City Official: 67% Reduction in Confirmed Shootings in Last Three Months of 2022

During the meeting of the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, Public Health Department Acting Director Manuel Carmona provided quarterly updates on the gang violence outreach and interruption service being administered by the department in the last quarter of 2022.

According to Carmona’s report, five confirmed gang-related shootings occurred from Oct 2022 to Dec 2022.

“There is a 67% reduction in confirmed shootings for the same period over the last year,” he noted.

During this period, the gang violence outreach and interruption service team prevented or interrupted 88 potential gang retaliations or incidents of violence, Carmona said.

“It is really difficult to measure what has not happened but it is important to note that the team is actively out there and they are resolving these conflicts and reducing tensions,” Carmona said.

During the discussion, Councilmember Tyron Hampton inquired about barriers to getting help.

“[The barriers] depend on each individual,” Ricky Pickens, who is among the individuals who provide gang outreach and interruption services in the city, told the Committee.

“Sometimes it can be something as small as a driver’s license – it’s hard to get a job because of a driver’s license.”

Pickens also said child support, substance abuse and housing among the barriers to getting employment and access to some of the city’s services.

During the discussion Hampton stressed the importance of helping individuals get a job.

“If we’re actually able to change people’s lives by giving them a career, that’s a success if you ask me,” Hampton pointed out.

Hampton also proposed that a stipend be provided for those who will undergo job training, saying incentivizing them will go a long way.

“Job training is great but there is no pay connected to job training,” Hampton said. “I hope that we could look at putting some funds aside.”

Responding to Hampton, Carmona said the health department is looking at opportunities to incentivize those who want to undergo job training. “That’s a critical component. We’re looking at how we can make that possible.”

The Pasadena Public Health Department’s team spent a total of 1,457 hours conducting gang violence outreach and mediation between October and December, according to Carmona. 57% of that time has been spent on outreach, and 43 % has been spent on mediation. 61% of that outreach and mediation was through phone calls and 39% was in person.

Overall, the group has made 183 referrals to community partners. A total of 105 of those referrals were for job training, 34 were for substance use treatments, 27 were for housing, 11 were for mental health, and six were for education.

The gang violence outreach and interruption team was first contracted by the Office of the City Manager in January 2021 amid an uptick in violence throughout the city.

Initially, the contractors were contracted out of the Office of the City Manager and that was maintained until Oct 1, 2022.

The contract management transitioned to Public Health on October 1, 2022.