The Votes Are In!
2023 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → 
Duarte Community Meeting Will Update Residents on Anti-Gang Initiatives
Arcadia Weekly Feb 02, 2010
by
share with
Duarte has set the second in a planned series of Neighborhood Watch community meetings to keep the public up-to-date on what the City is doing to suppress, intervene and prevent gang violence. The next meeting will be held Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. at Maxwell School Cafeteria, 732 Euclid Ave. The public is welcome to attend.
Duarte Sheriff’s Sgt. Tony Haynes, Director of Public Safety, Brian Villalobos, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department gang experts will discuss recent gang and criminal activities as well as successful, effective efforts to curb violence. They will also provide an overview of the gang suppression, intervention, and prevention programs that the City and law enforcement are utilizing to help keep Duarte neighborhoods safe.
“Our number one priority is ensuring the safety of our residents. Curbing street gang activity and locking up the bad guys are at the top of the list,” said Villalobos.
Since Dec. 1, 2009, Sheriff’s deputies have made 41 arrests, among them 8 of the identified top 10 gang members.
Assistant Sheriff Paul Tanaka and Temple Station Captain Joseph F. Fennell have committed to the City to focus enforcement on both Duarte Eastside and Duroc Crips gangs. To bolster the effort:
Four Operation Safe Streets (OSS) detectives have been assigned to the Temple Station, whose jurisdiction includes Duarte. Sgt. Ron Hester has been assigned to oversee the OSS detail.
Hard core and active Duarte Eastside and Duroc Crips gang members are identified and when appropriate gang enhancement charges are filed.
Temple Station is working with both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an effort to pursue federal charges against gang members.
Monthly probation and parole searches are coordinated
Monthly Duarte and Monrovia Area Gang Enforcement (D.A.M.A.G.E.) operations are scheduled to foster cooperation and intelligence sharing between the Monrovia Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
On the intervention and prevention sides, OSS detectives and Duarte Special Assignment Deputies are working with Parole and Probation officers to closely monitor parolees and probationers in an effort to keep them from re-offending. The City of Duarte is working closely with the Foothill Workforce Investment Board (FWIB) to employ at-risk youth and young adults. Since last Summer, more than 55 Duarte youths and young adults have been trained and placed in jobs through both the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (Cal-GRIP) program and other youth employment programs.
The many preventive programs that Duarte has instituted include youth mentoring programs, volunteer programs for middle school and high students, and sports and recreation programs. The Duarte Teen Center offers anger management classes, narcotics counseling and teen parenthood classes, and the City has coordinated with the Los Angeles Office of Education to establish a Youth Leadership program for all Duarte youths.
Duarte has recently submitted a Cal-Grip Grant to hire a Gang Alternative and Prevention Program Deputy Probation Officer who would work with the Duarte Unified School District elementary schools to identify and work with at-risk youth from kindergarten to sixth grade.
“The importance of the community’s role in helping to keep Duarte a safe place to live and work is vital,” said Villalobos. “We need the community’s help. Every Duarte neighborhood should be involved in Neighborhood Watch. It’s a program that works. We also want the public to know that if they have information about a crime, but may be concerned about ‘getting involved’, Duarte Public Safety has an Anonymous Tip hotline where they can leave a detailed message.”
The hotline number is (626) 359-5671, ext. 462. For information about starting a Neighborhood Watch program, call Aida Torres, Duarte Crime Prevention Specialist at (626) 359-5671, ext. 316.
More from Arcadia Weekly
