prevention and intervention in its approach to youth violence, collaborating with the Los Angeles Unified School District, L.A. Police Department, social services and community organizations.

For instance, a school might connect its dropouts, a population traditionally targeted heavily by gang recruiters, to a mentoring program run by the probation department. Or, an at-risk youth might get a job referral from an employment agency.

According to the report, the City Council increased GRYD funding by $26 million in 2008-09. But city officials couldn't say on Monday exactly how much was spent on the program altogether.

The report, which was written by the social welfare departments at UCLA and USC, also said the city spent more than $1.4 billion combating gang-related crimes committed that same year.

LAPD Cmdr. Patrick Gannon said homicides have fallen 18 percent in Los Angeles in the past year, and attributed the decrease largely to the city's concentrated efforts to reach out to troubled youths.

Collaborating with other agencies, he added, has given the police department the chance to put its limited resources to best use.

Kaminsky said she hopes the City Council will follow through with the report's recommendation and soon make GRYD permanent. Historically, the council has taken such reports and done nothing with them, she noted.

"I just hope it doesn't just get shelved," she said. "Lives are at stake here."