2024 17
2025 1
Other Shootings
2012 8
2013 1
2014 1
2015 12
2016 2
2017 15
2018 0
2019 0
2020 1
2021 3
2022 8
2023 2
2024 2
2025 1
Total Shootings
2012 12
2013 13
2014 8
2015 17
2016 15
2017 32
2018 1
2019 0
2020 3
2021 11
2022 23
2023 14
2024 24
2025 3
The 5 murders in 2013 resulted in the highest per capita murder rate of any city in California. The majority of violence issues have been determined to be gang related.
Violence originates largely from a territorial dispute between northern and southern gang members. King City is positioned in the area of California commonly considered a northern area, but is predominately considered a southern, or sureno, gang town. It has three identified southern gangs, which garner approximately 130 known members. King City is also home to one northern gang, which has approximately 30 identified members.
Gangs from neighboring cities also spill their conflicts into King City, bringing increased violence and tension. As rival groups attempt to expand their territory or pursue criminal activities across city lines, residents experience sudden rises in assaults, property damage, and fear. This cross-city influence strains law enforcement, disrupts community stability, and makes it harder for neighborhoods to feel safe and unified.
The Plan included 5 categories of recommendations developed by the Community Task Force, which are prevention, intervention, enforcement, re-entry, and public outreach.
The Community Task Force reviewed each category, identified existing programs in order to better coordinate and expand them, and then identified recommended programs and implementation strategies. In 2018, the City Council reviewed an update of the progress in implementing the plan and added two new strategies.
Since the pandemic, the City has experienced a steady increase again in youth violence activity. While it has not reached the level of problem that was experienced prior to implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End Youth Violence, the trend has been counter to the City’s ultimate goal of permanently eliminating gang activity in the community and has been identified as a major concern.
Given the successful outcomes of the original Comprehensive Plan to End Youth Violence, it was decided to address this major priority by repeating the original process with the goal of identifying measures that need to be modified or expanded and other effective measures that were not included in the original measure.
A community task force was formed and approved by the City Council, which consisted of representatives from the City, community service organizations, partnering agencies and the faith community. They met over a period of 4 months, received several presentations from subject experts, and agreed on 12 proposed measures.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Youth Job Development and Placement Program
Description: It is proposed to establish a program to develop and place youth in local jobs. The initial pilot program will target students from Portola Butler High School and participants at the Sun Street Centers recovery program. It will involve working with local employers to identify employment opportunities and to solicit participation by offering workers at no initial cost to the employer. Employee pay would be paid by the program. It would also include life skills and job preparation training, mentoring, administration of the program, and career development. The career development component would include working with unions, employers and Hartnell College to provide training and job experience in trades that could lead to future career opportunities.
Implementation Strategy: It is proposed to contract with the Monterey County Workforce Development Board to administer the program. They will utilize existing resources supplemented by grant funds secured by the City to develop an
expanded program customized and targeted to King City’s needs. City staff will assist with coordination and outreach to local employers. The initial funding strategy is to submit applications for grants through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. The City will utilize consultant services to prepare and administer the CDBG grant application.
• Gang Resistance Education and Training Program
Description: It is proposed to implement a Gang Resistance Education and Training Program (G.R.E.A.T.) or comparable program. GREAT is an evidencebased, national and international gang and violence prevention program. It is built around school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula, which provides a continuum of components for children and their families. These components include a 13-lesson middle school curriculum, a 6-lesson elementary school curriculum, a summer component, and a families component.
Implementation Strategy: The G.R.E.A.T. program would be primarily implemented by the SROs. Materials and training would be accessed through the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR). It is proposed to initially be funded through a California Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (CalVIP) grant.
The City will serve as the lead agency on the grant application. King City was ineligible to apply for the last CalVIP cohort due to new criteria that favor larger jurisdictions with a higher net volume of violent crime incidents. Therefore, the implementation strategy includes an advocacy effort with State legislators to formally request the criteria be revised to be based on per capita data.
Supplemental efforts to pursue other grant opportunities to fund the program are proposed.
• Gang Street Outreach Team
Description: It is proposed to establish a gang street outreach team as set forth in the Comprehensive Gang Model developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The Comprehensive Gang Model was developed through funding from the Federal government and includes five strategies:
community mobilization, opportunities provision, social intervention, suppression, and organizational change and development.
The purpose of the gang street outreach team is for street outreach workers with professional backgrounds to build community trust and provide a direct link between gang-involved youth, their families, and the conventional world, facilitating access to social, economic and other needed resources. The street outreach workers would partner with youth-serving agencies, schools, grassroots groups, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, and other criminal justice organizations. Their goal would be to connect those with gang affiliations to support services, housing, jobs, and other opportunities to divert them from gang involvement.
Implementation Strategy: The program is proposed to initially be funded through the effort to obtain funding from a CalVIP grant. Once funding is secured, the most important step will be for the City to identify individuals or agencies with the necessary skills and experience to provide the street outreach services. The City and County are working jointly to identify potential organizations or individuals. It is proposed to coordinate with Project One, a non-profit, and contract with Jay Franklin, an expert in Comprehensive Gang Model programs, to assist with program development, coordination and training.
• We Care Program
Description: It is proposed to increase participation by King City youth, particularly at-risk youth, in the WE Care program. The We Care program is operated on a volunteer basis by staff of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Soledad. It is a youth initiative where incarcerated men share their experiences with at-risk youth to offer mentorship and guidance to youth visiting the Soledad correctional training facility. The program aims to deter at-risk youth by providing them with firsthand accounts of the consequences of poor choices through honest dialogue.
Implementation Strategy: The program is proposed to target Road to Success diversion program participants and at-risk youth at King City High School and Chalone Peaks Middle School who would be identified by the SROs. The program is primarily self-funded with volunteers. The City would add some costs to the CalVIP application.
• Police Patrol and Investigations Staffing Increase
Description: It is proposed to increase enforcement activities by adding 1 new position to Police Patrol and 1 new position to the Police Investigations Unit. This will enable the Police Department to be more proactive in enforcement, deterrent and community outreach activities. It will help address current staffing shortages, particularly when there are vacancies or officers on leave, which currently limits officers to priority response calls and provide minimal opportunity for proactive activities.
Implementation Strategy: The City has developed a community needs assessment effort to develop revenue enhancement strategies. Public safety and enforcement of violent crimes was ranked as a high priority. Therefore, implementation will need to be funded from General Fund revenue enhancement efforts. • Additional School Resource Officer
Description: It is proposed to add 1 additional School Resource Officer (SRO) to increase the SRO program from 1 to 2. This will enable 1 to be assigned full-time to the South Monterey County Joint Union High School District (SMCJUHSD) and
1 to the King City Union School District full-time. The objective is for the SROs to engage in more proactive activities, which include establishing relationships with students, identifying at-risk students and referring them to supportive services, providing crime prevention educational programs, and providing a positive ongoing presence at the elementary school level.
Implementation Strategy: The additional position is proposed to be funded jointly by the City, each school district and a Federal Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) grant. The City’s portion of funding will be contingent upon City General Fund revenue enhancement efforts. The City will also be responsible for submitting the application for a COPS grant.
• High School Faith-Based Student Club
Description: It is proposed to support establishment of a high school faith-based student club.
Implementation Strategy: The King City Baptist Church Pastor will identify student leaders interested in formation of the club, coordinate with King City High School representatives on submitting the proposal for approval, and then work with the students on scheduling meetings and activities.
• Step Up Mentoring Program and Rainbow Connections
Description: The Step Up Mentoring and Rainbow Connections programs are provided by Partners for Peace and utilized by the Probation Department Silver Star Program. The Step Up program provide mentoring for girls and boys in 7th, 8 th and 9th grades and classes for parents and caregivers. It is a weekly program offered at various locations throughout Monterey County free of charge. Youth learn to set goals, go on field trips, explore careers and learn life skills for success.
Rainbow Connections is a free family support program in Monterey County looking for resources and guidance to support their LGBTQ+ youth and family. It provides one on one sessions with a family support partner and access to other services that help provide support.
Implementation Strategy: It is proposed to promote increasing utilization of these programs for King City youth by creating opportunities to provide the services more extensively at King City school sites and to offer the services at local churches. • Rancho Cielo Satellite Facility
Description: Rancho Cielo is a non-profit youth social services organization that invests in young people facing challenges for success through diploma education, vocational training, counseling and life skills. It offers vocational training and high school education in partnership with John Muir Charter Schools. Students earn a WASC-accredited high school diploma or equivalent, leave prepared to enter the
workforce and/or enroll in post-secondary education. Vocational training includes academies in construction, welding, auto and diesel repair, ag technology and culinary arts. It is proposed to work with Rancho Cielo on a plan to expand their services to include a satellite facility in South Monterey County.
Implementation Strategy: It is proposed to partner with Rancho Cielo, the other South Monterey County cities, and the County of Monterey to identify a site, initiate a capital campaign and seek grant funding and other funding sources to pursue expansion of their program with a new facility in South Monterey County. This is identified to likely be a long-range project goal.
• First Tee Monterey County Youth Learning Center
Description: First Tee is a non-profit organization focused on youth development and empowering local children through an innovative blend of golf and life skills education. First Tee Monterey County currently serves as the operator of the King City Golf Course. They have proposed to construct and operate a youth learning center facility at the Golf Course which would consist of a roughly 3,200 square foot building where the barbeque is currently located. It will include a kitchen, 2 classrooms, golf studio, community room and office. The goal will be for First Tee to provide an opportunity to expand after-school programming, a public area for students to study and improve academics, project-based learning opportunities, community enrichment, and a center for outreach programming.
Implementation Strategy: It is proposed to partner with the First Tee Monterey County and the King City Rotary Club on a capital campaign to fund construction of the facility. The City would create a new parcel at the Golf Course and enter into a long-term lease of the parcel with the First Tee Monterey County. • Re-Entry Program
Description: It was agreed to establish a goal of creating a future program providing housing and services for a limited number of individuals released after serving their prison sentence.
Implementation Strategy: It will be necessary to identify a non-profit service provider specializing in re-entry programs to partner on the project. The next steps would then be to identify an appropriate site. This is identified to be a long-range goal.
• School Anti-Gang Presentations
Description: It is proposed to schedule impactful anti-gang presentations at school assemblies at King City High School, Portola Butler and Chalone Peaks Middle School utilizing speakers with real life experiences to educate youth on the negative impacts of gang involvement.
Implementation Strategy: It is proposed to contract with Keys to Life, a non-profit organization from Santa Cruz County specializing in presentations utilizing former gang members to dispel myths and inform students about the outcomes of gang life. The program may be funded as part of the CalVIP grant application, other grants, or City and school district general funds. The program may then be expanded to include other speakers identified and/or utilize additional services provided by Keys to Life.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
City staff will coordinate and track overall implementation of the strategies identified within the plan. A Community Youth Violence Prevention Committee will be formed. They will meet quarterly to assist with implementation of the Plan and ongoing updates since it is intended to be a dynamic document. An annual report will be prepared to identify progress of each implementation strategy at the end of 2026.
The City will continue to maintain a system of monitoring progress and results associated with implementation of the plan. Key data on violence will be tracked by the Police Department on a quarterly basis to monitor trends and projects, which include at a minimum the following:
• Homicides
• Attempted homicides
• Other shootings
• Other violent crimes