PRESS RELEASE: Assembly Majority Leader Torrico to Lead Hearing on Gangs' Use of New Technology

Contact: Jeff Barbosa

***Press Release***

ONTARIO – Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) will lead a state Assembly select committee hearing looking into the use of new technology and social media by gangs to recruit and engage in illicit activities. The hearing “Gangs 2.0: The Emerging Threat of Cyberthugs” will be held from 9 a.m.-11 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 in the Ontario Police Department’s Community Room, 2500 S. Archibald Ave. in Ontario, CA.

“Social networking is a great way to reach out to others, update them on activities, exchange information and support a cause,” Torrico said. “Unfortunately, gangs are using these tools to communicate, recruit, issue threats, traffic narcotics, promote violence and expand their criminal activities.”

A 2007 study by i-SAFE Inc., published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that 70 percent of gang members surveyed reported that it was easier to make friends online than in the real world. It also discovered that 89 percent of students said they are the primary users of technology in the home and 41 percent do not share where they go on the Internet with their parents.

Cell phones are another tool used by gangs to coordinate activities, including among members who are already behind bars. Over 4,100 cell phones have already been confiscated in California state prisons this year and corrections officials consider them a top security threat.

Members of the Select Committee on the Safety and Protection of At-Risk Communities in California will hear from representatives of local, county and state law enforcement, a gang intervention advocate and A Better L.A.

WHO: Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico; Assembly Select Committee on the Safety and Protection of At-Risk Communities in California; Jerry Hunter, assistant chief of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement; Skipp Townsend, executive director of 2nd Call; Brian Center, executive director of A Better L.A.; Shelli Kelly, detective, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; and Gabriel Gutierrez, detective, Ontario Police Department.

WHAT: “Gangs 2.0: The Emerging Threat of Cyberthugs,” Select Committee Hearing

WHERE: Ontario Police Department Community Room, 2500 S. Archibald Avenue, Ontario, CA

WHEN: 9-11 a.m., Thursday, November 19, 2009