Today in the Senate

Senator Pushes for More Funding, Tougher Laws
May 8, 2005

GREELEY ALREADY HAS several groups of soldiers fighting gangs. More help might be on the way, if legislation 10 years in the making doesn't die again in Congress. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has a bill that would make gang crimes a federal offense and make prosecution and sentencing guidelines look more like current mafia laws. The so-called Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act of 2005 is waiting in the Senate's Judiciary Committee, where it was sent Jan. 25. A similar version of the bill passed in 1996 and was incorporated into a 1999 justice bill passed by the Senate. But the bill stalled in conference committee with the U.S. House of Representatives and never became law. This latest attempt has more bipartisan support, including co-sponsorship from Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Chuck Grassley, R-Neb., said Scott Gerber, a spokesman in Feinstein's Washington, D.C., office. Colorado's U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican from Loveland, usually doesn't take a position on bills in such an early stage but supports the notion behind Feinstein's legislation, his press secretary said. "If it does indeed address the problem of gang violence, I would assume the senator could support it, if it accomplishes the aims that it sets out to accomplish," said Angela de Rocha, Allard's spokeswoman. "He thinks the problem is really something we need to address." If it becomes law, the measure would provide $750 million over five years to state and local law enforcement to fight street gangs, according to Gerber. Laws regarding gang prosecution also would be toughened. In some ways it's similar to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, nicknamed RICO, which is used to bust mafia-style groups. That can be used for gangs, but it's more difficult, Gerber said. "This makes it easier for prosecutors to prosecute street gangs under federal law," he said. If police can prove three or more people are together for the purpose of committing crime, they can be labeled a street gang and prosecuted for it. Recruiting also would be more easily punished. Most of the money will be used for gang suppression and intervention, including money that goes to gang enforcement teams, community-based programs, hiring more prosecutors, and so on, Gerber said. When she introduced the bill in the Senate, Feinstein said now is the time for the law to pass. "We all agree that gangs are a terrible and growing problem," Feinstein said on the floor of the Senate. "We all agree that something needs to be done." Several communities in Feinstein's state would likely see a big benefit from that $750 million. About 100,000 gang members are active in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, and they account for at least half the region's homicides, according to a Los Angeles ABC News affiliate. About 80,000 to 85,000 of those gangsters are in Los Angeles County, which has the nation's largest gang problem. Southern California has seen about 3,100 gang-related homicides since 1999.