Panel Discussion Information (Cont'd)

Despite decades of a law enforcement focus on gangs, gang membership has doubled. Today in Los Angeles County, police count over 1000 gangs and more than 80,000 gang members. From January 1, 2004, to May 31, 2007, police counted 6,656 gang-related shootings and 10,094 gang-related robberies. According to a study conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice, the cost of gang violence to taxpayers and victims has reached over $2 billion dollars a year. That research provided the impetus for the ground breaking report entitled A Call to Action: A Case for a Comprehensive Solution to LA's Gang Violence Epidemic which prompted all of the current changes in law enforcement policy with regard to gangs in Los Angeles.

For the most part, law enforcement has been expected to provide the solution to gang violence and crime using politically popular suppression and incarceration strategies, but the number of gangs and gang members has burgeoned. Federal, state, and local governments spend close to one billion dollars annually on anti-gang strategies, but the gang problem just gets worse.

However, there is a bright light at the end of this long dark tunnel - an innovative program in Los Angeles that dramatically reduced violence attributed to gangs during the months it was operating. The "Summer of Success" was coordinated by the Advancement Project's Connie Rice who partnered with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and former Los Angeles City Council member Martin Ludlow. With funding secured by Ludlow, the "Summer of Success" program connected the resources of scores of public and private agencies for a nine-week neighborhood-based, gang violence reduction program. Working together, law enforcement, parole boards, local churches, schools and other social service providers centered their efforts on assisting at-risk young people. The program was a powerhouse of teamwork and the results were stunning. Homicides dropped to zero while other violent crimes dropped 20 percent during the months the program was operating.

This panel discussion will focus on the potential for this program to help resolve one of our nation's most pressing problems, exploring what it would mean for cities as complex as Los Angeles to maintain this effort year-round and for the nation as a whole to embrace such an approach to ending the epidemic of gang violence.

Moderator


Christopher Stone

Christopher Stone is Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice. His current research focuses on comparative approaches to police accountability and the internal alignment of national criminal justice systems. From 1994 to 2004, he served as director of the Vera Institute of Justice, where his own work focused on institutional reform of police, prosecution, and public defense services both in the United States and internationally. Stone also served as chair of Altus, an alliance of nongovernmental organizations and academic centers in Russia, India, Nigeria, Chile, Brazil, and the United States that are jointly pursuing justice sector reform.

Stone received his BA from Harvard, an MPhil. in criminology from the University of Cambridge, and his JD from the Yale Law School. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary OBE for his contributions to criminal justice reform in the United Kingdom. He became faculty director of the university-wide Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations in January 2008.

Panelists


Chief Bratton

· One of the most publicly recognized chiefs of police in the US
· As chief in LA, oversees 3rd largest police department in US
· Was chief of police in Boston & New York City
· Is featured in numerous Kennedy School case studies on criminal justice, leadership, and other issues

Sheriff Baca

· Commands the largest Sheriff's Department in the United States
· Manages the nation's largest local jail system housing nearly 20,000 prisoners
· Law enforcement provider to 40 incorporated cities, 90 unincorporated communities, 9 community colleges, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Rapid Rail Transit District
· Highly controversial leader who has sought to break down the organizational and department silos to deal with the gang problem including involving community critics of the police and sheriff's departments

Connie Rice

· Renowned for her unconventional approaches to tackling problems of inequity and exclusion. For example, she has teamed up with conservatives on education issues and, as counsel to the leaders of the Watts gang truce, enlisted the support of LAPD officers.
· Has led multi-racial coalitions of lawyers and clients to win more than $10 billion in damages and policy changes, through traditional class action civil rights cases redressing police misconduct, race and sex discrimination and unfair public policy in transportation, probation and public housing.
· At the invitation of LAPD Chief Bratton, Rice investigated the biggest police corruption scandal in Los Angeles history and obtained the commitment of the Chief to reform LAPD's training and incentives system through an internal commission that she co-chairs.
· Conducted a landmark 18-month assessment of the City of Los Angeles' anti-gang programs and drew the blueprint to reduce gang violence through a regional, multi-jurisdictional comprehensive strategy to right the balance between suppression and prevention.
· Prior to co-founding Advancement Project, Connie was co-director of the Los Angeles office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, an associate at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster; and a clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith, judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.
· Graduate of Harvard College and the New York University School of Law.
· In 2006, Los Angeles Times West Magazine named Rice one of the 100 most powerful people in Southern California, and California Law Business twice named her one of the top ten most influential lawyers in California.

Director of Program


(cont'd) Bernard has a BA from the University of Alberta, a MA from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University. She has conducted courses on a wide variety of topics for unions, community groups, universities and government departments. Her current research and teaching interests are in the areas of international comparative labor movements and the role of unions in promoting civil society, democracy and economic growth.