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# Lawmakers unveil package of bills taking aim at gangs
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/lawmakers-unveil-package-of-bills-taking-aim-at-gangs/
- Published: 2007-03-01T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:10:02.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Lawmakers out to stop surge in gang violence*

SACRAMENTO Hours before more than 100 people took to the streets of Santa Monica to march in memory of a 15-year-old boy who fell victim to gang violence one year ago, Republican state lawmakers introduced a comprehensive effort to combat street violence.

Headed by Senators Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) and George Runner (R-Antelope Valley), the legislators introduced a gang bill package on Wednesday that includes a total of 14 different assembly and senate bills, all aimed at addressing what they call an “urban form of terrorism.”

In Los Angeles alone, gang-related violence increased by 14 percent in 2006, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

“In Orange County, there’s been identified 314 different street gangs, and just last year, we had 35 gang-related homicides,” said Harman, before heading back to his district on Wednesday.“It’s a problem that is getting bigger and bigger every year.”

The package is split into three categories — intervention and prevention; disruption and suppression of street gangs; and justice for gang violence victims — with some bills overlapping into different categories.

Co-authored by Runner and Harman, SB 657 leads the pack. The proposed bill would provide more resources to suppress gang violence in high school campuses, increase penalties to adults who commit felonies with a juvenile accomplice, and give more resources to witness protection programs.

Many gangs start on campuses, so it’s vital that new legislation combat the gang culture at the high school level, Harman said.

“They intimidate other hard working students,” he said. “This whole package just goes from prison gangs to schools to education to the parole officer.”

While Americans are watching terrorism unfold overseas, there is also terrorism occurring right in their own backyard, Harman said. Gang violence has become such a problem that children don’t even feel safe visiting parks.

SB 550, proposed by Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), addresses park safety for children by establishing a 1,000-foot gang crime-free buffer zone around all parks.

Another bill, AB 894, introduced by Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi (R-Lodi), seeks to enforce harsher prison sentences for gang-related crimes, requiring that all offenders serve at least 10 years in addition to other penalties. The sentence would apply to all gang-related crimes, regardless of the age of the offender. He believes the bill will make juveniles think twice before breaking the law.

A series of senate and assembly bills seek to disrupt and discourage gang violence. One even goes as far as requiring that all offenders of convicted gang-related offenses wear GPS monitoring so they can easily be tracked.

NOT TO BE OUTDONE Several Democratic lawmakers have already introduced their own versions of gang-prevention legislation. Two weeks ago, Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona) presented AB 301, a proposal that would create the position of a statewide Gang Prevention Coordinator with the office of the California Attorney General.

The coordinator is expected to provide cohesion in the state’s current efforts to curtail gang violence — efforts which are currently occurring in different independent agencies. The disconnect between the different agencies dealing with gang violence prevention has caused such efforts to be ineffective, Soto said. The program should cost no more than $150,000 in new state spending.

“Unless we, as Californians, come together to develop solutions, the state’s gang problem will only get worse,” Soto said.

Her colleague Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) introduced AB 802, which would create the California Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention. The bill was brought on after the San Diego City Council created a similar commission in November 2006\. The commission on the state level would coordinate efforts between the state, cities and law enforcement.

“Gang problems are prevalent throughout the state and we need to take what San Diego did one step further,” Salas said.

Approximately 80 percent of gang prevention resources are spent in enforcement and the recidivism rate for gang members released from jail who re-enter the gang life is 75 percent, said Oscar de la Torre, the founder of the Pico Youth & Family Center.

More attention needs to be paid to prevention and intervention, he said.

Jail is not necessarily a deterrent, since many gang members learn the gang culture in prison.

“Anything that strengthens gang culture behind prison walls is going to make it harder for us to keep the peace on the streets,” de la Torre said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 1, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/030107.pdf?ref=smdp.com)