Police Chief Robert Strange details the importance of keeping the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, despite rumors that it is ineffective. Photo courtesy of the West Sacramento News Ledger

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - A nearly half-million-dollar state grant will help keep guns off the streets in West Sacramento.

Police Chief Robert Strange at the Sept. 18 City Council meeting detailed his plans for the $475 million grant funds allotted by the 2024 Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Byrne State Crisis Intervention Project (Byrne SCIP) to create the Community Gun Safety Project.

“Your plans for this project are incredible,” Mayor Martha Guerrero said before asking two questions. “This opportunity to educate our youth and community on gun safety is great.”

Question one: will there be data-driven measures?

“Are we looking at intervening in on any particular thing and then showing the results of that?” Guerrero asked.

Question two: what does youth outreach look like?

“My goal is to see a diverse group of youth, especially in the area where we see a higher level of gun violence,” Guerrero said.

Chief Strange answered both questions, confirming, “Our goal is to try and reach parts of our demographic in our community we think can be most influenced by this awareness and education.”

The police chief said law enforcement will continue to partner with the Washington Unified School District (WUSD), West Sacramento Community Center, and PRO Youth & Families.

“This is work they have been doing for some time, applying evidence-based models for different types of education prevention programs,” Strange said.

According to the police chief, the first questions' outcome measures and metrics include “tracking incidents of shooting as a normal course of police business.”

Vice-Mayor Dawnte Early wanted more information on the Washington Unified School District partnership and programs, which the police chief said will likely include an after-school program and summertime activities.

Early noted that her concern was that she did not want to see “potentially high-risk youth” pulled from class since every hour of instruction matters. Early also said if after-school programs happen, transportation, entry, and access to the services should be as “easy as possible for the kiddos.”

Bringing up both her personal and professional career, Councilwoman Quirina Orozco said that her husband, Detective Steve Orozco is retiring from the Sacramento Police Department after 28 years and her 19-year stint as a prosecutor.

“We both know too much about what goes on, as you would as well, and the officers who work in our department who are affected intimately by the knowledge that comes through these reports and accessible guns are, especially to the youth.”

Orozco said with gun violence, adolescents are handed off a gun since penalties for minors “are extremely lower than when it comes to an adult.”

Councilwoman Norma Alcala questioned the age demographics, which is 12 to 14, according to Chief Strange.

“That is probably going to be narrowed down a bit,” the police chief said, adding that developing the curriculum will also help officials better understand age demographics.

“Depending on the community and depending on the dynamics, there may be some very young youth that find themselves with the opportunity to be in possession of a firearm,” Strange said.

Also, bringing up her personal life and relationship with guns since her family hunted together, Alcala said, “We learned at a very early age to respect the rifles we used.”

“My children also grew up respecting what a weapon can do,” Alcala said.

Police Strange said the new community program might continue to include the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), regardless of rumors that it is ineffective. 

“As a former DARE officer, the relationships that were formed mattered a lot and still do today,” Strange said, adding that Drug Abuse Resistance Education classroom conversations often end up at home. “Sometimes the best teacher of the parent is actually their child.”