Audit, Schmaudit! Spend The $178 Million Per Year On Police, Not “Gang Programs!”
By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, MooreIsBetter.com
Today the Los Angeles City Council authorized an expenditure of $500,000 of your money to “audit and gauge the effectiveness of” dozens of so-called “anti-gang” programs on which they already spend $178 million of your money each year.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Anyhow, I’ve performed my own “audit” -- which took about 10 minutes -- and have determined that we should immediately stop giving that $178 million per year to “gang programs,” and instead use it to hire around 3000 additional police officers.
Here are the “key findings” of my 10-minute audit:
1. Zero Success.The LAPD estimates there are 39,000 gang members in L.A. Hence, the programs are already costing us $4,564 per gang member per year. There are “gang programs” galore. (Click here for a partial list.) Don’t you think if any of them were actually making a positive difference, we would know about it? Of course we would. The logical conclusion, in view of the city’s massive gang problem, is that these programs do not work. There’s no reason to believe more of the same will produce anything other than...more of the same.
2. Increasing Crime, Not Decreasing It. “Gang programs” can be, well, “gang programs.” You may recall the newspaper story on Hector “Big Weasel” Marroquin, whose “gang program,” called “No Guns,” received at least $1.5 million from the City last year. (Did you receive $1.5 million from the City last year? Me, neither.) Federal prosecutors recently charged “Big Weasel” with selling an assault rifle, a machine gun, two pistols and two silencers to undercover federal agents. (I guess Delgadillo was too busy to look into it, because he was issuing press releases about Paris Hilton and a lady who hoarded cats.) That tells us the people running and these programs are, pardon the expression, “loose cannons.”
3. Zero Oversight. Nor has Villaraigosa fulfilled his duty as the City’s chief executive officer to oversee the programs. Instead, two years into office, Villarigosa appointed an ordained minister as his “gang czar.” (The “czar” title always slays me, given how well the czars fared at governing.) What are the minister’s credentials to evaluate the cost-efficiency of these programs? Well, he’s spent the past 19 years of his life working for faith-based gang programs. Given his background, how objective do you think he’ll be? Do you think a man who’s spent his career working in gang programs would ever say your money would be better spent imprisoning criminals than trying to save their souls? Of course not.
4. Spend The Money Hiring Officers. The starting salary for an L.A.P.D. officer with a high school diploma is $52,638 per year. For the $178 million we now spend on these dubious “gang programs,” we could pay the salaries -- not including benefits, cars, etc. -- of an additional 3,382 police officers.
Bottom line: if someone is trying to break into your house, do you want your tax money going to 3,382 police officers, or to people like Hector “Big Weasel” Marroquin?
Hey, how about hiring a Mayor with some common sense, would you? Contribute to my campaign right now by clicking here.
Shouldn’t Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council have determined whether the programs worked before spending millions of your money on them? You know, maybe start out with, say, $10,000 and work up to $178 million? And shouldn’t the people running the programs have the burden of proving the programs are worthwhile?