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Gang violence has long been a problem in the Stockton/San Joaquin region and in 1997, the Stockton Police Department and the San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice System formed a partnership to address this issue. Together they established the Peacekeeper program, which is modeled after Boston’s Successful “Operation Ceasefire” project. The Program was successful almost immediately as the City say a drastic decline in gang related homicides in less than a year. The Peacekeepers program has established a reputation for being highly effective, and has been able to extract 32% of its case managed clients from gangs.

The program does not just focus in getting youth out of gangs but also helps them become a successful mainstream citizen by providing: counseling, job training, GED services, and helps many go on to college. All the Peacekeepers outreach workers are former gang members themselves that have been turned around and are now successful thus providing a way for the youth to relate to the outreach workers.

Despite its success, the funding for the program has been cut over the years resulting in a drop in success and a rise in gang violence once again. To boost the program back over the years the program managers have sought out grant dollars and have been successful with the following grants: $225,000 from the California Wellness Foundation for three years of operation cost, $229,848 from the U.S. Department of Justice’s (CPOA) Project Safe Neighborhood Grant Eastern District of California, and $170,000 from the State Board of Corrections’ Juvenile Accountability Block Grant to help shift the administration of the program from the Police Department to Parks & Recreation.

Meet the Youth Outreach Workers...