How To Stop 10-Year-Olds From Becoming Gangsters

What I Learned From My Time As a Cop and a Gang Intervention Manager In Stockton

After I retired as a Stockton police captain in 2003, I decided to become involved in new sorts of activities that would help people, particularly youth. I first got on the board of the Emergency Food Bank, where our mission is to make food available to families that are experiencing hunger or food insecurity.

Then, in 2007, I returned to the City of Stockton to run Operation Peacekeeper, a youth gang-prevention project. Operation Peacekeeper tries to counteract gang influence by working to prevent gangs from recruiting young people. It uses the …