November 2009 - Parks & Recreation - 49

in homicides and a 23 percent drop in aggravated
assaults. In 2009, the program expanded to 15 recreation centers (and one school) and attracted nearly
50,000 visits a week for eight weeks, on a budget of
$2.8 million, half from the city and the other half
through philanthropic donations.
Los Angeles may have a bigger gang problem
than any other U.S. city, and Summer Night Lights
may be the most comprehensive of any city's efforts
to fight gangs. But all over the nation, park and recreation departments are ramping up their fights in new
and unusual ways. And like Los Angeles, most seek
to engage gang bangers with positive programs, on
their own turf, which often is the neighborhood park
or recreation center.
Parks are a logical place to start, according to Los
Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri.
" We're spread throughout the city, and we're neutral
ground, " Mukri says. " We welcome kids, we don't wear
guns, we don't wear uniforms. Parks and recreation
centers should be the crossroads of the community. "
Mukri cites the neighborhood around Ramona
Gardens, a housing project he calls " pretty dicey, "
whose older residents would never have ventured
outdoors a year ago. But last summer, the neighborhood recreation center offered free movies, and a
lot of adults came out to see them. The program has
been so successful that neighborhoods not included the first two years are asking to be included next
year. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to be in 50
parks by 2013. " When people see the power of this
program, there are no negatives, " Mukri says.
The 10 local kids hired in each neighborhood
are the key to the program's success, as well
as the perfect example of how valuable
it is to engage them, says Jeff Carr,
formerly the city's deputy mayor for
gang reduction and youth development
and now the mayor's chief of staff. " We said to
them, 'Every one of you, the story of your
life is that you're a bad guy, a villain,' " Carr
explains. " But we said, 'We're giving you
the opportunity to write a new story, and
you're going to be the heroes.' This is the
easiest thing to convince people
of - that this works. "

By Boris Weintraub

Photos by lamiel / iStock

s
	

w w w. NRPA .ORG

N OVEMBER
ovember 2009

Parks & Recreation	 47



November 2009 - Parks & Recreation

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