Watsonville organizations focus on youth to prevent crime

Watsonville police are teaming up with local youth-based groups to keep kids out of trouble. This comes at a time when the homicide rate in the city has reached an eight year high. There have been nine homicides in 2014 alone — six of them gang related.

Two programs are making a difference in the community.

Police know they face an uphill battle to keep kids from joining gangs, so they are joining forces with local youth based programs, hoping to turn the tide.

Lieutenant Saul Gonzalez of the Watsonville Police Department said, “We are going into elementary schools and catching them younger and younger and we steer them in the right direction with our youth based programs.”

These programs are aimed at keeping kids on the straight and narrow and out of trouble on the streets. One of the most popular is the Police Activities League or PAL. The organization helps kids in athletics, academically, and gives them something fun to do like this recent trip to Disneyland.

Another local program is the recently opened Digital Nest. Volunteer Coordinator Justen Maltinsky said, “There’s no discrimination based on income, ethnicity or gender.”

Since opening a few weeks ago, it’s grown to more than 150 members and at least 40 regularly show up to learn the tricks and trades of the tech world. The skills they learn today could help them and make a positive difference in their community in the future.