Despite reporting the lowest rates of violent crime in decades, L.A. Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck say they still have too many
gang members on the streets. They hope a new Gang Intervention Academy
will help change that. (Natalie Ragus)

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, flanked by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and several of the city's gang intervention specialists, announced the birth of the Los Angeles Gang Intervention Academy at a press conference Thursday in the mayor's office.

City leaders said they hope the move will spark a national trend in preventing gang violence.

"We have exported the [gang] problem for decades," Beck said, noting that many U.S. gangs sprang from Los Angeles before spreading to other regions of the country. "Now, it's time to export the solution."

The academy will offer formal training to gang intervention specialists throughout L.A. Previously specialists received intermittent training through their respective agencies.
From now on, all agencies that provide contract gang intervention services for the city will be required to send their specialists through the academy.

There are an estimated 40,000 gang members in the Los Angeles. While violent crime in L.A. has reached a 60-year low, gangs remain more entrenched in the city than ever, said Advancement Project co-Director Connie Rice.

Gangs have increasingly become more and more sophisticated, taking over a number of "hot spots," as neighborhoods with the highest levels of gang violence are known.

Ever-resourceful imprisoned gang leaders have found avenue upon avenue by which to maintain a tight hold on their gang even from behind bars.

"It's like a fault running through the city," Rice said, likening situation to an earthquake brewing, ready to wreak havoc at any moment in time.

The city contracted with the Advancement Project, a policy and civil rights organization, to run the academy. Representative Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, secured $200,000 in federal funds to see the academy through its inaugural year.

The academy seeks to hit the gang problem "at the root," Villaraigosa said, vowing to constantly retool the curriculum on an as-needed basis in order to ensure the academy's success.

The curriculum, which hasn't been finalized, will include an introductory course and other advanced courses that gang prevention specialists can take to keep their certification up to date.

There will also be a component for police brass, Beck said.

Cherry Short, associate dean of the University of Los Angeles' School of Social Work, said the curriculum will focus on four primary areas: crisis response, proactive mediation between gangs, identifying and mentoring at-risk youth, and community organization.

USC's social work and public policy departments will team up to develop the curriculum for the academy.

After officials spoke about the need for the academy, Villaraigosa took the ceremonial pen to sign the Advancement Project contract, officially sanctioning the new academy. Cheers erupted throughout the mayor's press conference room.

One of those cheers came from Ben Owens, executive director of Detours Mentoring Group, Inc., an organization that councils at-risk youths. Owens said he knows the power an intervention specialist can have in helping a gang member turn his or her life around.

A former gang member himself, Owens said he changed paths when intervention specialist Michael Cummings of We Care Ministries came into his life.

"Gang intervention works because of the people who provide those services," Owens said. With more formal education, he added, specialists will have an even better chance at reaching gang or would-be gang members.