A central city school campus and park is one of 16 that are now offering various recreational programs staffed by trained supervisors during night-time hours as part of an expanded gang-reduction effort spearheaded by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Youths will be able to participate in the Summer Night Lights programs at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center at 1200 W. Colton Street from 7 p.m. until 12 midnight on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through September 5.
The center is located in the Westlake district west of Downtown, within a few miles of Downtown, the Echo Park and Angeleno Heights districts to the northwest, the Chinatown district to the northeast, and the Pico-Union district to the south.
The program at the Roybal Center is the only one of the 16 that serves the central area of the city, a role that puts the facility in a position to draw youths from districts and neighborhoods that are home to different and sometimes competing gangs. The Los Angeles Police Department is one of a number of public agencies with a hand in the program, and city officials said that the mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development will assign two staffers to each facility.
The program also calls for 10-member "Youth Squads" at each of the facilities. The Youth Squad members "are at-risk youth between the ages 17 and 20," according to city officials. The members of the Youth Squads are expected to work with city staffers to "maintain cease-fires [among gang members] at the sites and in the surrounding community."
The overall focus of the program, according to city officials, is to provide "youth-centered recreational, educational, and artistic activities to engage youth in positive activities during peak times for violence."
Villaraigosa has credited the Summer Night Lights program for helping reduce incidents of violent, gang-related crime by 17% in nearby neighborhoods last year. The program has been doubled from eight locations for this summer.
The other Summer Night Lights programs are located at:
Eastside
* Ramon Garcia Recreation Center at 1016 S. Fresno Street.
* Ramona Gardens Recreation Center at 2830 Lancaster Avenue.
Hollywood
* Lemon Grove Recreation Center at 4959 Lemon Grove Avenue.
Northeast Los Angeles
* Cypress Park Recreation Center at 2630 Pepper Avenue.
* Glassell Park at 3650 Verdugo Road.
San Fernando Valley
* Hubert Humphrey Memorial Park at 12560 Filmore Street.
* Sepulveda Recreation Center at 8825 Kester Avenue.
South Los Angeles
* Denker Recreation Center at 1550 W. 35th Place.
* Harvard Recreation Center at 1535 W. 62nd Street.
* Imperial Courts recreation Center at 2250 E. 114th Street.
* Jim Gilliam Rec. Center at 4000 S. La Brea Avenue.
* Jordan Downs Recreation Center at 9900 Grape Street.
* Mt. Carmel Recreation Center at 830 W. 70th Street.
* Nickerson Gardens Recreation Center at 11251 Compton Avenue.
* Ross Synder Recreation Center at 1501 E. 41st St. Los Angeles.
More information:
* Summer Night Lights
Sam Hassan is a writer for the L.A. Garment & Citizen.
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