Hoping to share strategies for winning over fearful communities plagued by gang violence, leaders from 13 California cities, including Salinas, are meeting in Monterey today and tomorrow.
The California Cities Gang Prevention Network conference will focus on developing effective gang prevention programs and identifying state and federal policy priorities. "We need a comprehensive strategy, not a program here and a program there," said John Calhoun, director of the state gang network, which is sponsored by the National League of Cities.
Salinas has seen a dramatic rise in gang-related homicides over the past two years, including 22 slayings this year. Mayor Dennis Donohue repeated his assertion that the city is moving forward in building sufficient capacity to sustain a gang prevention, intervention and suppression program and get at the root causes of violence.
"For people of good will Salinas remains a fundamentally safe city work and visit in," Donohue said.
Police Chief Louis Fetherolf said he is working to make his police department work more efficient and effectively while emphasizing neighborhood-oriented policing. "I'm convinced the way you change hearts and minds starts one on one," Fetherolf said.
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