The Weed and Seed Program aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse and gang activity in Central Long Beach. The Weed and Seed Program is a community-based,comprehensive, multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and neighborhood restoration. The target area in Long Beach are Police Beats4 and 5: Los Angeles River to the west; Hill Street to the north; Cherry Avenue to the east; and Anaheim Street to the south. The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading the project through funding provided by the U.S Department of Justice.
Law Enforcement
Strategy: Coordinate law enforcement resources, such as narcotic enforcement, and collaborate with the Los Angeles County Department of Probation and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, provide focused enforcement of gang locations within the target area, increase efforts to identify and document gang members, and create a gang database to manage this gang intelligence, conduct curfew operations.
Community Policing
Strategy: Utilize crime-mapping software to identify crime trends and focus resources in those areas, provide education on crime prevention strategies, and increase efforts to build community participation in the Apartment Watch, Neighborhood Watch, and Business Watch programs.
Prevention/Intervention/Treatment
Strategy: Provide education, career preparation, and social and economic/life skills activities for the target area. The efforts will entail teaching job readiness skills, work with placement agencies, coordinate existing services and bring in new resources. Present drug and gang prevention and education program at Safe Havens, churches,schools and other locations, promote educational programs to ex-offenders to assure work skills for employment.
Neighborhood Restoration
Strategy: Improve neighborhood livability, a decrease in graffiti and trash, create more green space and increase perceptions of safety in the community.
Workforce Development and Re-entry Services
Strategy: Coordinate and expand juvenile and adult ex-offender re-entry services.
