TITLE
Recommendation to adopt the City's Violence Prevention Plan - Safe Long Beach. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On July 5, 2011, the City Council voted to request the preparation of a comprehensive Citywide Violence Prevention Plan (VPP). In June 2012, the City received a planning grant from the California Endowment to fund the preparation of the Citywide Violence Prevention Plan.
The primary purpose of the VPP is to address and reduce all forms of violence, including domestic, child abuse, elder abuse, hate crimes, bullying, gang violence and violent crime. To accomplish this goal, staff devised a strategy that would help catalogue and identify gaps in violence prevention efforts currently delivered by the City, public agencies, school systems, and by community-based organizations. The first step in this process was to meet with all City Departments and to catalogue all of the efforts in violence prevention that are rendered by the City. This inter-departmental group met throughout the development of the VPP and played an active role in its development. In addition, an extensive public outreach plan was implemented to engage stakeholders throughout the City during the development process.
In January 2013, the City Manager invited community leaders, government agencies, the school district, hospital representatives, university delegates, community-based organizations, and faith-based leaders to serve on the Long Beach Violence Prevention Steering Committee. The Committee met quarterly for one year to oversee the planning process. At the same time, the City Inter-Departmental Team was developed and met quarterly to strengthen collaboration and coordination among City departments that prevent, intervene, or suppress violence. The Inter-Departmental Team provided input on the VPP and developed an inventory of City violence prevention programs.
From March to September 2013, the community-at-large participated in four community forums, in all quadrants of t...
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