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Whether they were gang members or innocent bystanders, that's a high number of deaths over the last ten years for Los Angeles County. But with an estimated 1,000 gangs and over 80,000 gang members, is this any surprise? Yesterday at a panel on gang violence, LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, Sheriff Lee Baca and community advocate Connie Rice called gangs a "public health disaster of epidemic proportions," as the Daily News put it. The panel said they want to expand a 2003 summer program called "Summer of Success" that put at-risk youth into activities. Homicides dropped to zero and violent crime was down 20% during those nine weeks, they said.
