Group seeking the help of local police officers
VERA DAVIS CENTER — This community center that resulted from a truce among Venice gangs in the 1990s has become a meeting place for a new group working to stave off more violence in its neighborhoods.
Dozens of members of the Venice Gang Coalition (VGC) took steps on Tuesday to solidify the mission statement and goals of their fledgling organization, which they hope will soon offer a long-term strategy to reduce gang violence in the community.
The group, which first met on Sept. 20, is comprised of a younger and an older generation of Venice residents, gang interventionists and city representatives who want to move beyond steps taken in the past to ensure a system is in place that will better address gang problems in the future, they said.
They acknowledged that many of Venice’s problems spill over into other communities, including Santa Monica and Culver City, which have rival gangs fighting against each other.
VGC members on Tuesday agreed to meet on a monthly basis as they continue to gather financial and political support for their cause. Discussion centered on the need to develop a long-term business plan that would provide youth with alternatives to gang life, as well as the need to muster support from the police and business communities to ensure success.
Brad Carson, who served as a Venice probation officer from August of 1989 to January of 2000, said he was one of many individuals who helped mediate the truce to a gang war that occurred in the early 1990s and turned the prison system into its own “Vietnam.” The gang war quickly spread among black and Latino gangs near Venice, erupting in a spate of violent crimes.
As part of that truce, Carson said places like the Vera Davis Center were formed as means of providing a forum for career and recreational opportunities for youth gripped by the gang lifestyle. As worthy as those efforts were, Carson and others said the violence continues.
Since January, there have been seven gang-related homicides in the Venice area, speakers said on Tuesday. Many pointed at the need for more resources to combat the systemic ignorance and hopelessness that breeds gangs. In order to do that, speakers said more support within the community was needed.
“This is about getting resources together,” said Bill Martinez, a gang interventionist who also attended a gang workshop this past spring to address gang violence in Santa Monica.
One way VGC members want to solicit community support is through representatives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division, none of whom attended Tuesday’s meeting.
“Without the police department, nothing can come out of this,” said Cliff McClain, manager for the Vera Davis Center.
VGC members said police participation is necessary because officers are in charge of public safety and the group’s legitimacy depends on their endorsement.
To work better with police, Brodie Seagrave, field deputy for Los Angeles 11th District Councilman Bill Rosendahl, suggested VGC members develop a program whereby they can show how their efforts may reduce crime. By proving such, the police would naturally ally itself with the VGC, Seagrave said.
Once the VGC has an endorsement from the police, it can overcome a crucial obstacle in achieving legitimacy through the political chain of command. Support from the business community, as well as sources of funding for programming would follow, Seagrave said.
Melvin Haywood, whose father also was involved in resolving the gang conflicts of the 1990s, currently works as a gang interventionist.
Haywood’s team frequents violent crime scenes to try to preserve the peace and thwart retaliations, he said. Haywood is meeting with LAPD representatives to better relations, which have a shaky history, he said.
Haywood said it could be useful to require gang interventionists and police officers at crime scenes to fill out reports in which both groups would comment on how the other behaved.
The intent of such reporting would be to provide a basis for public dialogue as to the problems police and interventionists often have with each other. Police tend to consider gang interventionists as “illegitimate” and “uncooperative,” speakers said. The interventionists, meanwhile, believe their role of smoothing out conflict is often misunderstood by law enforcement.
VGC members decided to mull over the concept of police and interventionists reporting on each other. Later, they said they may present the idea to the LAPD.
Commenting on cynicism expressed by some at the meeting, Carson said he was impressed to see Haywood and other young community members taking up where the “gray hairs” left off.
Carson suggested one way for community members to befriend police is to play basketball with them or take part in other activities that may strengthen relationships.
Carson was optimistic the VGC can be successful.
“I’ve spent thousands of hours at meetings like this,” Carson said. “The good thing is, the meetings haven’t stopped.
“You have to give 100 percent to make it work.”
The next meeting will be held Nov. 8.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 12, 2005. Read the original PDF.