Cities of Richmond and San Pablo Receive Support for Gang Work
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
On March 5, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced over $9.2 million in competitive grants have been awarded to 24 cities throughout the state under the Governor’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) initiative.
The City of Richmond, in partnership with the City of San Pablo and RYSE Youth Center, applied for the current round of CalGRIP funding in late 2009, a year in which roughly 60% of the city’s homicides were the result of criminal street gang activity. The award of $382,639 will be used to create a Safe Community Partnership program, based upon a model in place in the cities of Boston, Chicago, and Indianapolis that has resulted in a 25 to 60 percent reduction in homicides in those communities. The project will enhance police response to gang violence and assist local organizations to provide gang intervention and prevention programs and education and employment opportunities for at-risk youth.
Governor Schwarzenegger introduced the CalGRIP initiative in May 2007 to confront the dramatic increase in gangs across the state and their proliferation in suburban and rural areas. Richmond was one of two grant recipients in the East Bay region, the other being the City of Oakland. Since the CalGRIP program was introduced, the City of Richmond has received a total of $1.8 million in funding for a total of five grant applications prepared with the assistance of the Glen Price Group.