File photo
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
WATTS — The December 2005 shooting of a prominent gang leader sparked 18 days of retaliatory violence between Watts gangs, leaving multiple residents dead and the community demanding action.
“We couldn’t understand it—why nobody was responding,” said Donnie Joubert, a longtime resident and co-founder of the Watts Gang Task Force.
At the time, Councilwoman Janice Hahn represented the area. Joubert and several other residents tracked her down. She was attending an event for animal rescue.
“She was out nurturing some dogs or something,” he said. “We went off on her.”
Hahn called an emergency meeting. Community members arrived angry. When she walked in with Los Angeles police officers, tensions escalated.
“We thought it would just be us and her,” Joubert said. “When the police walked in, all hell broke loose.”
Behind the scenes, Hahn helped broker a private meeting between rival gang leaders. The peace process lasted 30 days and led to a cease fire. From that fragile agreement, a grassroots model of community safety began to form.
The Watts Gang Task Force started with weekly meetings between residents, gang interventionists and local clergy. LAPD captains began attending and the community demanded consistency.
“We told them if you keep moving these captains around, how are we supposed to build anything?” Joubert said. “You can’t hold someone accountable if they’re gone in six months.”
Eventually, LAPD assigned a commander who stayed — opening the door to a more consistent relationship with the community.
Two years later, violent crime in Watts had dropped 50%, according to the task force. The group became a fixture: coordinating interventions, pressuring city departments and responding to neighborhood incidents.
The task force also pushed LAPD to integrate new officers into the community before they hit the streets. Rookies attended weekly meetings and participated in roll calls with intervention workers.
“We made them know us — and we got to know them,” Joubert said. “No more hiding behind the badge.”
Today, the Task Force operates a 24/7 response team. Former gang members, many of whom served long prison sentences, intervene after shootings, recover stolen property and monitor high-risk events. The same men now lead safe-passage programs for schoolchildren.
“We’ve got guys from rival sets sitting in the same room now, working together,” Joubert said. “That’s powerful.”
But resources remain a challenge.
“This model works. But we’re still fighting to fund it.”
He said jobs offered through the program give men a stake in the community — and often their first legal paycheck.
“When we get brothers jobs, they become protectors,” Joubert said. “Their kids see it. They start showing up different. You can’t just give someone a title. You’ve got to give them purpose.”
City officials have started to back these models with more funding. Under Mayor Karen Bass, the city created the Office of Community Safety and increased pay for community intervention workers. Nonprofits like the Reverence Project now deploy trained interventionists across South Los Angeles.
“We’re finally seeing investments that match the scale of the problem,” said Alisa Blair, executive director of the Reverence Project. “But we’re still not funded anywhere close to more traditional public safety like police and fire — even though the model is working.”
Blair said community workers often respond before police arrive and are better positioned to calm tensions. Still, some face harassment despite wearing clear identification.
“We’re not trying to replace law enforcement,” Blair said. “We’re trying to prevent violence before they even have to be called.”
“Violence is down — I’d say about 40%,” said Ronita Thornton, program manager for the Watts Gang Task Force. “Everything in every category is down because of the work we do — especially our weekly calls with law enforcement. We talk about what the community expects from them, and what they expect from us. It’s how we learn to live in this little space together.”
According to LAPD data, gang-related homicides dropped 45% last year in the city’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development zones, while shootings dropped 48%.
“This is dangerous work — and to everyone who does it day in and day out, we thank you,” Mayor Karen Bass said at a March 18 press conference, crediting the Office of Community Safety and community violence intervention workers for driving the decline.
The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on its relationship with the task force.
“Due to deployment staffing at this time we can not accommodate your request,” wrote Officer Norma Eisenman of the department’s Media Relations Division. The department did not respond to follow-up emails by press time.
“We’ve been doing this work for 16 years,” Joubert said. “Every Monday. Rain or shine. The community knows who’s really out here.”
But not everyone in Watts sees the impact of community violence intervention efforts the same way.
William Taylor, a Vietnam veteran and lifelong resident, questioned claims that violence has dropped by 50%.
“You know how they say that? They go by crime reports. But if you don’t report the crime, you can say it went down,” he said. “And if your kids are the ones doing the crime — and they’re working for the task force — who’s gonna report it?”
He said violence in his neighborhood remains constant.
“We still hear gunshots at night,” he said. “There’s always a siren or a funeral around the corner.”
Taylor also questioned whether former gang members leading violence prevention efforts have truly changed.
“I don’t believe in reformed gangbangers,” he said. “They just found a new hustle — a way to stop going to jail for the stuff they used to do.”
Eddie Birden, another lifelong Watts resident who spent 40 years in prison, sees it differently.
“This is my first job — ever,” he said. “The task force gave me work, helped me reintegrate. That’s something we never had growing up.”
“Back then, it was gang violence every day,” Birden said. “Now, kids ride bikes, go to concerts, play sports with kids from other neighborhoods. It’s a dramatic change.”
Stephen Oduntan is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers.
