LA Fights Park Crime With Midnight Lights

Even gang members invited to summer nights of food, music
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2009 1:41 PM CDT
LA Fights Park Crime With Midnight Lights
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David Mertens meets with former gang member, Brian Vidaillet, 31, in Avalon, Calif., Thursday, July 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Los Angeles' rundown parks used to be hotbeds of gang violence that scared away law-abiding neighbors after dark, but a new program has brought both a sense of community and a reduction in crime, the New York Times reports. The solution, which has already seen an 86% drop in homicides in targeted areas, has been to keep the lights on until midnight.

The program's $2.4 million budget also goes toward organizing sports leagues and providing everything from DJs to popcorn in 16 public parks located in gang territory. Parents, children, and a few police officers relax and romp, and even gang members aren't banned: "They’re welcome as long as they don’t cause problems.” (More gangs stories.)

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