$1 billion goes to increase efforts.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich to support U.S. Senate Bill 456, the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007, authorizing more than a $1 billion to increase efforts in identifying, apprehending and prosecuting gang members.

“Los Angeles County has the largest population of any county in the nation with more than 10.2 million residents.  It is also home to more than 1,400 street gangs whose criminal activities devastate a community’s safety and security,” said Supervisor Antonovich.  “This vital legislation addresses the growing problem of gang violence in Los Angeles County, our State and Nation”

Antonovich also added that effective gang suppression must include measures to identify criminal illegal immigrants and remove them from the country.  “Twenty-five percent of inmates in our county jail system are self-declared foreign born inmates – more than half of them are deportable criminal aliens.  The cost to our county’s justice system has skyrocketed to $220 million dollars a year which includes arrest, incarceration, prosecution, defense and probation,” said Antonovich.

The Board of Supervisors will send five-signature letters to the members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senators Boxer and Feinstein, the U.S. Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, and the California Congressional Delegation urging support of U.S. Senate Bill 456.