Becker Attends White House Conference on Gang Prevention
08.26.2009 by Jeff Robinson
(KCPW News) Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker joined other elected officials, police chiefs and Attorney General Eric Holder in Washington, DC this week for a conference on preventing gang violence. Becker says the event validated the city’s position that gangs can’t be combated by the police alone.
“We are taking the right approach in Salt Lake City when it comes to gangs. The old model of going out and arresting people and throwing them in jail – the history has been those folks just get replaced immediately. If we’re gonna be successful in dealing with gangs, we’ve got to coordinate our efforts among the law enforcement, the education folks, the social workers,” he told KCPW.
The mayor says the conference also reinforced the idea that gang deterrence must start early in a child’s life.
He says it was a significant event because it’s the first time in a while that the White House has invited local leaders to provide their perspective on gang problems.
“Without exception, the local government officials, the police and law enforcement community as well as elected officials and others in the community, noted that this is the first time in eight or nine years that they have been invited to the White House to give the on-the-ground perspective that can really only come from local governments,” Becker said.
Becker says gang prevention is one of the only areas where the city increased its budget this year.
As an independent non paid gang and graffiti researcher since 2005, I applaud any public officials willing to work to fix the ongoing growing gang and drug abuse problems within our communities. I only wish that the public schools, and many community leaders in quiet neighborhoods would step up to the plate! Crimereports.com indicates an ongoing home invasion,property crimes, and other issues associated with gangs and drugs within all of our communities.
I encourage all parents to learn more about gangs in our State and the effects of peer pressure on our children. We live in a State in which denial still exists, the denial is destroying families and our State. Please promote drug abuse education, gang deterrence in all schools.
Utahgangresearch on twitter, tmkjusticestudies on policelink.com
Thank you to SLC Mayor Becker and Judge Valdez for their special ongoing work in gang deterrence.