Gang violence took what officials described as a drastic drop since July 2010, attributing the drop to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s gang-prevention programs initiated in June of 2010 and again after last December’s fatal barbershop shooting.

Since implementing some of the measures, Lt. Bill Champion of the Sacramento Police Department said that the results have been effective. The number of gang-related firearm assaults has dropped by 60 percent, and the overall rate fell by 39 percent. In addition, there has been a 75 percent drop in homicide rates, and a 100 percent drop in non-fatal shootings.

Image by: Public Health Institute Safe Community Partnership & the Sacramento Safe Community Partnership (Ceasefire) Image by: Public Health Institute Safe Community Partnership & the Sacramento Safe Community Partnership (Ceasefire)

Community leaders gathered at City Hall Monday morning to discuss the mayor’s plan. Speakers, including Johnson and Khaalid Muttaqi, the head of the mayor’s gang-prevention task force, updated citizens on the new plan, explaining the problems they seek to solve, the methodology of their approach, and the results thus far.

“We asked the community what needs to happen,” Muttaqi said. “The community is obviously engaged.”

Champion spoke about the Sacramento Safe Community Partnership, known more commonly as Ceasefire, a program started by the Police Department to combat gang and gun violence in ways that are different and more effective than in the past.

“A traditional law enforcement response … has been to send a lot of officers into an area with gun violence or gang violence, and you have zero tolerance,” Champion said, adding that this kind of police crackdown not only stops the gangs, but builds distrust between the local community and the police.

“You end up enforcing the rules on the people that are crying out for help,” he said.

He said that Ceasefire is changing the the traditional methods by concentrating its efforts on finding out specifically who is causing the violence. The two primary gangs of the Mack Road commercial corridor, one of the worst areas in Sacramento for gang activity, were found to responsible for a majority of gun violence in the area.

Instead of waiting for a crime to occur, Champion said, the police identify prime suspects and have their probation officers reach out to them, asking them to attend community meetings. Faith-based organizations, health groups and community members are present, asking the gang member to not resort to violence. Champion said that this process is called an intervention, as labled in the graph.

“We have the community tell (the gang members), ‘The violence needs to stop,’ and now it’s very personal because we’re sitting there looking at them,” Champion said.

Muttaqi said that another important element of the task force is to provide alternatives to the gang members, such as educational opportunities, work training programs and other positive and productive options.

Leading the way for community-based efforts is the newly-planned Men’s Leadership Academy being put in place by the Sacramento City Unified School District and the Sacramento Violence Intervention Program, which is run by The Effort, a Sacramento-based health care provider that reaches out to lower income neighborhoods.

Adrian Williams of SCUSD said that the Men’s Leadership Academy is a 4-year program for high school students that is similar to programs such as AVID, a program for advanced high school students that has a class during the school day and additional responsibilities for the students to complete.

He said that a small number of students will be admitted to the program, where they will be closely mentored by teachers who are popular among the students. They will be taken on field trips to top colleges and be given opportunities that will move them away from gang life, such as being required to dress nicely on occasion. The program will begin in the spring.

SVIP is bringing services to struggling communities that were previously unavailable, said Melisa Bayne, who is in charge of the program. By providing services like counseling, addiction help and other medical services, Bayne said that the SVIP has seen drastic improvements in former gang members whom they reached out to.

Berry Accius, a 34-year-old teen mentor who lives in Natomas, attended the meeting and said that while he thought the effort was great, it was very important that people continue to come up with new ideas to combat gang violence.

“We need leaders who really identify with the kids,” he said. “You really need to engage them so they understand that people care about them.”

Muttaqi said that this is only the beginning of the mayor’s push for gang prevention, and that these ideas will continue to be implemented.

“We’re optimistic, and we hope it will continue,” Champion said.