San Jose Touts Success Of Gang Suppression Program
SAN JOSE (KCBS) — The San Jose Police Department said Monday that a program implemented this summer to reduce gang-related crime has led to an overall 20 percent reduction in crime from last year.
Looking to suppress a spike in gang violence, the department shelled out more than $1 million in police overtime. City officials said they were gratified with the results of the emergency plan that was put in place over the summer.
Mario Maciel with Mayor Chuck Reed's Gang Prevention Task Force said gang-related homicides are down from 14 to eight, a drop of 42 percent.
According to Maciel, there was also a drop in gang-related robberies.
"Robberies have been plaguing our city for quite some time and to see that our enforcement efforts here with Chief Esquivel's plan have brought a 40 percent reduction; I think it starts working towards re-establishing that sense of safety and that peace of mind our residents deserve," he said.
According to the police department's statistics gang-related aggravated assaults were also down 15 percent.
San Jose has budgeted more than $1 million has for gang suppression for this fiscal year.
SJPD Says More Than $1M Spent To Reduce Gang-Related Crime Paying Off
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