City of Los Angeles GRYD
Los Angeles is the “gang capital” of the United States with approximately 45,000 gang members in 450 active gangs.  During the past three years, the City has verified 16,398 gang crimes, including 491 homicides, 7,047 felony assaults, 5,518 robberies, and 98 rapes. To reduce gang related crimes, the Mayor’s Office developed the Gang Reduction Youth Development (GRYD) program.  GRYD focuses on reducing the likelihood of joining gangs among Youth in neighborhoods with the high risk for gang membership.  The Mayor’s Office wanted a program evaluation of GRYD to identify program effectiveness and opportunities for improvement.  As part of a multiagency team, Maroon Society conducted interviews with Los Angeles police officers, GRYD staff, and community Crisis Intervention Workers in each of the City’s 12 GRYD Zones.  We helped identify to barriers to communication and drivers of effective collaboration among these key stakeholders.  The result is a blueprint for more coordination of services and resources.