City of Monrovia

Posted January 14, 2010
Old Town Among Nation's Most 'Walk-able' Neighborhoods
Monrovia's Old Town has been ranked as one of America's most walk-able neighborhoods. Old Town scores a "Paradise Found" ranking on the Walkscore.com website that ranks neighborhoods in U.S. cities based on various criteria, including accessible public transportation, stores, public facilities, etc.

The 400 block of Myrtle Avenue - the central point in Old Town - scores 98 out of 100 points on the website. Just 138 neighborhoods old the "Paradise Found" ranking of 90 points or better. Just 16 of them are in California.

Posted December 18, 2009
MonroviaGranted Anti-Gang Injunction
A Superior Court Judge has issued a preliminary injunction against two Monrovia gangs.

Judge David Yaffee of Los Angeles Superior Court granted the injunction Friday, December against 21 specifically-named members of the Du-Roc Crips gang and 17 members of the Monrovia Nuevo Varrio gang.

Anti-gang injunctions are orders, issued by judges after hearings, that prohibit specifically identified individuals with proven gang affiliations from engaging in specific gang-related activities in specific geographical areas.

Monrovia's injunction specifies that the identified members of the two gangs cannot congregate in public, drink alcohol, unlawfully possess weapons or cause graffiti inside of, or within 100 yards of, a "safety zone" that covers specific portions of the City and adjacent unincorporated County area - from Mountain Avenue on the east to Fifth Avenue on the west, and from Live Oak Avenue on the south to Foothill Boulevard on the north.

Violation of the injunction will be a misdemeanor, the same as any violation of a court order.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has indicated that it will seek to make the injunction permanent in about a year.

The injunction was sought jointly by the City of Monrovia and the District Attorney's Office. The agencies jointly compiled a long list of crimes in the City and adjacent County area that have occurred over time and that were tied to the two local gangs - along with a list of gang-related individuals who have been convicted of, or are suspected of, involvement in those crimes.

Other activities that police believe contributed to or enabled the criminal involvement of specific individuals were also documented, as was the geographic area in which the crimes and the related activities took place.

All of the documentation was submitted to the court as part of the hearing process. Gang members named in the injunction all had the opportunity to be represented and heard before the judge as the injunction hearings progressed over several months, and all will have a continuing right to appeal their inclusion on the list.

Monrovia Police Chief Roger Johnson said that his department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department and the District Attorney's Office will be constantly evaluating the effectiveness of the injunction and, should it be made permanent, will continue to report back to the court periodically. The Monrovia Police Department will also report to the City Council on the injunction's impact on crime and gang activities throughout the life of the order.

Chief Johnson said, "We continue to work with our community partners to take a wide approach to gang intervention. From the School District and YMCA to Monrovia's churches, youth groups and neighborhood organizations, this is a communitywide effort on every front. The injunction is an important part of that overall plan."

Both Chief Johnson and Monrovia Mayor Mary Ann Lutz stressed that the injunction is one of many tools being used in the fight against gang crime in the community.

"This is a major step in our long-term strategy to eliminate gang violence from Monrovia," said Mayor Lutz. "It is not a panacea. The injunction alone does not solve the problem. But it adds an important new element to our anti-gang arsenal and over time it's going to make a difference."

Other members of the Monrovia City Council also hailed the granting of the injunction.

Mayor Pro Tem Tom Adams said, "We've been working toward this point for more than a year. This is great. We're giving our Police Department one more important tool in the fight against gang violence."

Councilmember Joe Garcia said, "this injunction will help protect the neighborhoods most affected by gangs. It's going to mean safer and quieter streets, and that's good news for the folks impacted most by these gangs."

Councilmember Clarence Shaw also voiced strong support for the initiative, pointing out that safeguards against abuse and a long history of success has made an anti-gang injunction a tool that works, but still protects individual rights.

"This will go a long way toward cleaning up some specific problems in our affected neighborhoods," he said. "At the same time, it is rightly aimed at individuals and not whole categories of people, and it protects the rights of the individuals involved - it gives them due process and their day in court."

Councilmember Becky Shevlin pointed to the "many other anti-gang programs that the City and community have developed over the years," saying, "this injunction is another good step forward, but it does not solve the problem by itself. We have a comprehensive set of programs in place to prevent gang affiliations and to provide alternatives to gangs. This is more than just a police problem, and we're attacking it with a variety of resources."

Many communities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties already have injunctions in place, with several reporting positive results:

• In the City of Los Angeles, with 37 anti-gang injunctions citywide, there is a reported 33% decline in gang membership and a decline in Part One (serious) crimes of between 30% and 50%.

• In Hawaiian Gardens, an injunction against members of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens Gang has resulted in a 24% decrease in crime and a 43% decrease in assaults.

• In Hollywood, an injunction against the 18th Street Gang has resulted in a 50% decrease in Part One crimes.

• In Anaheim, an injunction against the Boys from the Hood Gang has seen a 50% decrease in assaults and a 75% decrease in shots fired.

• In San Juan Capistrano, there has been an 86% decrease in calls for service related to gang activities.

• In San Clemente, there has been a 58% decrease in calls for service related to gang activities.

• In Santa Ana, there has been a 50% decrease in calls for service related to gang activities and a 46% decrease in crime.

In Monrovia, the gang injunction is just one of many strategies being used against the gangs. There is a long list of enforcement, suppression, intervention and prevention strategies being used daily, aimed at taking gang-affiliated criminals off the streets and diverting youths from joining or associating with criminal gangs. Among the many programs and tools now is use in Monrovia are:

DAMAGE-Duarte and Monrovia Anti-Gang Enforcement. Ongoing task force composed of Los Angeles County Deputies and Monrovia Police Officers. In 2008 alone, DAMAGE was responsible for more than 400 arrests and 200 weapons being seized. DAMAGE is the backbone of a larger task force.

The Community Action Policing (CAP) program that was one of the most innovative in the nation when it was established in the mid-1990s (winning an international award) is still operating effectively in our neighborhoods.

The MAGIC (Monrovia Anti-Gang Intervention Committee) program brings police officers and school counselors together to identify at-risk youths and gang associates and to steer them away from gang affiliations and activities.