SALINAS, Calif. – On Wednesday night, key leaders in our Central Coast community will be having a public meeting, discussing how to the stop the violence and keep peace on the streets of Salinas.
They’re all a part of CASP. It stands for the Community Alliance for Safety and Peace. The coalition is made up of 50 leaders have been meeting every other Wednesday to talk about the ongoing gang problem.
Member Scott Faust says, they formed it, so they could coordinate their efforts and in turn, get more funding.
“These are people and players, stakeholders who are heavy weights who can attract state, federal funding and help plan for the use of that funding, so it’s the most effective possible,” says Faust.
Recently, they helped put together a summer youth sports festival for families. They also helped provide library cards to Salinas kids and the alliance helped provide new jobs for teens.
But, Faust stresses, it’s not just what they can do, but what the community can do together.
“This is a deep-seated problem,” says Faust. “It didn’t emerge overnight. It’s not going to go away overnight. It’s going to require multiple prong strategies, but I think if the community can come and join CASP and join the people who are there, share their views, put their own involvement out there, we can make a difference together.”
For the future, Faust says, this alliance is planning to try and outreach to influential gang members and give them the reality that either they stop the violence or they’ll be continuously targeted by law enforcement.
If you’d like to attend, hear what they have to say or get involved, the meeting is at 6 p.m. at the St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Salinas.