Guatemalan dignitaries to hear about strategies to help at-risk youth, on 10/1

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: OC GRIP TO HOST PRESENTATION TO DIGNITARIES FROM GUATEMALA TO OFFER STRATEGIES TO HELP AT-RISK YOUTH

SANTA ANA – The Orange County Gang Reduction Intervention Partnership (OC GRIP), local law enforcement, and community organizations will host a presentation tomorrow to dignitaries from Guatemala offering strategies and prevention techniques to help at-risk youth. The presentation will cover components of the OC GRIP program, OC GRIP’S partnership with small businesses and corporations, community involvement through mentorship, and incentive outreach programs to award at-risk teens who stay away from gang activity and do well in school. The presentation will take place tomorrow, Oct. 1, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. at the Santa Ana Police Department.

Since 2012, the City of Santa Ana has participated in a series of exchanges and trainings with municipalities in Guatemala, under the International City/County Management Association, to help develop innovative violence and prevention programs. Part of its goal is to provide training and technical assistance to local governments and community groups in coordination with police and other local-level programs.

OC GRIP is an award-winning law enforcement partnership that identifies at-risk youth and aims to increase school attendance and decrease gang activity. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has formed OC GRIP and GRIP II committees and partnerships with the police departments from the Cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton, and the unincorporated areas of North Orange County, and the Orange County Probation Department. OC GRIP coordinates different outreach programs including Curfew and Truancy Sweeps, Angels, and Ford incentives, and the Parent Greeter Program to better the community and lessen gang activity in Orange County.

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Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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