Cover Sheet
Applicant agency
applying for funds:
Physical Address: 401 E. Chapman Ave. Placentia, CA 92870 Mailing Address: 401 E. Chapman Ave. Placentia, CA 92870 City of Placentia
Applicant Agency Darin Lenyi, Chief of Police
Contact: (714) 993-8211
dlenvi(a�placentia.orq
Project Director: James McElhinney, Captain
(714) 993-8170
imcelhinnevaplacentia.ora
Project Title: "Placentia S.T.R.O.N.G. Project
(Systemic Teaching for the Reduction Of Neighborhood
Gang -activity)"
Request Amount: $537,160.00
Proposed Start date: July 01, 2021
EIN: 95-6000763
DUNS Number: 040504417
SAM Registration Status: Active
Project Safe Neighborhoods 2018 1 City of Placentia Page 1
Statement of the Problem (SAPI
• Identify the existing need and problem.
The City of Placentia (the City) is in dire need of Intervention/Prevention/Outreach resources.
We need increased intervention and prevention on behalf of our at -risk youth as they are recruited and terrorized by criminal gangs. And we need increased community outreach to break street gangs' chokehold on our most vulnerable neighborhoods.
The City is a small, quiet bedroom community located in northern Orange County, California.
Our residents are committed to keeping Placentia a pleasant place to live by providing a safe family atmosphere, superior public services, and policies that promote the highest standards of community life. The City is a proudly diverse American community. Asian American and Latinx residents make up over half of our population. Likewise, half of our local businesses are minority- owned.
Unfortunately, our City's location puts us in the crossfire of street gangs operating within both the Orange and Los Angeles counties. Turf conflicts between the rival Plas, La Jolla, and Atwood street gangs put our residents' lives at risk. Each of these three gangs operate with a core membership of 75-100, even swelling to as many as 250 members at any given time. These gangs are "turf gangs", defining themselves as the territory that they control or take by force.
Our youth are at extreme risk as street gangs attempt to recruit our young men. If recruited youth do not join, this immediately paints a target on their backs. They may be attacked by gangs in retaliation or because they are mistaken on the streets as rival gang combatants.
Effective policing is impossible without the support and trust of our community. The aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy has left many to question the tactics, training, and overall use of force philosophies of modern-day law enforcement. The philosophies and training of the Placentia Police Department and the practical application of field tactics have created a culture within the organization that respects the civil liberties of all that we serve.
The current national environment can create a rift between law enforcement agencies and their neighborhoods, a rift that criminal gang members are quick to take advantage of. The City is in dire need of Intervention/Prevention/Outreach resources. Our police department is committed to meaningful community -oriented policing methods, where trust between officers and residents can create truly safe neighborhoods.
The proposed Placentia S.T.R.O.N.G. Project will allow our officers to undertake Systemic Teaching for the Reduction Of Neighborhood Gang -activity. In doing so, they will work together with residents to create a safe neighborhood, not one where the community constantly fears gun violence.
• Include relevant data, such as jurisdiction arrest and crime rates.
Two separate injunctions were enacted in 2015 by the Orange County District Attorney's Office to combat the violence perpetrated by the rival Plas and La Jolla street gangs in Placentia, California. Through these two injunctions from the Orange County District Attorney's Office has Project Safe Neighborhoods 2018 1 City of Placentia Page 2
explicitly flagged the City of Placentia as a hotspot for both street gang activity and violent turf wars between gangs.
• Identify the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program strategy that will be utilized (prevention, intervention, re-entry or law enforcement).
The proposed Placentia S.T.R.O.N.G. Project will utilize the PSN program strategy of Intervention/Prevention/Outreach/Reentry: Prevention, outreach, engagement, and reentry programs that provide services for at -risk communities to address drivers of gun and gang violence, repeat and habitual offenders, and to provide outreach programs to Federal Firearm Licensees and the public to encourage responsible and safe gun ownership and to prevent the use of illegal straw purchasers.
• Identify the Targeted Enforcement Area (TEA).
The Targeted Enforcement Area (TEA) for this project will be the City limits of the City of Placentia.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the PSN program strategy goals and timeline.
The City of Placentia has a full understanding of Project Safe Neighborhood's strategy goals:
to create and foster safer neighborhoods through a sustained reduction in violent crime, including, but not limited to, addressing criminal gangs and the felonious possession and use of firearms.
The City of Placentia has years of experience protecting its residents from the creeping influence of violent street gangs. Each of the three prominent gangs in our City operate with a core membership of 75-100, even swelling to as many as 250 members at any given time. These gangs are "turf gangs", defining themselves as the territory that they control or take by force. The City is acutely aware that the reduction of these gangs and the reduction of their criminal access to firearms is vital to creating truly safe neighborhoods within our City.
The City of Placentia has a full understanding of Project Safe Neighborhood's timeline. Award letters & Sub -grant Agreements will be released by September 2020. All awarded proposals will be completed within three years of this award date.
The City of Placentia has years of experience successfully executing crime reduction and public safety programs similar to Project Safe Neighborhoods, including:
OC GRIP
For years, the City has been an active member of the Orange County Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (00 GRIP), a county wide initiative focused on decreasing gang - activity and increasing school attendance among at -risk youth.
North Orange County Public Safety Task Force
For the last three years been an active member have participated in the North Orange County Public Safety Task Force program, specializing in recidivism, youth gang violence, and homeless issues relative to quality of life. These years of experience in cross -law enforcement agency collaboration to reduce gang -activity among our most vulnerable youth gives us an intimate understanding of PSN's goals.
Project Safe Neighborhoods 2018 1 City of Placentia Page 3
The City has an excellent track record in complying with grant agreements, completing all set goals of a program, and completing a program on time.
Program Design and Implementation
The Placentia S.T.R.O.N.G. Project (Systemic Teaching for the Reduction Of Neighborhood Gang -activity) will be implemented from July 01, 2021 through June 30, 2023. Implementation will consist of the following three (3) focus efforts: Increased participation in Lot 318 program; Increased participation in the OC Grip program; and a Placentia Community Outreach Initiative.
1. Increased participation in Lot 318 program:
The Lot 318 program provides after school nutrition and after school tutoring. By addressing the basic needs of food and education, this program is able to give our most vulnerable youth the tools to succeed. This will increase our intervention and prevention efforts as youth do not view education as impossible and violent gang recruitment as their only option for advancement.
The Lot 318 program is headquartered in an area of approximately 5,000 homes, between two of these turf gangs. In the past 13 years, LOT318's efforts have proven successful in drawing the youth away from gang activity and improving their educational performances.
Police officers will have the resources and the opportunities to participate in this program directly, providing one -one -one support to youth and building long-term relationships of trust between our law enforcement and our youth residents. At -risk youth will view our police officers as supporters who wish to see them succeed, not as an enemy who wants to see them go directly from schools to prisons.
2. Increased participation in the OC GRIP program:
Police officers will have the resources and the opportunities to participate in this program with more frequency, increase resources and opportunities needed for more targeted and personalized outreach, encouraging our kids to stay in school.
This will allow police officers to reach our at -risk youth residents before the gangs can. Police officers will be able to mentor our youth on a personalized level, increasing school attendance and decreasing gang activity.
Police officers will have the resources and the opportunities to build long-term relationships with our most vulnerable youth and their families. This will increase intervention and prevention as youth will not view education as impossible and violent gang recruitment as their only option for advancement.
3. Placentia Community Outreach Initiative:
Police officers will have the resources and the opportunities to hold regular community meetings and education events on community gang prevention, cooperative community - oriented policing tactics, and signs to look for in creeping gang activity.
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This Community Outreach will our officers the opportunities to dispel any fear among residents that the police in their neighborhood are just another turf gang fighting for dominance. Instead we will build a long-term relationship of trust between our residents and our officers.
Police officers will have the resources and the opportunities to create systemic teaching within their communities to reduce gang activity. Residents of Placentia will be able to stand "S.T.R.O.N.G." actively creating safe neighborhoods together with law enforcement, as opposed to passively living in fear.
Capabilities/Competencies
• Applicant must fully describe the applicant's capabilities to (1) implement the program within the identified area; and (2) implement the program within the established project timeline.
The City of Placentia and the Placentia Police Department are fully capable to implement the program within the identified area. Our police officers are committed to the delivery of compassionate and professional police services. We are able to achieve this through building long-term relationships with our communities.
Our police officers are trained in community -oriented police tactics, putting the safety and wellness of our residents first. In the past three years, there has not been a single formal complaint filed with our department, of racial profiling or any other racial based allegation. There have also not been any deadly force incidents by officers in the same time period. This track record of professionalism and respect allows our police officers to work closely alongside residents throughout the entire City.
The City of Placentia has a full understanding of Project Safe Neighborhood's timeline. Award letters & Sub -grant Agreements will be released by September 2020. All awarded proposals will be completed within three years of this award date.
The City of Placentia has years of experience successfully executing crime reduction and public safety programs similar to Project Safe Neighborhoods, including years of successful participation in the Orange County Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (OC GRIP), and North Orange County Public Safety Task Force program. These many years of experience in cross -law enforcement agency collaboration to reduce gang -activity demonstrates our capacity to implement a complex program and administrate it to completion within a set timeline. The City has an excellent track record in complying with grant agreements, completing all set goals of a program, and completing a program on time.
• Demonstrate expertise in collaborating with local, state, and federal law enforcement, and/or criminal justice partnerships (including the United States Attorney's Office).
The City has years of experience in cross -law enforcement agency collaboration to reduce gang -activity among our most vulnerable youth, including collaboration efforts with:
Orange County Gana Reduction and Intervention Partnership (OC GRIP):
The City is an active participant in the award-winning gang reduction goals of the OC GRIP law enforcement. Hundreds of police officers across the County coordinate Curfew Sweeps in areas with a high volume of gang and/or criminal activity and all gang injunction safety Project Safe Neighborhoods 2018 1 City of Placentia Page 5
zones to prevent minors from being victims of or participating in gang crimes. The program has rescued children as young as 6 years old roaming the streets past curfew.
OC GRIP teams consisting of deputy district attorneys, police officers, school principals and administrators go to the home of students with excessive truancy problems or 10 or more unexcused days of absence and conduct Truancy Interventions for students and parents to decrease truancy and support positive student attendance. Students are taken to school in a patrol car and counseled with their parents by the intervention team.
Orange County District Attorney's Office
The Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) is a criminal justice agency partner that the City of Placentia has years of experience collaborating with directly, particularly in targeted enforcement and prevention activities.
The City of Placentia worked directly with the OCDA in 2015 to enact two injunctions against the rival Plas and La Jolla street gangs in Placentia, California. Through these two injunctions, the City and the OCDA worked in partnership to execute targeted enforcement and prevention activities reducing street gang activity and violent turf wars between rival gangs.
We also work collaboratively with both the Orange County Probation and California State Parole Agents. We have extensive experience collaborating directly with these agents, often riding along with our gang enforcement officers.
• Demonstrate experience in addressing gun and gang violence, gang violence associated with conflict over turf, narcotics distribution, aggression, and/or shootings.
The City of Placentia and the Placentia Police Department have extensive experience in addressing the dangerous effects of gun and gang violence and gang associated with conflict over turf. For years, the City has been an active member of the Orange County Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (OC GRIP), specializing in decreasing gang -activity and increasing school attendance among at -risk youth. In addition, the City has for the last three years been an active member have participated in the North Orange County Public Safety Task Force program, specializing in recidivism, youth gang violence, and homeless issues relative to quality of life.
These years of experience in cross -law enforcement agency collaboration to reduce gang -activity among our most vulnerable youth gives us an intimate understanding of gun and gang violence, gang violence associated with conflict over turf.
• Demonstrate experience in working with law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, and/or community-based partners on targeted enforcement, prevention activities, and/or community engagement.
The City has years of experience in collaboration with law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, and/or community-based partners on targeted enforcement, prevention activities, and/or community engagement. The most prominent partnerships include:
Lot 318
The Lot 318 program is a community-based partner specializing in prevention activities and community engagement. They are headquartered in the La Jolla neighborhood of Placentia, California, to better serve some of the most underprivileged and at -risk youth in the City. The program further serves youth throughout California's heavily urbanized Orange County.
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The City of Placentia and the Placentia Police Department has actively participating in this youth mentorship for the last three years. This collaboration has built long-term relationships of trust between at -risk youth, their families, and police officers. We exist to walk alongside at - risk youth and their community by empowering them to see their worth and purpose in this world.
We accomplish this by holding various events and service opportunities to open their eyes to the world around us. We challenge them to serve others in the community and make a difference among their peers. Our goal is to give them opportunities they may never have had, to help them become a positive influence and force in our world. We give them access to achieving their dreams through after-school Homework Club to help and tutor through their schoolwork.
We strive to remain in consistent fellowship with one another in not only our community but throughout Orange County. It is our objective to bridge the racial and socioeconomic gaps that exist within our surrounding areas in order to create and bring peace amongst our neighbors.
Orange County Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (OC GRIP) The OC GRIP is a law enforcement partner specializing in targeted enforcement, prevention activities, and community engagement. Through this award-winning program, hundreds of police officers coordinate Curfew Sweeps in areas with a high volume of gang and/or criminal activity and all gang injunction safety zones to prevent minors from being victims of or participating in gang crimes. The program has rescued children as young as 6 years old roaming the streets past curfew.
OC GRIP teams consisting of deputy district attorneys, police officers, school principals and administrators go to the home of students with excessive truancy problems or 10 or more unexcused days of absence and conduct Truancy Interventions for students and parents to decrease truancy and support positive student attendance. Students are taken to school in a patrol car and counseled with their parents by the intervention team.
Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA)
The Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) is a criminal justice agency partner that the City of Placentia has years of experience collaborating with directly, particularly in targeted enforcement and prevention activities.
The City of Placentia worked directly with the OCDA in 2015 to enact two injunctions against the rival Plas and La Jolla street gangs in Placentia, California. Through these two injunctions, the City and the OCDA worked in partnership to execute targeted enforcement and prevention activities reducing street gang activity and violent turf wars between rival gangs.
We also work collaboratively with both the Orange County Probation and California State Parole Agents. We have extensive experience collaborating directly with these agents, often riding along with our gang enforcement officers.
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (District) The District is a community-based partner specializing in targeted enforcement, prevention activities, and community engagement. The City provides have two School Resource Officers (SROs) to the district, with several duties at their schools. Through collaboration with the Project Safe Neighborhoods 2018 1 City of Placentia Page 7
District, their primary objectives include preventing drug and alcohol abuse; preventing juvenile delinquency through close contact with students and school personnel; and protecting the school, staff, and students. The SROs investigate delinquent acts within the school system and crimes within the community that are school related. The SROs are also responsible for improving the image of the uniformed law enforcement officer in the eyes of the students and community.
Plan for Collecting Required Data
• Describe the process for measuring project performance.
Over the course of program performance and the implementation of its three focus efforts, the City of Placentia will produce reports to show reduction in violent and gang related crimes. In particular, a focus will be placed on a reduction in participation by juveniles in afterhours crimes, truancy, runaways. These metrics will be noted as an indicator that at -risk youth are receiving intervention before street gang influence can recruit these youth to more lethal criminal activity such as gun violence. These metrics will be included in the required two (2) separate Progress Reports on the programmatic accomplishments made toward the goals of the sub -grant agreement.
The City will also account for program income and costs generated by the activities of this agreement and shall report receipts and expenditures of this income on a Program Income/Federal Forfeiture form as stated within the Certified Assurances. This accounting will be included in the quarterly (4) Financial Status Reports on our financial activity. • Indicate who will be responsible for submitting Quarterly Progress Reports and Performance Measurement Tool Reports.
Lieutenant Adam Gloe
714-993-8159
[email protected]
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