GRIP Program Targets At Risk Youth

News

Daily Titan
April 9th, 2012

Credit: jondoeforty1/Creative Commons

By Mark Payne

In an effort to gain control of the increasing problem of gang activity, the Anaheim Police Department (along with other police agencies in Orange County), the Orange County district attorney’s office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department collaborated to form the Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (GRIP).

The program is aimed toward troubled youth, concentrating on children who are between fourth and eighth grade. It attempts to take a proactive approach to reducing gang crime in Orange County.

The various government agencies work with parents and schools to identify youth potentially in harm’s way and then use various tools such as counseling, mentor programs and incentives to help those children steer away from gangs.

“To keep kids from joining criminal street gangs, that’s the only goal,” said Orange County assistant district attorney Tracy Rinauro, who is in charge of the GRIP program.

The Anaheim Police Department was awarded a grant of $400,000 by the Governor’s Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy in 2008 in order to form the GRIP program, which was to be used to keep “at-risk” youths in school and away from gangs, said Police Chief John Welter.

The government agencies are looking for ways to intervene before children become involved in crime. The GRIP program allows officers to take an active approach in the lives of children who appear to be headed toward associating with a gang or joining a gang.

The most recent example of the GRIP program at work was a curfew sweep March 15, when more than 200 police officers rounded up 26 juveniles for breaking curfew. The juveniles were detained if they were 17-years-old or younger, were not accompanied by a parent or guardian and did not have a work or school exemption.

Dan Adams, public information officer sergeant, is involved in the sweeps. He said their goal is to influence potentially vulnerable youth to stay out of trouble and point them in the right direction.

“Basically what we’re looking for (are) people who are out and up to no good, the people that are in gang areas,” said Adams. “The great thing about the sweeps that we do is we have the resources available at the center where we … not only educate the kids about the dangers of being out late at night, but also educate the parents in the event they don’t know.”

Kevin Ruiz is an investigator for the DA’s office and also participates in the curfew sweeps for GRIP. He said the goal of the project is to educate young people, as well as their parents, about the curfew laws, which start at either 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. depending on the city, and last until 5 a.m. the next day.

Once a juvenile is detained, they are brought to one of the headquarters and held until the DA and other officials can speak with the minor and their parents about the dangers of being out late and associating with gangs.

“Once a young person becomes involved with gangs, it’s not impossible to get them out, but it’s difficult,” said Ruiz. “It’s better to invest in them now before they cross over to the dark side.”

The officers can point out to parents what signs to look for in identifying at-risk behavior in school children. They can then recognize these children and bring them to the attention of GRIP personnel, who can recommend counseling or match them with a mentor, giving them a chance to move away from the gang lifestyle.

“We’ve seen tremendous results (from GRIP) … We’ve seen expulsions and truancy crime dramatically decrease, we’ve seen crime around the (school areas) in the community decrease,” Rinauro said. “We have interventions with the most at-risk kids at a … 65 percent turnaround, meaning they’re on track, on grade level and not being disciplined.

[Source: Daily Titan]