Teachers, social workers and faith-based groups are as critical as law enforcement in the effort to end gang violence, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told an audience of California community leaders. Holder spoke yesterday to the California Cities Gang Prevention Network, says the Sacramento Bee. The network formed in 2007 to promote comprehensive and collaborative plans for gang prevention.
Combating gang violence, he said, involves not only dealing with those who commit violence but helping children who have been exposed to violence. He cited the Justice Department’s National Survey on Children Exposed to Violence, which found more than 60 percent of youths 17 and younger have been exposed to crime, abuse and violence. Ten percent of children have suffered some form of abuse or neglect, and one in 16 has been sexually abused, the survey found.