This op-ed by Senator George Runner just came over the transom from the Prop 6 campaign.

The most interesting thing I have learned about Prop 6 from this op-ed is that it protects victims' rights by toughening laws protecting victims from intimidation during court proceedings.

I have always been supportive of Prop 6's provisions for athletic and community service programs for at-risk youth.  With my work with kids, I think programs to steer kids in the right direction are absolutely essential.

21 reasons to vote yes on Prop 6--the Safe Neighborhoods Act

The goal of Proposition 6-The Safe Neighborhoods Act is to curb gang violence in California. This is not an easy task, or one that can be accomplished by simply locking up the bad guys with hopes that they will somehow rehabilitate in prison.

As an author of the measure, I believe the gang solution lies in a comprehensive approach.

That's why I sat down with law enforcement groups, victims' advocates and policy experts from all over the state to craft a measure that would benefit and sustain programs to deter and to suppress gang activity and violence in our communities. Sheriffs, police, district attorneys and probation officers offered their professional insight, culled from many years of first-hand dealings with street gangs.

What follows are provisions of Proposition 6 that law enforcement believes will help fight gangs in California:

The goal of Proposition 6-The Safe Neighborhoods Act is to curb gang violence in California. This is not an easy task, or one that can be accomplished by simply locking up the bad guys with hopes that they will somehow rehabilitate in prison.

As an author of the measure, I believe the gang solution lies in a comprehensive approach.

That's why I sat down with law enforcement groups, victims' advocates and policy experts from all over the state to craft a measure that would benefit and sustain programs to deter and to suppress gang activity and violence in our communities. Sheriffs, police, district attorneys and probation officers offered their professional insight, culled from many years of first-hand dealings with street gangs.

What follows are provisions of Proposition 6 that law enforcement believes will help fight gangs in California:

Prevention

• It prohibits bails to illegal alien gang bangers. This gives law enforcement a tool for holding gang members who are arrested for gang crimes and who are also in the US illegally. I believe Jamiel Shaw and the Tony Bologna family (killed by illegal alien gang members, respectively) are examples of lives that would have been spared if Prop 6 were already in place.
• It enhances penalties for graffiti by allowing district attorneys to aggregate multiple offenses so that they may be charged as felonies. This will make "taggers" think twice before defacing your property.
• It enhances penalties for gang members who recruit our kids.
• It enhances penalties for gun use in vehicles, including impounding any car used in the commission of a gun crime by the car owner.
• It toughens a law against bringing contraband (such as a weapon) to a prisoner for the purposes of committing a felony.
• It will allow authorize the courts to decide whether 14- and 15-year old felony gang offenders should be tried as adults.
• It strengthens laws that deal with witness or victim intimidation for court proceedings.
• It ensures that murderers sentenced to state prison for life do not receive good time credits, making them eligible for early release.
• It makes anyone who lies or conceals evidence to prosecutors or law enforcement an accessory to the crime under investigation.
• It equalizes the penalties for methamphetamine distribution and trafficking to that of cocaine distribution and trafficking.
• It enhances criminal penalties for accessories to violent gang crime.

Intervention

• It creates funding for a Parolee Mentoring and Job Training program for inmates being released from prison on parole so they may succeed upon release from prison. This provision is in response to California's particularly high recidivism rate.
• It assists local enforcement agencies with resources to create and sustain programs that provide athletic and community service alternatives to at-risk kids.

Technical

• It requires gang members to wear Global Positioning Satellite ankle bracelets. San Bernardino and Sacramento County are already using this system to track gang members and solve crimes. I believe the rest of the state could benefit from this modern technology as well.
• It creates a statewide gang registry to allow law enforcement in each county to work closely and seamlessly on gang crimes.

Good Government

• It assists communities that enforce federal compliance by conducting criminal background checks on those who are living in taxpayer-subsidized Section 8 housing. Gang members' encroachment into Section 8 housing brings violence and strife to neighborhoods and it means law abiding citizens (many of them elderly, disabled and single parents) are on waiting lists for years.
• It creates the Early Intervention, Rehabilitation, and Accountability Commission, which will be tasked with evaluating programs aimed at helping kids stay clear of gangs. The last thing we need is another program like LA Bridges that spent $100 million but was absent any success stories. Our kids deserve better.
• It creates the DISARM program, which is designed to allow local law enforcement to focus on the highest risk probationers and ensure compliance with their conditions of probation so the parolees may become responsible, law-abiding citizens.
• It does not create new taxes: Proposition 6 does not ask voters to approve a new tax. Instead it relies on existing dollars and merely asks voters if they believe protecting our neighborhoods is worth the investment of 1 percent of the state's General Fund budget.
• It will protect local law enforcement dollars. This money is always the first on the budget negotiating table year after year. It's time to stop using these precious dollars as bargaining chips and protect what small amount law enforcement receives.
• It authorizes temporary jail facilities in counties that have crowded jails so low-level offenders can be in housed in converted facilities to serve out their full sentences.