File #: Res 0593-2010    Version: * Name: Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.3526, which seeks to develop a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Public Safety
On agenda: 12/8/2010
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.3526, which seeks to develop a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy.
Sponsors: Fernando Cabrera , Joel Rivera, Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Charles Barron, Gale A. Brewer, Margaret S. Chin, Daniel Dromm , Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, Lewis A. Fidler, Sara M. Gonzalez, David G. Greenfield, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, Karen Koslowitz, Brad S. Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Michael C. Nelson, Annabel Palma, Ydanis A. Rodriguez, Deborah L. Rose, James G. Van Bramer, Albert Vann, Mark S. Weprin, Inez E. Dickens, Darlene Mealy, Erik Martin Dilan, Rosie Mendez, Diana Reyna, Peter A. Koo, Daniel J. Halloran III
Council Member Sponsors: 31
Res. No. 593
 
 
Resolution calling on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.3526, which seeks to develop a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy.
 
 
By Council Members Cabrera, Rivera, Arroyo, Barron, Brewer, Chin, Dromm, Ferreras, Fidler, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Jackson, James, Koppell, Koslowitz, Lander, Mark-Viverito, Nelson, Palma, Rodriguez, Rose, Van Bramer, Vann, Weprin, Dickens, Mealy, Dilan, Mendez, Reyna, Koo and Halloran
 
      Whereas, Gang violence threatens the well-being and public safety of New York City residents; and
      Whereas, According to The United States ("U.S.") Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention ("OJJDP"), there are approximately 775,000 active gang members in the U.S.; and
      Whereas, According to the OJJDP, gangs have been steadily increasing over the past several years with the most recent estimate at 27,000, the highest it has been since 1998; and
      Whereas, On October 3, 2010, in Bronx, New York, nine members of the street gang called The Latin King Goonies, ranging in age from 17 to 23, allegedly assaulted and tortured three victims, and sodomized two of the individuals; and
      Whereas, In addition to the three assaults described above, the gang members allegedly assaulted and robbed a fourth individual; and
      Whereas, There have been studies conducted by the OJJDP that are focused on developing a strategic community plan to target gang violence; and
      Whereas, H.R.3526, also known as the Tony Cardenas Community-Based Gang Intervention Act, which is currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, seeks to amend the The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, which provides funding to states that follow a series of federal protections on the care and treatment of youth in the justice system; and
      Whereas, H.R.3526 would require the Administrator of the OJJDP to award grants to nonprofit community-based gang intervention agencies to provide services for reducing and stopping gang-related and gang-motivated violence; and
      Whereas, H.R.3526 aims to address social conditions such as poverty, homelessness, inadequate educational systems, and limited economic opportunities in developing a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy; and
      Whereas, Directing adequate resources and efforts toward the reduction of gangs and gang violence is paramount to ensuring New York City's public safety and opportunity for the city's children and adolescents, now, therefore, be it;
      Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the United States Congress to pass and the President to sign H.R.3526, which seeks to develop a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy.
 
WJH
LS# 1652
11/18/10