Bridges officials said they are trying to work more with police.
Still, some contractors are interacting more than others. The head of one group said his intervention workers just started working with police this year and are in touch with them only once a month. The workers go out on their own instead of teaming with police officers.
"We let them do their work, and we do our work," said Mustafa Fletcher, executive director of Unity Two Inc.
Police Chief William J. Bratton said there is inadequate coordination between intervention agencies and the police.
"The gang interventionists will tell you they don't want to be seen as working too closely, being too closely aligned with the police, because they are fearful that gang members won't work with them then," Bratton said. "But I think there can be better working relationships than we have."
State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), who as a city councilman helped launch L.A. Bridges, said the city's gang intervention and prevention programs need to be more comprehensive and better-coordinated.
"I think it makes sense to incorporate it in a more comprehensive system," Ridley-Thomas said. "But the question people should be asking, given what L.A. Bridges has accomplished, is what would the lives of young people who were part of it be like had it not been implemented when it was?"
He said the problem is Bridges' scope, adding that it should be expanded to every middle school in the city.
Supporters note that while L.A. Bridges doesn't track whether its clients join gangs, it does keep other statistics. Bridges I, for example, reports on the number of youths who improve their grades and attendance.
But some of the numbers presented by L.A. Bridges have given City Hall pause. It found that the majority of middle-schoolers in the program failed to boost either their attendance or their grades.
Another issue has been how well contractors screen employees to determine whether they are still in gangs. At least three employees of Bridges contractors have been arrested in the last two years. The latest was Mario Corona, jobs coordinator for Communities In Schools in Pacoima, who was arrested last week by the LAPD on suspicion of possessing a pound of methamphetamine.
In looking at alternatives to Bridges, Villaraigosa said he is especially impressed with Homeboy Industries Inc., which takes a more comprehensive approach to gang members, providing counseling, tattoo removal and real jobs -- not just referrals to training programs.
By providing actual jobs, Homeboy is able to track the progress of participants and lay down strict rules about their connections to gangs.
The nonprofit agency, run by Father Gregory Boyle, has accepted only $15,000 out of the $14 million distributed annually by L.A. Bridges.
"We balk at taking part in all that public entity stuff," Boyle said. "They don't know what they are doing."
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patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com
richard.winton@latimes.com
