The Sentinel goes one-on-one with Sergeant Andre Clansy, Los Angeles Police Department Gang Intervention Liaison

Many may know about the Gang Reduction Youth Development Office (GRYD), established by the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office in 2007, to establish an office to coordinate comprehensive efforts to reduce gang violence, target specific areas that had the most gang violence, combine all the City’s programs within the Mayor’s Office, and to develop strong partnerships with City departments and community civic groups.

But what has been the role of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) with GRYD – both as it relates to gang policing and interactions with men and women, the gang intervention specialists who have been serving their communities on the front lines of street wars decades before the program’s existence?

Sometimes, we get a situation where we have decisions to make as far as how much information do we share, or issues going between the CIWs (Community Intervention Workers) from the streets, and our gang enforcement officers to make sure we understand each other’s jobs and responsibilities.

How I do that, I also operate a gang intervention awareness program within LAPD to educate our LAPD officers on the service that Community Intervention Workers do on the streets, so they could be fully aware, because some of our coppers do not understand the function of GRYD, what the GRYD is supposed to do.

Our class, we operate every month for LAPD officers to introduce them to what the GRYD strategy is and what the duties and responsibilities are of Community Intervention Workers.