Rally Targets San Gabriel Gangs

Until now, schools, law enforcement agencies and families have been more or less going it alone to oppose gangs in the south San Gabriel Valley. That era, officials say, is over.

At La Puente Park on Saturday, an estimated 3,500 parents, children, law enforcement officers, educators and others rallied to denounce gangs. The gathering was the first product of Operation COURAGE (Community Opposition and United Resistance Against Gang Evils), a coalition of community groups that have pledged to work together, combining law enforcement efforts with education, job training and counseling.

Gang-related homicides more than doubled--from seven in 1989 to 16 last year--in La Puente, Bassett, Valinda, Hacienda Heights and City of Industry.

Youth counselor Phillip Munoz, a former gang member now in a wheelchair after being shot, challenged parents: “Our children don’t belong to the streets. They belong to us, to you.”

Raul Avila, 15, would like to see more rallies, but his optimism is guarded. Just this week, he said, a friend lost his legs after gang members beat him and then ran him over. Last year, this friend had quit the La Puente High School football team because “he’d rather be in a gang with his friends.”

Anti-gang efforts “could make a difference,” he said, only “if people would listen.”