ANTI-GANG EFFORT PUSHES PEACE MARCH, BALLGAME DESIGNED FOR QUIET HOLIDAY.Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer ENCINO - Aiming for a peaceful holiday season, the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Coalition on Gangs plans to hold its most extensive outreach ever on Saturday, with a march, softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' tournament and information fair. ``We'd like to broker a peaceful holiday,'' said Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . Deputy Chief Ronald W. Bergmann, the
Valley's top commanding officer, who created the anti-gang
coalition three years ago. ``It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to get the word
out.''
The anti-gang summit kicks off at 9 a.m. at Woodley Park Woodley Park refers to the following:
2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. , the county Probation Department, and six teams made up of rival gang members and former gang members will play a softball tournament. ``This is an opportunity to show the community we can get along in a sporting contest,'' Bergmann said. ``The thrust is not that cops and gang (members) are friends by playing softball, but some understanding that we're all human. We want to reach the families.'' Central to the outreach effort will be informational booths about drug and anti-gang counseling, community outreach groups and the the Jeopardy Foundation - which sponsors gang-intervention programs at middle and high schools. Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be served, paid for by corporate sponsors, local churches and others. With gang violence in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, accounting for at least half the region's homicides - and about 40 percent of all homicides in the Valley - the coalition has intensified its efforts to reach at-risk youths and their families. Citywide, gang-related homicides through October were up about 10 percent over the previous year. Gang-related homicides in the Valley are down about 15 percent from 2003. ``This is the biggest thing the coalition has done,'' said William ``Blinky'' Rodriguez, executive director of Communities in Schools and a coalition member. ``The time is right to do it. It took a lot to get to this point; it's major.'' The coalition, includes law enforcement officials, prosecutors, parole and probation officers probation officer n. 1. An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents. 2. An official charged with supervising convicts at large on suspended sentence or probation. , community-based organizations, and representatives from local churches and schools. It has produced a community resource guide listing gang intervention and other services. Multidisciplinary teams also have been expanded from a pilot in Foothill Division to all five Valley divisions, providing gang intervention programs for at-risk youth and their parents. The Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, executive director of Homeboy Industries Homeboy Industries is a youth program founded in 1988 by Father Greg Boyle, S.J. following the work of the Christian base communities at Dolores Mission Church. The program is intended to assist at-risk and gang members in a variety of services, such as counseling, tutoring, and in Boyle Heights, which has brought thousands of rival gang members together over the years and is sending a team to the tournament, said such events promote understanding. ``Anything that calls to mind our common effort to live at peace and to remind us we belong to each other is good, and that is what undergirds these efforts. ``Anything that can bring the issue of gang violence to people's attention and working toward an alternative to the despair that underlies gang violence and works to the common purpose of creating communities where families can raise their kids is all good.'' Beth Barrett, (818) 713-3731 beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO The Coalition of Gangs will hold an anti-gang rally at 9 a.m. Saturday at Woodley Park, Woodley Avenue and Victory Boulevard Victory Boulevard is a major thoroughfare on Staten Island, measuring approximately 8.0 miles (12.87 km) and stretching from the west shore community of Travis to the upper east shore communities of St. George and Tompkinsville. . A peace march will begin at 9:30 a.m., ending at Hjelte Park, 16200 Burbank Blvd., where a softball tournament will be played. For information, call (800) 339-6993 or visit www.sfvcg.org. CAPTION(S): box, map Box: IF YOU GO (see text) Map: PEACE MARCH Daily News |
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