Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 12/08/2008

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Hilary Moores - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

34 YOUTHS GRADUATE FROM GANG PREVENTION PROGRAM AT SONOMA VALLEY BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB

Sonoma County District Attorney Stephen Passalacqua announced the graduation of thirty-four Sonoma Valley 5th and 6th grade children from a nationally recognized gang prevention program entitled “Gang Resistance Education and Training” (G.R.E.A.T.). Sonoma County prosecutors taught the course and presented it in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma and the Sonoma Police Department. The graduation on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 followed the youths’ successful completion of the seven week program. Sonoma County District Attorney’s office representatives, including District Attorney Stephen Passalacqua and Sonoma County Sheriffs’ deputies, were on hand for the celebration.

District Attorney Passalacqua said, “This highly successful program helps children and their parents understand the dangers of gang activity and avoid involvement in criminal street gangs. I am proud that our partnership with Sonoma Police Chief Brett Sackett and the Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma enabled us collectively to bring this excellent gang-prevention program to Sonoma Valley youth.”

This was the first anti-gang program of its kind to be conducted in the Sonoma Valley, following a previously successful program presented in Santa Rosa. The District Attorney’s Office is planning additional G.R.E.A.T. courses to be presented in locations throughout Sonoma County.

The G.R.E.A.T. program is an innovation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Its curriculum was developed in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the National Association of Police Athletic Leagues to encourage children to develop positive relationships with the community, parents, schools, and law enforcement officers. Its goal is to equip youth with the personal skills they need to resist involvement in criminal street gangs. With prevention as its primary objective, the program is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. G.R.E.A.T. lessons focus on providing life skills to students to help them avoid using delinquent behavior and violence to solve problems.

The kids really enjoyed the program at the Sonoma Boys and Girls Club. When asked what they learned in the program the kids responded with, “I learned to stay in school,” “ I learned to say no to gangs,” and “I learned to walk away from fights.”